Friends:
Here is the latest news:
1. Conversation with Bobby Littlefield, Regional TXDoT engineer, Waco
Key Points:
(a) As long as James Construction is making progress there is little TXDoT can do to hurry the end of construction. James Construction is making progress and there is one goal: GET OUT OF SALADO AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.
(b) The visit to the Governor's Office has caused considerable conversation in the Capitol. A second meeting is being arranged with the top leaders of TXDoT.
(c) Littlefield has received our final drawings of the sewer lines. They look good. His engineers are studying them. If all goes well, the TXDoT Permit will be received.
(d) He asked if the Village was interested in taking over Main Street. The answer was no.
(e) James Construction continues to pay daily fines for not completing the project on time.
(f) When asked for more State Troopers to patrol the construction, he said he talked this over with DPS and was told:
(1) State Troopers cannot write tickets when there is no space to pull a car over.
(2) If the speed limit is lower, there is a chain reaction -- delays, road rage, and more accidents.
(3) State Troopers are being pulled from this area and being sent to Border Patrol and Dallas. Not sure why Dallas.
(4) TXDoT is seeking permission to keep trucks in the right lanes on I-35. Permission has not been received as of this date.
(5) When asked if trucks could be re-routed down 95. The answer was "No."
2. The second trip to the Governor's office is planned for Friday, 8 April, 4 PM. This meeting will be with the Major leaders of TXDoT.
3. The Lion's Club raised $1150 for cleaning the Low Water Crossing. One lady from Houston stopped her car and got out asking, "What is the purpose of this money?"
Dave Swarthout answered: "To clean the Low Water Crossing."
The Lady: " Oh, I love this town." reached into her purse and placed 3 twenty dollar bills in the bucket.
By the way, thanks to the Lion's Club and an anonymous person that $1150 has been matched and is now $2300. We are close to our goal of $18,000. Thank you, everyone, for being so generous.
4. During the triple event, a couple stopped and said, "Mayor, we are from College Station and our friends that live in town told us that Salado was dying. They are wrong! This town is not only doing well, it will continue to do well. We are going to tell our friends they are hurting Salado with their negative words."
5. Recently, an email came that said, "Please tell the Aldermen not to vote for tearing down Stagecoach."
The response given: "Their architect called this week asking for a permit to begin refurbishing Stagecoach in June. No one is tearing it down."
This information about June has been verified by two other reliable sources.
6. Want a success story? One of our newest businesses in town has grossed $100,000 in sales in 6 months.
7. Talking to Mike Cooper, "The bridge really looks nice. When I-35 is completed, Salado is going to be better than ever."
"You are right, Mike. Rick Lewis, insight engineer for James Constructions, says that every road he has ever built has benefited the town significantly. People will want to stop and see this beautiful Village."
VR/Skip
Under Mayor:
Write-in: Skip Blancett
Color the circle or bubble.
James Construction Group can be another year or so for all that it matters. Its okay anyways seeing that money is of no concern to many of them. We understand their work and how long it takes to build cookie cutter bridges and the remaining work left to complete. We can also recognize the completed work that is non-conforming that will require corrective actions in order to comply with the contract. We would rather see the work be completed one time and one time only. We want the work to meet the quality standards TXDOT and FHWA mandates contractors follow. One must ask, if they don’t have time to do it right the first time, when will they ever find time to do it over again. We’d rather have them slow down and do it right than get everyone excited only to have them come back and fix it or tear it out and do it over again.
ReplyDeleteWhat is bothersome to many is the disrespect shown. Mr. Lewis continues to show his true colors every time he makes up another excuse for not hitting their milestone or expected completion dates. We knew they’d never complete the bridge as represented as did most their employee’s. It was a standing joke amongst their own and even at the AGC convention that Mr. Lewis actually had the guts to tell us a date that wasn’t ever doable. Mr. Lewis thinks everybody but himself is gullible or naive. When their own employee’s don’t believe a word that’s being said, it’s hard for anyone else stomach what is being passed along to us. We’ll believe Mr. Lewis when what he says really happens.
Mr. Lewis has told us they want to be good stewards and respect us. If this is the case then nobody should ever have to ask for them to keep their housekeeping up, mow their weeds, clean the mud off the streets, keep dust down to acceptable opacity levels, and complete the areas that remain uncompleted. The only thing we see that is being done better is maintaining their TCP and keeping that up so we don’t have to meander through their work zone messes.
Whomever is feeding Mr. Lewis erroneous information on their schedules and he passes that erroneous information down to us, is making Mr. Lewis look like he really doesn’t have a clue what he is doing.
I would agree with the previous posts. It isn't if they'll be done nor when. It's keeping our Village presentable to the traveling public 100% of the time and public safety. It's respect.
ReplyDeleteI will say I was embarrassed for Mr. Lewis and his colleagues at the San Antonio AGC convention. The talk amongst many was all about the I-35 corridor and what is perceived as a lurking disaster in the making. To make matters worse when we heard who've they've hired to oversee their Texas division many of us just shook our heads in disbelief. It is like what are they thinking and whose bright idea was that to put people in charge reading their public work history posted online.
What's strange to many to us in the industry is PSC has an excellent reputation. PSC typically perform quality work and employs some of the brightest the industry has to offer but somewhere in their system, they forgot about JCG and must not realize how the industry has evolved and today isn't like the past.
Thank goodness PSC is flush with cash and appears they can absorb the losses that many wouldn't ever survive. When it's all said done the lawyers will have a field day with their billable hours should a claim be sought after. We understand how the owner’s teams document the process and how TxDOT operates, many of us predict James Construction Group will go down in the history books as one expensive learning curve. And with what it rumored in the industry about their other projects up the I-35 corridor, this could become very painful for anyone to absorb.
That pretty much sums it up. When we drive around and see demolition remnants stockpiled and laying around along with the other debris still scattered around it makes many people wonder why. It isn't like we aren't cognizant of projects and what they should look like and how projects are supposed to progress. It makes no sense why anybody with common sense would want to keep their projects filthy and what many consider bad for business. A clean project is typically is much safer project or that's what most companies say about their projects and why they maintain their housekeeping and keep the communities happy they work in. When we see the amount clutter left behind, grades exposes and stockpiles everywhere, it's no wonder their competent employee's complain about their safety and all the equipment damages and no bonuses being paid. And they wonder why we are upset when they can't even follow what many consider normal.
ReplyDeleteI agree we could care a less how long they are working on the project or if Salado Plaza opens anytime soon. We'd prefer to know that the work that is being done is done right and they don't have to come remove and replace or fix. The longer they take the more money TxDOT deducts and we the taxpayers benefit. Seeing that PSC stock is rising and they seem to have a lot surplus cash to spend and enjoy doing. So as a taxpayer it's nice that PSC is being very generous to us. After all we’ve been put through and the filthy conditions we deal with, maybe our Mayor will get a lot more than the $3 million originally asked for.
What’s plausible is maybe our Mayor might consider marketing his expertise to Temple, Troy, and Belton and show them the ropes and what steps to follow should those projects end up the same dilemma as we deal with. He could offer a fee based spilt and any proceeds be put back into general fund or pay down debts.
ftp://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/cmd/cserve/distinfo/cisrpts/001504067.pdf
ReplyDeleteftp://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/cmd/cserve/distinfo/cisrpts/001514091.pdf
ftp://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/cmd/cserve/distinfo/cisrpts/001506071.pdf
ftp://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/cmd/cserve/distinfo/cisrpts/001507065.pdf
Remove the MOH and Mobilization payments, talk about being behind.
What a shame. Only James Construction Group can take simple bid build contracts and make a disastrous mess and enjoy it and continue down the pathway that got these screwed up in the first place. It’s evident to anyone with knowledge of Heavy Highway industry that PSC must employ some of the dumbest managers working on their projects. Remove the MOH payments and Mobilization payments and these knuckleheads continue to feed their storyline hoping we’re all dumb enough to believe it. Evidently someone within their food chain is seeing that it sure seems to be worse than the ones they fired and blamed.
TxDOT should have a field day with this company if they choose pursue claims or seek relief. We see more work being torn out than customary or anyone else. One has to wonder if their competitors that are driving around videoing are using James Construction Group’s projects to train their employees and managers what not to do on project. The only positive is PSC is loaded with cash so they won't go broke and employee's creating their own job security. What a bonus for their management, zero accountability and get paid to continue down the same self-destructive pathway and actually like it.
We shouldn’t expect the 35 corridor to be completed anytime soon including our portion. By the time the defective work is fixed and non-compliance work, if I were a betting person it’s doubtful they’ll be done for at least a year unless they fire everyone and bring in the PSC A-Teams from abroad.
The earned amounts they've completed on the above estimates isn't anything to be proud. Many in their industry are shocked that PSC hasn't fired the entire James Construction Group management team and replaced with competent qualified management teams that understand how to bring contracts back into compliance. If what is rumored to be true with TxDOT will soon weed out the schmucks and award contracts to only qualified competent contractors.
ReplyDeleteSome of the comments made on the mayors blog infer that Mr. David King might not possess the knowledge to know what to do, I am tend agree with those commenters. We already know Mr. Poselli isn't qualified and it's very doubtful the personal that came from TSC is qualified either with the personal fleeing their Houston division.
There does seem to be a common is a trend that many contractors do in fact suffer from nowadays. Contractors are cycling through management teams that have failed from one company to next company leaving a trail of destruction behind them with each new job they take. By the looks of their estimates and the conditions the projects, in conjunction with the defective work, James Construction Group appears to be heading down the same pathway as many others that have failed to properly execute and plan that works. Add the safety issues their own employees speak about along with millions in equipment damage they talk about, it’s doubtful we’ll see anything positive from this group.
TxDOT and their consultants obviously have their plate full documenting the issues to protect us taxpayers from frivolous claims should claims be field. What we see occurring north of us isn’t anything too proud of either. It wouldn’t surprise the industry if TxDOT takes drastic measures and escalates those projects north of us to PSC executive teams and demand changes before those get worse than appear to be in.
Makes many of wonder why PSC enjoys spending that much money enabling their management teams to continue to the same road that continues the same old pattern and like it. This is better than going to movies, wonder who JCG is going to write a book about what not to do on heavy highway contracts.
I’m laughing reading the posters comments. I’ve sat in on a few of our community meetings where James Construction Group spoke and kept my shut listening to just how stupid they really how stupid they thing everyone else is but themselves. What makes this worse is at the AGC meetings when their executives, safety manager, and managers brag about how safe and smart they are they set the industry standards to follow. We just sit back and laugh inside knowing just the opposite is fact. These clowns think they are the smartest people when in reality they are the dumbest of the dumb the industry has to offer. It’s always easy to point out the dumbest ones because they actually believe what they are speaking.
ReplyDeleteAn old wise man once said, hiring intelligently is one of the most direct ways to build a company's success. Look for the most capable candidates -- people whose brilliance exceeds your own. Ultra-productive people don’t ask, “How can I do this task?” Instead, they ask, “How can this task get done?” They take the “I “out of it as much as possible. Ultra-productive people don’t have control issues, and they are not micro-managers. In many cases, good enough is, well, good enough. They know how to plan and work the plan getting out the way and let their teams work their magic.
We thought we’ve witnessed the worst of the stupidity; just wait until the remaining very few talented smart leave leaving behind what many feel is incompetent executives and management teams running the project. We do feel for TxDOT and their consultants knowing they won’t have anyone left with any common sense or knowledge how to plan the work and work the plan. When this occurs, Mr. David King will wish he’d taken the right course of action and fired every of them a long time ago.
Here we go, more rains in the forecast for next week. As we all sit back and wait for more of their excuses why they can't produce work timelier and in strict compliance of the contract. We hope someone is addressing the defective work or work not in compliance of the contract and when that will be fixed or replaced.
ReplyDeleteWe are becoming more educated about their work and have a understand what 18 USC 1020 means and how QUI Tams can prove to be very profitable for those who seek to hold contractors accountable. We fully expect the quality of the work will be verbatim to the contract and we aren't paying for work that isn't in compliance of the contract.
We hope you're not letting up on James Construction Group and making sure TxDOT isn't enabling more of the stupid stuff that further delays the progress.
When will the recovery schedule be made available for us to use planning events in and around the community? We cant afford to lose any more tax base. Tourist dollars is vital to anyone, we need to know more than the lies we're being fed. A recovery schedule provides just that and provides TxDOT ammunition should they not make the intern milestones provided by recovery schedule. That also takes into account latent defects and all nonconforming work.
The article about Temple is interesting. Temple might just become informed and better protect themselves by becoming involved sooner to mitigate their impacts.
It never fails a friend from their industry says. Hire personal off the street without any experience, you get what you pay for every time. That’s why when they start on their design build project they’re making offers to take the remaining few good ones away from James Construction. With what we hear about their VP and Management teams and the degenerates they’ve brought with them to fix the problems, he says they won’t have a problem hiring the remaining few good ones away at the pay scale they pay to get qualified personal. If they do leave, we're doomed.
ReplyDelete