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$1.1 million project
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Swope Construction won bid with $31,000 margin
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Swope Construction currently imports workers for its Crum School project
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2nd place bidder EP Leach, longstanding Cabell County business, pays fair wages and uses local workers
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Winning bidder and #2 and #3 pay wages equivalent to repealed prevailing wage rate
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Swope Construction, currently using imported workers on another school project, came in #5
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Chandler Swope strongly opposed the prevailing wage law but his bid was $261,000 HIGHER than the winning bidder. So where are the 25% savings? Was he planning to pocket the $$ difference on his bid?
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International Rigging Group of Florida had winning $979,910 bid
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Winning bid was only $7,270 less than the second lowest bidder who would have employed local workers
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Nomika Vavlas, an officer with International Rigging, recently pled guilty to felony “Conspiracy to Defraud the United States and Commit Mail Fraud” for similar work done in WV by another company operated by her and her husband
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International Rigging is under investigation for dodging the WV Jobs Act, the law requiring companies to use at least 75% local workers on projects in excess of $500,000
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Projected budget of $7.6 million determined before repeal of prevailing wage
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After prevailing wage repeal, the low bid was $8.6 million – almost $1 million over project estimate
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Berkeley County Schools Superintendent Manny Arvon claimed “significant savings” reported to be $200-$300,000 given the prevailing wage law changes
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Project estimate (with prevailing wage) for construction: $960,900
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Winning construction bid (without prevailing wage): $986,000
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$25,000 OVER estimate, not a $200-$300,000 savings
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Contractor imported some workers from North Carolina
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Records show more than a $16 /hr pay cut and no benefits for some workers
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Winning bidder Neighborall Construction uses local workers and at times pays more than prevailing wage rates
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Owners of 2nd and 3rd place bidders repeatedly claimed the elimination of prevailing wage would result in 25% to 30% savings and their bids had ZERO savings and would’ve cost taxpayers MORE
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2nd Place bidder Jarrett Construction opposes paying prevailing wage but was $183,000 higher than winning bid
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3rd place bidder Swope Construction claimed a 25% to 30% savings would result if prevailing wage was eliminated but bid $500,000 more than Neighborall
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Winning contractor’s bid didn’t include prevailing wage, 2nd place bid included prevailing wage
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Difference of less than 1% between 1st and 2nd place bid on $8.64 million project
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Insulated concrete form contractor from Wisconsin fell behind and another out-of-state contractor, Greystar Construction, was hired to help the Wisconsin firm
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Concrete forms were improperly constructed and required major repairs before construction could continue
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Greystar imported workers from Florida
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Records show more than a $14 /hr pay cut and no benefits for some workers
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City Engineer and Public Works Director Damien Davis told Morgantown Dominion Post the city would save $1 million by not paying prevailing wage – impossible!
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Difference between the winning bidder and 2nd place was only $442,000 but neither pay prevailing wage so the difference must be from other factors
