The contractor for the upcoming Fort Bend County judicial center deflected criticism over how much work local subcontractors will get from the job, saying they’ll receive about $3.4 million.
In a Friday letter to Fort Bend County Facilities Management and Planning Director Don Brady, JE Dunn Construction Assistant Vice President Joseph Kummer indicated benefits to local craftsmen and laborers will extend well beyond that amount.
The Houston company met criticism from Precinct 1 Commissioner Richard Morrison last week, who said a proposed final contract for the $58 million judicial center appeared to include only about $6,000 for work from Fort Bend contractors.
After a meeting with Brady on Thursday, Morrison said he had been shown documents that indicated the total was higher – about $1,8 million – which he criticized as still inadequate.
In his Friday letter, Kummer said Schramme Construction won a contract to do earthwork and site utilities for the project; Hayden will do asphalt paving; Rows + Rows will do pavement marking, Allied Concrete will provide conrete material; and Bugtime will provide termite control services – work totaling $3.8 million.
“This does not include anyw ork that will be performed via Fort Bend County vendors such as dumpsters, temporary restrooms, surveying, materials testing or equipment rental,” Kummer said. “This also does not include the value of second or third-tier subctonractors and suppliers that will be working under the primary subcontractors.”
Kummer also called it significant that most of the rest of the subcontractors are from the greater Houston area “since while some of these firms have business addresses outside of Fort Bend County, many employ Fort Bend County taxpayers. In the case of JE Dunn South Central, we have 40 employees that are Fort Bend County residents including our president and much of our senior management who reside within Commissioner Morrison’s precinct.
On Thursday, Morrison said he understood 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.”
But Kummer said the judicial center is the company’s first Fort Bend County project, adding, “We have complied with the proposal procedures outlined to us by the county and have followed the proposal evaluation procedure as approved by the county in determining the subcontractors to be recommended.”
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.
The final contract for the center stands at about $58 million – down $16 million from the initial $74 million estimate, as construction costs have dropped concurrent with an economic receission.
