R2002-70 ACCEPTING THE BID AND AUTHORIZING A CONTRACT

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• Page 2 Village of Nilwood - IDOT performed a pavement patching project on Illinois Route 4 through the Village of Nilwood. Through a discussion with the Mayor of Nilwood, it was difficult to ascertain if the concerns of the Village were related to IDOT and the scope of the project undertaken by the State (which was awarded to Kinney) or with the actual workmanship of the final product. To date, the Village has made no inquiry to Kinney Contractors. The Mayor indicated that the Village Board has not authorized any legal action in this matter. Citations issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) - Four citations were issued for an incident on December 10, 1997, in which an employee entered a trench that did not have proper shoring in place. Initial penalties were assessed at $4,200. Final settlement was reached on these four violations and an assessed penalty of $2,940 was paid by Kinney Contractors. A citation was issued for an incident that occurred on August 30, 2001, in which an employee with Kinney flagged traffic through an intersection being controlled by a flashing traffic signal. IDOT has argued against this violation in that the contractor was performing work as directed by the Department. At this time, this issue is dormant. Yarious violations of the Prevailing Wage Act - The Prevailing Wage Act requires contractors and subcontractors to pay laborers, workers and mechanics employed on public works construction projects no less than the general prevailing rate of wages (consisting of hourly cash wages plus fringe benefits) for work of a similar character in the county where the work is performed (IDOL). The Illinois Department of Labor investigates issues dealing with the proper payment of employees on public works projects. These issues encompass at least half(14) of the items listed by FFC in their concerns relating to Kinney. Staff contacted the IDOL and were informed that seven complaints against Kinney Contractors are currently being investigated by the Department. The status of these investigations could not be disclosed. The IDOL did inform staff that several complaints against Kinney have been investigated by the Department in the past and to date no citations have been issued against Kinney. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) investigations - Kinney Contractors currently has three pending cases with the NLRB and two investigations that have been investigated and closed. Specific information on these cases was not released by the NLRB. Employee Retirement Insurance Security Act (ERISA) violations - The U.S. Department of Labor would not release any information on their investigations. City staff did not investigate items involving current litigation since the merits of these cases have not yet been decided by the courts.