Newsletter
MTBMA Member – Corman Construction to rebuild National Mall relecting pool
August 26, 2010
Corman Construction wins $30M mall-restoration contract
By ELISHA SAUERS, Staff Writer
Published 08/24/10 in The Capital
In the blurry backdrops of photos from family trips to D.C., the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool is nothing short of picturesque.
It was the site of Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic “I have a dream” civil-rights speech and has even landed in pop culture with a movie scene in “Forrest Gump.”
But the 2,000-foot stretch of placid water, set between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, is in dire need of repair. The pool is stagnant, full of filth and algae, and usually is surrounded by a ring of muddy shoe prints.
Reed Coble, estimator for Corman Construction Inc., sums up the problem simply.
“The reflecting pool is sinking, and it’s a hazard,” he said.
As of last week, Corman Construction, an Annapolis Junction-based business, was awarded a $30.7 million contract to save the reflecting pool.
It was the largest federal stimulus contract doled out through a host of National Mall restoration projects, according to the National Park Service.
MdQI Award Nominations
August 12, 2010
The Awards Subcommitee invites you to submit nominations for the 2010 Awards of Excellence. For rules and forms, go to www.mdae.org/mdqi2011/mdqi.html. Projects must be accepted for maintenance between October 1, 2009 and September 30, 2010, with the exception of planning projects where a Record of Decision is required in the same time frame. The award applications will be due to the sponsoring agencies by September 30, 2010. The sponsoring agencies will screen the applications and submit the screened applications to the MdQI awards committee by October 21, 2010. The awards committee will then review the applications and short list them to up to 3 per category.
Awards will be presented at the 2011 MdQI Conference scheduled for February 2 & 3, 2011 at the Sheraton, Baltimore City Center.
Senate Votes to Rescind Highway Contract Authority
August 12, 2010
Please see the below article from ARTBA Washington Newsline…The Senate and House are taking away $2.2 billion rescission of unobligated highway funds to offset cost of funds going to states’ teacher salaries and Medicaid.
The Senate August 5 passed 61-39 legislation that would provide funds to help states with Medicaid costs and pay teacher salaries. The House approved similar legislation July 1. Both measures include a $2.2 billion rescission of unobligated highway contract authority to help offset the costs of the Medicaid/teacher funds. While current and future levels of core highway program investment would not be impacted by the rescission, sufficient levels of contract authority are necessary to ensure states have the ability to implement their transportation plans and meet their unique needs. The ARTBA co-chaired Transportation Construction Coalition wrote to both the House and Senate opposing the rescission and pointed out the proposal injects further uncertainty into a transportation market where many states are facing their major budget challenges and the construction industry is suffering from 20 percent unemployment levels.
The House will temporarily return from its August recess this week to approve the Senate legislation.
Act Now: Urge Congress to Repeal Burdensome 1099 Reporting
August 12, 2010
It’s worse than you think. And once you understand how bad the expanded 1099 reporting requirements will be for your business, you will demand that Congress repeal them.
Current law generally requires that a Form 1099 be filed for purchases of services over $600 during a calendar year – typically from small contractors and vendors. One of the mechanisms used to pay for the new federal health care law was an expansion of 1099 filing requirements to goods purchased, and purchases from corporations, starting in calendar year 2012. This new law will greatly increase administrative costs for businesses, result in hundreds of millions of new 1099s, and cause numerous other problems. Read More of MD Chamber of Commerce Legislative Alert…
Baucus Touts Need for Highway Bill while Working with Knife River Road Construction Crews in Montana
August 12, 2010
from NSSGA News…
Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) spent part of Aug. 9 working with NSSGA member Knife River Corp. road construction crews in Bozeman and Belgrade, Mont. With help from Knife River’s equipment operator Mike Reitano, Baucus operated a large grading machine in Bozeman that pushes a long pile of soil and large rocks flat with the rest of the unpaved surface.
“We’re a highway state and I want to learn all I can about our roads to make sure I’m doing what’s best by getting as many dollars as I possibly can for Montana,” Baucus said. He is the chairman of the Senate Transportation subcommittee and was instrumental in writing the 1998 and 2005 Highway Bills and said he will continue to push for passage of the pending federal highway authorization bills, Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) and Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU).
Finding increased funding for the bill has proved challenging, he said, since fewer drivers on the road means less money from federal fuel taxes. Raising the gas tax would increase revenues, though Baucus acknowledged that increasing taxes is not politically feasible right now. A new highway bill would provide “consistency and predictability” to government agencies and contractors, he said.
Baucus defended the Valley Center Road project as a perfect example of the Stimulus Bill creating jobs while improving infrastructure. When asked about recent headlines concerning millions of dollars of stimulus going to projects creating fractions of jobs or none at all, Baucus replied, “They still bolster the economy.”
NSSGA Chairman of the Board Bill Schneider, president and CEO, Knife River Corporation, Bismarck, N.D., testified on July 27 before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure regarding the status of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Schneider said if Congress does not act before the end of the year, the industry stands to lose the benefits of the stimulus. He said, “There is a need for real jobs meeting real needs to provide American taxpayers real value.”
