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SCCA Magazine |
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SCCA Magazine March-April 2010 |
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ARRA funds moved from force account to competitive bid
For months, Sally Riley, northern region
field representative with the Construction
Industry Force Account Council
(CIFAC) has worked to get compliance in
use of American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act (ARRA) funds in Los Angeles.
In August 2009, the Caltrans local assistance
office sent a letter to local governments
saying the Federal Highway
Administration (FHWA) was unlikely to
allow construction projects funded through
ARRA to be performed by force account.
The City of Los Angeles responded by
submitting letters (Public Interest Findings)
saying they could perform the work
for less using force account and saying the
city would hire part-time temporary employees
to meet the “employment intention”
of ARRA.
Los Angeles was allocated $120 million
in Street/Transportation Funds, for which
they submitted letters outlining the use of
ARRA funds on $39 million worth of initial
projects. The letters were published on the
Caltrans local assistance website. (CIFAC
representatives found the letters while
doing research on various inquiries regarding
force account on ARRA projects.)
The city said they could perform the work
for approximately 12 percent less than
what the County of Los Angeles Department
of Public Works had received by bid
in fiscal year 2007-2008.
Riley contacted Caltrans and was told
the agency was reviewing the Public Interest
Findings and any project in progress
would use force account.
Riley explained that contractors were bidding
work approximately 30 percent less now, which
made the city’s argument that they could
self-perform for 12 percent less, moot.
In
November, SCCA’s Ed Kalish met with Caltrans staff
in Sacramento and was told the force account
work would be stopped. Riley continued
to ask for written verification that
the city would not continue to do ARRA
funded projects by force account.
In January, Riley was told FHWA had
decided projects not yet started would, in
fact, require competitive bids. The problem
was Los Angeles was claiming many jobs
had already begun. However, after investigation,
CIFAC found that on one such
project – a railway crossing – the city had
not yet obtained right-of-way permits from
the railroad; the city’s claim was denied.
“Los Angeles will be allowed to complete
$30 million worth of work,” says
Kalish, “but that means $9 million will be
put out to bid, as will the remaining $81
million in ARRA funding. Our unified efforts
not only stopped Public Works from
proceeding with projects that were not in
progress, it also resulted in a mandate by
FHWA that ARRA-funded construction
projects must be bid to the private industry.
A special thanks to the Caltrans Construction
Division for their assistance.”
For a list of 20 ARRA-funded projects,
contact CIFAC at (800) 755-3354 or email sriley@cifac.org. CIFAC is a non-profit coalition of concerned
construction industry associations, contractors
and labor unions that works to ensure
state and local government compliance with
the Public Contract Code (PCC)
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