The Daily Reporter articles from April 2009

The Daily Reporter archives from April 2009

Wisconsin cities lobby for more stimulus.
April 1, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan Wisconsin cities without street projects qualifying for stimulus money are pushing to shift the focus of federal rules toward spending on local roadwork. But at least one state legislator is resisting the idea. Sen....

Federal agency backs bigger bonds.
April 1, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan The U.S. Small Business Administration will accept more risk by backing larger bonds for contractors, but the agency also will be more careful when selecting which builders to support. In an effort to encourage...

Wisconsin Department of Transportation bid likely to attract big contractors.
April 1, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan As the Wisconsin Department of Transportation begins a three-month effort to bid its stimulus projects, pavers predict a few large contractors will get the bulk of the work. The $300 million in stimulus contracts for...

Milwaukee County in running for stimulus money.
April 1, 2009... Byline: Dustin Block Green construction projects in Milwaukee County may get a boost from the County Board's decision Tuesday to pursue stimulus money despite County Executive Scott Walker's objection. The county is eligible to apply...

Wisconsin developers to transform Wisconsin Ave. into storefronts and condos.
April 2, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan Chad Zeznanski's porch overlooks a vacant lot where the First Baptist Church of Oconomowoc and a house stood until April 2, 2008. That's the day an explosion -- caused when workers for Luxemburg-based Dorner Inc....

Wisconsin contractors seek improved excavation regulation.
April 2, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan It seemed the contractor was to blame. At least that's where the evidence pointed when the Office of Pipeline Safety received a report about a gas line that was ruptured during an excavation project, said Walt Kelly, who...

Wisconsin group lobbies for line mapping repository.
April 2, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan Wisconsin has the technology to map the location of underground pipes and wires and save the information for future generations, but cost and security concerns are hampering builders' efforts to do so. The Wisconsin...

Madison, Wisc. Chamber of Commerce offers construction survival guide for small businesses.
April 2, 2009... Byline: Paul Snyder Madison is trying to prevent major road projects from crippling small businesses, but construction's disruptive nature makes it impossible to offer guarantees. When we did work on State Street, we worked very hard...

Milwaukee sick leave law would trump contractors' collective-bargaining agreements.
April 2, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan The sick leave guidelines Milwaukee released Wednesday confirmed industry fears that the ordinance would override paid time-off provisions in contractors' collective-bargaining agreements. Everybody understands what...

Wisconsin lawmaker says state can't share much wealth with municipalities.
April 3, 2009... Byline: Paul Snyder If one lawmaker's prediction is accurate, local governments seeking more shared revenue amounts or higher tax levy limits to help finance municipal construction will get little help from the state this year. I'm...

Marquette University in Wisconsin goes it alone on building project.
April 3, 2009... Byline: Paul Snyder With no help from the state in sight, Marquette University might be unable to meet its anticipated summer start date for construction of a $100 million engineering building. We're committed to continue fundraising,...

Coal clings to its power: Study says new plants likely to be few.
April 3, 2009... Byline: Paul Snyder A new federal energy study says it is unlikely many new coal-fired power plants will be built in the next 20 years. The end of coal? Not quite, say utility companies. I think it's premature to go down that road,...

Stimulus money prompts Wisconsin contractors to dig for their share of work.
April 3, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan Grading contractors are concerned using stimulus money to bid Wisconsin Department of Transportation jobs early will dry up potential state work down the road. The state used stimulus money to advance the schedules...

New arena could be in cards for Milwaukee.
April 3, 2009... Byline: Paul Snyder and Dustin Block Plans to spend $23 million over the next 10 years maintaining Milwaukee's Bradley Center doesn't rule out eventually building a new arena, according to Bradley Center President Steve Costello. ...

Longtime Wisconsin reporter dies at age 74.(Obituary)
April 3, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan Gary Below spent more than 35 years providing Wisconsin's construction industry with the timely, accurate bid information it needed. Below, a construction data reporter who joined The Daily Reporter in 1971, died...

Volley over prevailing wage continues in Wisconsin.
April 6, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan and Paul Snyder The Wisconsin Legislature now is involved in an ongoing battle over whether the state's prevailing wage rules should apply to municipal turnkey projects. The Assembly Committee on Labor soon will...

Guests in their own homes: Milwaukee shelter residents debut project they worked on.
April 6, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan David Lee was homeless last year, but the construction training he received while working on The Guest House project in Milwaukee helped him secure an apartment and a job as a masonry laborer. But Lee hasn't worked...

Demo on hold, back to drawing board for Milwaukee hospital.
April 6, 2009... Byline: Dustin Block Wheaton-Franciscan Healthcare is holding off on demolishing the former St. Michael Hospital even though plans to move the Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex to the site are dead and the county is looking to remodel...

Saving green while going green in Wisconsin: Sustainable developments opt out of LEED certification.
April 6, 2009... Byline: Dustin Block La Crosse County's new jail will boast many sustainable features, but it won't have a LEED plaque to prove it. The County Board decided not to certify the building through the U.S. Green Building Council's...

WisDOT pressured to pay for county work.
April 6, 2009... Byline: Dustin Block Chaos. Anger. Confusion. Stimulus. Those four words weaved together Friday in a tense committee meeting that pitted Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett against the Wisconsin Department of Transportation over $7.5 million...

Code makers struggle with sustainability.
April 7, 2009... Byline: Brendan O'Brien The development and practice of sustainable building techniques are pressuring municipalities to keep pace with updating building codes to accommodate the changes. Ann Beier, director of Milwaukee's Office of...

Wisconsin lawmaker challenges contractor registration.
April 7, 2009... Byline: Paul Snyder A state lawmaker, claiming the Department of Commerce has too loose a definition of the word emergency, is trying to overturn the agency's contractor registration rule. (DOC) went the emergency rule route so they...

Environmental unknowns hinder redevelopment in Wisconsin.
April 7, 2009... Byline: Daily Reporter Staff As more Wisconsin companies go out of business, the state is searching for a handle on whether the properties left behind have environmental problems. It is difficult to redevelop vacant industrial sites...

Inside JobTrac.
April 7, 2009... Milwaukee/Construct Apartments and Retail Project: Construct Apartments and Retail at 1857 E. Kenilworth Place, Milwaukee Bids due: April 16 on all divisions except HVAC, fire protection, plumbing and electrical Developer: 1857...

Wisconsin school districts put happy spin on sad economy.
April 7, 2009... Byline: Dustin Block The West Bend School District will fill a swimming pool with concrete to create additional classroom space if voters reject a referendum Tuesday. "We already have trailers," said Superintendent Patricia Herdrich,...

Reach of research questioned: New fibers could be as dangerous as asbestos.
April 8, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan Some fear the federal government will leave construction workers at risk if it doesn't expand research to identify materials that could have the same harmful effects as asbestos. Occupational Safety and Health...

In Wisconsin, sustainable affiliations hold less cachet.
April 8, 2009... Byline: Paul Snyder When it comes to awards, certifications and affiliations, the field of green is growing so quickly it's difficult to gain a competitive edge. It's still something that matters in the sense that we're paying...

More Wisconsin contractors want piece of vet set-asides.
April 8, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan Support is growing for opening up military and Department of Veterans Affairs projects to nonveteran-owned businesses. Tony Arteaga, president of Arteaga Construction Inc., is among those who said the federal...

Fond du Lac-based J.F. Ahern Co. leads by example with gray water system.
April 8, 2009... Byline: Caley Clinton Associates at J.F. Ahern Co. take clients to the bathroom to show them alternative water systems for building projects. The Fond du Lac-based company's updated headquarters features an increasingly popular gray...

Wisconsin lawmakers split on expanding RTA.
April 8, 2009... Byline: Paul Snyder One state representative is worried Dane County could be pushing its luck with its attempt to tweak the state budget bill to afford more money for road construction. The state budget proposal calls for the creation...

Wisconsin Senator tries to cut off I-94 expansion.
April 9, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan Local and state officials in southeastern Wisconsin are divided on whether state money is best spent expanding Interstate 94 or rebuilding city streets. State Sen. Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee, is circulating a bill to...

Minority contracting change in Wisconsin loses budget footing.
April 9, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan Business groups want the state to abandon a proposed change to minority-contractor certification rules, but supporters say the proposal still has merit. State law requires a person classified as a minority to own at...

Budget cuts in Wisconsin sideline project-delivery changes.
April 9, 2009... Byline: Paul Snyder Wisconsin leaders and builders are tired of waiting for changes to the rules that govern the state's construction procedures. I had a contractor in my office today saying, 'When are things ever going to change?'...

Senator tries to cut off I-94 expansion.
April 9, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan Local and state officials in southeastern Wisconsin are divided on whether state money is best spent expanding Interstate 94 or rebuilding city streets. State Sen. Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee, is circulating a bill to...

The price of progress: Wisconsin Department of Transportation and eminent domain.
April 10, 2009... Byline: Dustin Block Paul Nilsen says he is tired of attorneys ripping off the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Those lawyers, according to WisDOT's assistant general counsel, abuse the state's eminent domain laws to win client...

Businesses challenge Milwaukee's sick-leave details.
April 10, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan Milwaukee's proposed rules for logging sick-leave hours for mobile workers are unworkable for companies and unenforceable for the city, warned Chuck Engberg. The rules require any employee who works at least 90 hours...

Kenosha district blasted for bid decision.
April 10, 2009... Byline: Dustin Block Kenosha school officials blamed the inexperience of Hunzinger Construction Co. and J.P. Cullen & Sons Inc. in barring the companies from bidding on an estimated $8.5 million school restoration. Brookfield-based...

Milwaukee port project awaits tax break.
April 13, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan The Port of Milwaukee will never build a dock to transfer trucks onto ships if the federal government does not repeal a tax on cargo. Yet port officials still plan to apply for state money next year to build a $1.75...

Milwaukee-based The Jansen Group withstands loss of company executives.
April 13, 2009... Byline: Dustin Block Despite losing two top executives in the last month, business is strong at The Jansen Group Inc., a company official said. Gino Carini, vice president of business development, said the Milwaukee-based company has...

Milwaukee County Board Supervisor Lipscomb's bid to save dam faces rough waters.
April 13, 2009... Byline: Dustin Block Milwaukee County Board Supervisor Theo Lipscomb wants to save Glendale's Estabrook Dam from demolition and turn it into a source for green power. But an advocate for removing the Estabrook Dam called Lipscomb's...

Associated Builders and Contractors of America bid study sparks union ire.
April 13, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan The Associated Builders and Contractors of America is attacking the union practice of giving builders money to lower their bids. Under the practice, which the ABC calls job targeting and unions call market recovery, a...

Madison mill conversion project spins slowly.
April 14, 2009... Byline: Paul Snyder Common Wealth Development Inc. has little more than the support of Madison residents for its plan to turn the 103-year-old Garver Mill into an arts incubator. The Madison-based nonprofit developer does not own the...

Construction industry leery of low bids.
April 14, 2009... Byline: Dustin Block Builders winning highly competitive contracts at cut-rate prices cannot rely on change orders to make up the difference, according to owners and contractors. Robert Phillips, Madison's deputy city engineer, said...

Tight budgets trim trench-rescue training money in Wisconsin.
April 14, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan Underground contractors want firefighters to get more training to respond to trench collapses. But fire department officials say they are not dedicating what little money they have to the high cost of training and...

Group investigates bid doc uniformity: Racine rejects bids due to paperwork gaffes.
April 15, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan Municipalities might never embrace standardized bidding documents, but at least one builder argues the practice could cure a lot of headaches. After the city of Racine rejected his company's bid because it submitted...

Wisconsin seeks diversity in renewable energy.
April 15, 2009... Byline: Paul Snyder Randy Hopper is putting his muscle behind new wind farm legislation, but the state senator says Wisconsin will never meet its renewable energy goals if it does not embrace other options. We have to get pretty...

Real estate agent runs for Racine Mayor on development experience.
April 15, 2009... Byline: Dustin Block John Dickert has been involved in the highs and lows of Racine development. "I've failed," Dickert said. "But I've also had successes. And when I do fail, I just keep getting up and working hard." Dickert is...

Slow economy stops Deere in its tracks; Internal merger will mean 200 layoffs.
April 16, 2009... Byline: Daniel Lovering Pittsburgh -- Deere & Co. said this week it plans to combine operations that make its iconic green and yellow tractors with another unit that manufactures products like riding lawn mowers, resulting in about 200 job...

Wisconsin lawmakers propose tougher layoff law.
April 16, 2009... Byline: Paul Snyder Michael Sexauer will not guarantee reinstatement for laid-off workers when the economy recovers. Sometimes, he said, letting those workers go makes the most business sense. We have been trying to bring back...

Stimulus rules challenge Wisconsin builders.
April 16, 2009... Byline: Dustin Block Strict reporting rules for stimulus money might be a hassle, according to contractors, but at least companies are getting work. Michael Fabishak, chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of...

Brick company breaks into Wisconsin market.
April 16, 2009... Byline: Dustin Block Wisconsin companies don't know what to expect from a company's plan to use fly ash from We Energies' Oak Creek power plant for the country's first sustainable bricks. CalStar Cement Inc., Newark, Calif., plans to...

Land-hungry Kenosha hovers on Paris' town border.
April 16, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan The town of Paris and its neighbor, the city of Kenosha, both want a piece of development on a 6-mile stretch of fields on the west side of Interstate 94. The land is in Paris, and Town Chairman Virgil Gentz wants his...

Wisconsin counties trying to determine best way to spend stimulus money.
April 17, 2009... Byline: Paul Snyder The confusion of documents strewn across the table in Dave Merritt's City-County Building office mirrors his stimulus state of mind. The Dane County director of public policy and program development is the point...

Landowner resists Milwaukee's bid for property.
April 17, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan Milwaukee's undefined redevelopment plans for the 30th Street industrial corridor might trump a property owner's resistance to losing her land through eminent domain. Coleen Bukowski said the city should not force her...

Madison vets downtown development guide.
April 17, 2009... Byline: Paul Snyder Consensus might be an impossible dream for a Madison plan that will guide downtown development for the next 25 years. Some themes develop, said Mark Olinger, director of Madison's Department of Planning and...

Minority firms worry large companies will take Wisconsin's stimulus funds.
April 17, 2009... Byline: Dustin Block Michael Brandt is skeptical minority contractors will receive meaningful work from federal stimulus money. The former owner of Milwaukee-based HMB Contractors Inc., which closed in 2007, said he landed $7 million...

Federal delays threaten Wisconsin housing projects.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan Housing authorities are pushing the federal government to move faster in approving projects so local agencies do not miss stimulus deadlines. Public housing projects involving demolition or construction of new...

Hope, stress mingle over I-94 work in Racine and Kenosha counties.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Dustin Block Estimator Nic Mianecki with Oak Creek-based Edgerton Contractors Inc. described the sea of Interstate 94 hopefuls as overwhelming. About 150 contractors gathered Thursday for a mandatory pre-bid meeting on plans to...

Wisconsin students share in housing market struggles.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Paul Snyder Eight consecutive classes of Oregon High School seniors learned how to build houses. The latest group of students is learning how difficult it can be to sell one. We talk about it, but I think it's just the way...

Stimulus expands whistleblower protections.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Dustin Block Contractors receiving stimulus money will have to give employees significant new power to report fraud and mismanagement to investigators. Federal rules grant employees whistleblower protection to report companies...

Federal money sparks industry training debate in Wisconsin.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Paul Snyder The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development will spend about $38 million in federal stimulus money to train displaced and new workers while waiting for more money to create jobs. It's kind of a chicken-egg...

Wisconsin prevailing wage debate shifts to volunteers.
April 21, 2009... Byline: Paul Snyder A failed attempt to save six sheds near Baraboo is now a rallying point for those who argue changes to the state's prevailing wage law could cripple volunteer projects. But those people do not understand the law,...

Wisconsin's small firms struggle for stimulus.
April 21, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan Soma Investment LLC, like many small companies, is in danger of missing out on a piece of the stimulus pie. Ismail Harun, president and chief executive of the Milwaukee company, said he wants Soma to break into public...

Transmission upgrades could trump power projects in Wisconsin.
April 21, 2009... Byline: Paul Snyder If Wisconsin improves the efficiency of its energy transmission lines, the state will not need to generate as much power. Renewable energy development and the state's long-term goals for such projects could take a...

Green homes test market in Milwaukee.
April 21, 2009... Byline: Dustin Block Pragmatic Construction LLC received a clear, if crude, message when it started planning for two ultra-sustainable homes in Milwaukee's Riverwest Neighborhood. The words "Die yuppie scum" were scrawled across the...

Waukesha Couny budget gaps leave affordable housing in hole.
April 22, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan A volunteer group wants Waukesha County to dedicate $2.5 million a year to affordable housing projects, but elected officials say they don't have the money. The Waukesha County Affordable Housing Task Force is seeking...

I-94 training dispute splits Racine and Kenosha counties.
April 22, 2009... Byline: Dustin Block Tension between Racine and Kenosha counties over training people to work on the Interstate 94 project peaked this week with officials accusing a nonprofit organization of favoritism. Kenosha County Supervisor...

In Wisconsin, transportation money ideas running on empty.
April 22, 2009... Byline: Paul Snyder Replacing the state budget's proposed oil-assessment fee with a 3-cent gas tax increase will do nothing to ease the political battles brewing over transportation project money, lawmakers said Tuesday. It's just the...

Biotech firm wants to build manufacturing plant at Port of Milwaukee.
April 22, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan The success of a 64,000-square-foot project at the Port of Milwaukee hinges on how well one CEO can keep a secret. Ed Waters wants to build a manufacturing plant to convert wood into pellets to be burned as power...

Madison central park plan at a crossroads.
April 23, 2009... Byline: Paul Snyder Madison Central Park planners are at the mercy of railroad officials who could close three area crossings and maroon a significant portion of the development. There are no alternatives right now, said Bill Barker,...

Owners bid Brookfield-based Beaudoin farewell at auction.
April 23, 2009... Byline: Dustin Block Larry Schwartz watched sadly Wednesday as contractors picked through the equipment he worked with for 18 years. Schwartz, a former operator with Brookfield-based William Beaudoin and Sons Inc., attended the...

Brookfield-based Beaudoin's demise reflects struggling industry.
April 23, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan William Beaudoin and Sons Inc.'s receiver said Wednesday it's too early to know if there will be enough money raised for the company to pay off all of its debts. There are a number of parts in dealing with this...

Madison reserves decisions on hotel proposals.
April 23, 2009... Byline: Paul Snyder A city-commissioned market survey calling for a 400-room hotel near the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center in Madison is not enough to convince officials to charge forward with plans. I trust the experts...

Effigy Tree volunteers find reason to give in Madison.
April 24, 2009... Byline: Paul Snyder An architectural firm leader is finding a break from the daily grind of keeping his business alive by volunteering to preserve American Indian art in a Madison park. We might not have the economic resource right...

Milwaukee chamber requests sick-leave changes.
April 24, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan The Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce wants the city to narrow its sick-leave rules to exempt workers who spend less than half of their work hours in the city. The requirements as drafted apply to all...

City of Madison puts pressure on idle developments.
April 24, 2009... Byline: Paul Snyder Break time is over for Madison's stalled Hilldale Mall and Union Corners developments, according to impatient city leaders. There is that point where we have to do something, said Alderman Chris Schmidt about the...

Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority projects await federal answers.
April 24, 2009... Byline: Dustin Block and Sean Ryan Dan O'Connell held back his celebration after learning Wisconsin Housing Preservation Corp. received $2.57 million in state tax credits Thursday. Getting the credits clears the first hurdle, said the...

Milwaukee Area Technical College seeks bids for 6-acre Milwaukee solar farm.
April 24, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan The Milwaukee Area Technical College needs more public money to realize its plan of building a 6-acre solar farm in Milwaukee. The college wants to build solar cells to replace a parking lot on a property known as the...

Edgerton rolls the dice for new City Hall.
April 27, 2009... Byline: Paul Snyder Edgerton will hold a special referendum in June for approval to build a new City Hall, but officials disagree over the odds of success for the $1.2 million question. We're doing a $2.5 million wastewater treatment...

Regional transit authority lobbying increases as Wisconsin lawmakers waver.
April 27, 2009... Byline: Paul Snyder Supporters of a proposal to create regional transit authorities in Wisconsin worry the governor's support might not be enough to keep the measure in the state budget. Some Senate Democrats have lost their spine on...

Milwaukee alderman wants to green-light TIF money for streets.
April 27, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan Milwaukee might miss its chance to use TIF money for road projects this year if a city department cannot quickly answer some questions. Milwaukee Alderman Jim Bohl wants to use money raised by tax-incremental finance...

Builders blame farms for St. Croix River pollution.
April 27, 2009... Byline: Dustin Block Bill Berndt's joke that home construction on farmland will reduce pollution in the lower St. Croix River is grounded in reality. The government affairs director for the St. Croix Valley Home Builders Association...

In Madison, pressure to build big mounts.
April 28, 2009... Byline: Paul Snyder Developers and Madison's mayor are turning up the heat on city leaders to think big for a new Central Library, but the project will only go as far as the money will take it. You can't just ignore the costs or the...

Milwaukee Public Schools struggles to meet construction needs.
April 28, 2009... Byline: Sean Ryan The Milwaukee Public Schools capital budget cannot keep pace with the district's deferral of projects. Ultimately, the district might choose to tear down the buildings it cannot afford to fix. The MPS proposed...