R-8 board awards contract for building South Middle School w/ middle-school renderings and construction time line

By Joe Hadsall

jhadsall@joplinglobe.com

The Joplin R-8 Board of Education on Tuesday night awarded a construction contract to build the future South Middle School, but a local carpenters union wasn’t happy with the selection.

Board members tabbed R.E. Smith Construction of Joplin for the job. The company’s bid of $18,140,000 was the lowest submitted. But Dave Wilson, a spokesman for Carpenters Local No. 311, alleged during the meeting that a subcontractor in the bid had violated federal and state labor laws.

“The board has the option not to choose the low bidder if it doesn’t believe it is a responsible contractor,” Wilson said. He said the union hopes the district works with R.E. Smith to find another subcontractor.

The subcontractor’s bid was about $300,000. Architect Vincent Brannon said the next-lowest bid from a subcontractor for the job was about $35,000 more.

Wilson, under questioning from board member Mark Smith, said the subcontractor had been punished for violating prevailing-wage laws, and that a case of being out of compliance with the National Labor Relations Board was being appealed.

“So this is not a situation where (the contractor) is out of compliance with current law,” Smith said. “We’re finding out about this on the night when we need to vote, and when time is of the essence.”

Officials with R.E. Smith were not present at the meeting. Brannon said he had spoken with company officials about the situation.

“They said they had worked with the company on several projects,” Brannon said. “They have no reason to change unless we demand a change.”

Board member Ashley Micklethwaite suggested having a conversation with R.E. Smith about the subcontractor. But, it was not known whether a different contractor could be secured at the same quoted price.

Board members also discussed one of the alternative projects in the contract, a $261,000 restroom and storage area to be located on the south end of the property on East 50th Street that is to be the site of the new South Middle School.

The area is used by the Joplin Youth Football Association for practice. The restrooms would accommodate the players and their parents, eliminating the need for portable restrooms.

Brannon said the building was added as an alternative at the request of the administration. Micklethwaite said the board didn’t get a chance to discuss it, and recommended that the alternative not be accepted.

“That’s $261,000, and we still have North and Memorial to do,” Micklethwaite said. “The board didn’t even talk about this. It just popped up.”