An irate Fort Bend County commissioner is scheduled to meet today with JE Dunn Construction officials to ask why their $58 million county contract to build a courts complex includes less than $6,000 of work for local subcontractors.
Precinct 1 Commissioner Richard Morrison said Thursday he just received the final county justice center contract proposal from the Houston contractor, which includes two pages of subcontractor names, but only one name from Fort Bend County.
They’re going to spend $58 million, and all I’ve got is one subcontract for $5,950 to treat the soil,” Morrison said. “I’m not too pleased about that.
“I understand we’re not going to supply everything, and we may not have the industry that can do it all, but I know we can do some of it,” Morrison said. “More than $5,950.”
The commissioner said it is his understanding that the last time JE Dunn was awarded a major contract in Fort Bend County, other commissioners criticized the company for not employing more local subcontractors, “and here we are again.”
A spokeswoman for the company couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Thursday. But Morrison said he called company officials and asked for a meeting this afternoon.
“I’ve got the local plumbers union and the ironworkers coming to me and saying ‘you all are doing a lot of work, and we’d like to bid on some of it,’” Morrison said. “I’m just wondering why they don’t get any work.”
He added that it’s ironic local craftsmen are funding the construction of the courts complex in part through the local taxes they pay, while the subcontracting work on the project is going to Houston companies and others from out of state.
“Earth work, landscaping, HVAC, tile, counter tops – all that stuff can be done locally,” Morrison said. “Why do we need to give the electrical work to someone in Louisiana? It doesn’t make any sense.”
Site work for the 215,000-square-foot complex, to be located across Richmond’s Williams Way from the Fort Bend County Jail, has recently begun, and work on an adjacent parking garage is under way.
Together, the garage and judicial center are being financed through a $78 million county bond issue approved by voters in May 2008.
Later Thursday, Fort Bend County Judge Bob Hebert said the county has saved about $16 million as a result of final negotiations over the judicial center, which originally was estimated to cost $74 million. (See related story).
