NESCA’S 31ST PRESIDENT (Go Top)
Jeffrey B. Senft, president of S & O Construction Services, Inc., was elected president of NESCA for 2003-04 at the association’s June 12th membership meeting held at the Century House. Jeff became NESCA’s 31st president, succeeding James M. Elacqua of Clemente Latham Concrete. He has served as NESCA’s vice president, treasurer and secretary during the last three years respectively, following several years of service representing NESCA’s mechanical contractors on the Board of Directors.
S & O Construction Services, Inc. is a mechanical contracting corporation located in Pleasant Valley, New York. S & O Construction Services exclusively performs public works contracts for New York State. Jeff began his career in 1978 at the Green Fan Company in Beacon, New York as a service engineer, followed by a position as estimator and senior project manager at C.B. Strain & Sons in Poughkeepsie. In 1987 he formed S & O Construction Services. He is a graduate of Dean Junior College and Syracuse University at Utica College, where he earned his bachelor of science degree in construction management. Senft served as a member and past president of the Pleasant Valley Planning Board for 16 years.
Also
elected on June 12th were Kevin J. Garrity of Rose & Kiernan,
Inc. as vice president; Harold M. Hatfield of Maximum Security Products Corp.
as treasurer; and Toni Cristo of Cristo Demolition, Inc. as secretary.
ESSA PUSHES RETAINAGE
REFORM AS 2003 LEGISLATIVE SESSION WINDS DOWN (Go Top)
With
the 2003 session of the NYS Legislature coming to a conclusion in late June,
the Empire State Subcontractors Association urgently sought the help of its
members statewide in an effort to secure passage of ESSA’s retainage reform
bill (S.1089B/A.4620C). This legislation would require private owners to place
retainage into an interest-bearing escrow account for the benefit of the
parties from whom the retainage has been held.
With
just days left in the legislative session, ESSA urged members from each of the
five affiliated chapters across the state to contact legislative leaders and
encourage passage of the bill. As of
the writing of this Newsletter, the bill had been reported out of the Senate
Judiciary Committee to the floor of the Senate, and was reported out of the
Economic Development Committee to the Codes Committee in the Assembly. If ESSA succeeds in getting the bill passed
before the end of the session, members will be asked to send letters of support
to the Governor.
There will be no
NESCA Membership Meetings during July or August. The next regular membership meeting has been scheduled for
September 11, 2003 at the Century House.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE (Go Top)
Challenging times lie ahead for all members of NESCA: prime contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and service companies alike. The New York State budget, always late and this year filled with negative tax ramifications, should be a concern to everybody. Given our state’s fiscal crisis, it seems inevitable that higher taxes (personal, school, sales, as well as increases in other fees and assessments) will be with us for the foreseeable future. As a NESCA businessperson, be aware of the direct and indirect effect these additional taxes will have on you and your business.
One of the most valuable services NESCA
offers is the education of its members.
Seminars ranging from OSHA Standards to DOL Compliance; from Sales Tax
Requirements to Credit and Collection Techniques, offer NESCA members valuable
information no member can afford to be without in today’s marketplace if you
hope to stay competitive.
While the Wicks Law (requiring separate prime
bids on public work contracts in excess of $50,000) comes under attack every
year, NESCA has been a strong supporter of this law and has distributed a
pro-Wicks position paper to the members of the Legislature. If you’re not a mechanical or electrical
contractor, before you say “Wicks doesn’t effect me”, consider the following:
Throughout the years, NESCA has endeavored to
keep membership dues to a minimum.
While we often go many years without increasing dues, from time to time
to time a modest increase in necessary just to keep pace with the inflationary
factors we all face. Because of strong
fiscal management by the Board of Directors, NESCA continues to be a tremendous
value for the dollar, especially when compared to other organizations. I try to think of NESCA dues as not how much
it costs, but rather, how much it pays to be a member. It’s all about return on investment. No member can truthfully say that the
information, education and advocacy provided by NESCA on our behalf, not to
mention direct member services such as our lien filing service, is not worth
the dues dollar. I think if you
approach it from this angle you will see the true value of NESCA.
I’ve been a member of NESCA for over eleven
years now and can truly say that no organization has a better, harder working
administrative staff than we do. Mike,
Lorraine and Sue do an absolutely tremendous job. They are one of our greatest assets. Don’t be afraid to call upon them anytime you need a question
answered. In the unlikely event that
they don’t know the answer, they can at least put you in the right direction to
get an answer from someone else. Thank
you to all members who see the true value of NESCA and renew your membership
year after year.
Jeffrey B. Senft, President
TOP COURT
CLARIFIES PAYMENT BOND NOTICE PROVISION (Go Top)
In the case of Specialty Products and Insulation
Co. v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co. decided
by the New York State Court of Appeals on February 18, 2003, the Court
addressed a notice provision of Section 137(3) of the State Finance Law. Under that provision, a supplier to a
subcontractor, as a condition precedent to filing a claim on the Section 137
payment bond, must give the general contractor written notice of non-payment within
120 days from the date the last of the material was furnished.
The supplier in this case had an open account with
the subcontractor providing for deliveries of different goods in different
quantities at different times. The
issue addressed by the Court was whether the 120 day notice began from each
individual delivery or whether such period began from the last of the
deliveries. The Court held the period
began from the last of the deliveries but cautioned suppliers to “take measures
to keep their claims from lapsing by periodically notifying contractors about
outstanding invoices when it is uncertain whether future orders will be
placed.” Suppliers and subcontractors
on public jobs would be well advised to heed this caution.
RULE SETS NEW DRIVING
HOURS (Go Top)
The
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has changed the hours that truck
drivers are allowed to be on the nation’s highways. The new rule, published in the April 28, 2003 Federal Register,
will increase driving hours while decreasing on-duty hours as follows:
·
Eleven hours of driving time following 10 consecutive hours
off duty; and
·
No driving beyond the 14th hour after coming
on-duty, following 10 consecutive hours off duty.
The rule
also include a provision allowing a driver to “restart” the 60 hour/7 day or 70
hour/8 day clock after having at least 34 consecutive hours off duty.
Until
the compliance date of January 4, 2004, drivers and employers should continue
to comply with current regulations. Members who would like a copy of the new federal regulations
should contact the NESCA office.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE (Go Top)
Lien Law – An ESSA program bill
(S.2922/A.6400A) has both houses of the Legislature and will be sent to Governor
Pataki for his action. This is a
“technical corrections” bill needed to correct a discrepancy in Section 21 of
the Lien Law, which was created by a previous change to Section 18 of the Lien
Law. Section 18 was amended by ESSA in
2000 and changed the six month filing period for public improvement liens to
one year. This latest amendment will
make the same change in Section 21 of the Lien Law.
Workers’ Compensation – A number of measures
impacting on workers compensation have moved in one or both houses of the
Legislature. The Workers Compensation
Assurance Act (S.3905/A.3175B) has passed both houses and will be sent
to the Governor. This bill would
prohibit employers from evading workers’ compensation coverage, and would
further prohibit waivers of workers’ compensation coverage to out of state
employers. The Assembly has passed a benefit increase bill
(A.6255) that would increase the maximum workers’ compensation benefit to $625
per week (after December 1, 2003) and would thereafter index benefits (annual
increases) to an amount equal to 2/3 of the state average weekly wage. To offset a possible benefit increase, the
business community is pushing a reform bill (S.5320/A.8862) that would (1)
set a 500 week durational benefit limit for permanent partial disabled
claimants; (2) include workers’ compensation offsets for employer funded old
age social security and pension benefits; (3) limit payment for scheduled
injuries of workers who are able to return to work to one-half the maximum
benefit rate; and (4) require the Workers’ Compensation Board to promulgate
objective medical criteria to determine medical impairment.
Prevailing Wage – A bill (S.4377/A.8293A) has
passed in both houses that would broaden the application of prevailing wages by
requiring contracts entered into by a third person acting on behalf of a public
entity pursuant to any lease, permit or other agreement between such third
party and the public entity to be subject to the prevailing wage law. Another bill (S.850/A.8148) has passed in
both houses that would increase penalties for failure to pay the prevailing wage to include
(1) triple damages to the underpaid employee; (2) court costs to the employee
or union bringing the action; and (3) a civil penalty equal to 25 percent of
the unpaid wages.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS (Go Top)
July 24, 2003
Saratoga Race Course 11:30
am
Board of Directors
Meeting
Century House, Latham, 6 pm
NESCA Annual
Golf Outing
Shaker Ridge CC, Latham, 11
am
September 11,
2003
Century House, Latham, 6 pm
INCREASE IN DIVISIBLE LOAD
PERMITS MOVING IN LEGISLATURE (Go
Top)
On May 14th the State
Senate passed an industry supported divisible load permit bill (S.2974A), which
expands the number of divisible load permits from 17,000 to 25,000 over five
years, unifies the penalty system, and includes additional design and axle load
requirements for new vehicles after 2005.
The need for additional divisible load permits has been a long-term
concern of companies in the trucking and construction industries, and this
legislation provides a solution to this shortage by gradually increasing the
number of permits available. The
Assembly version of this bill (A.677A) was amended to match the Senate version
on June 10th and is currently in the Codes Committee. Members who would like to receive a copy of
this bill should contact the NESCA office.
WELCOME NEW
MEMBERS (Go Top)
ABM
Air Cond. & Heating, Inc.
P.O. Box 204
Hawthorne, NY 10532
(914) 747-0910; Fax (914)
747-9263
Contact: Richard Lomas
Empire Insulation
Specialties, Inc.
324 May Street
Schenectady, NY 12303
(518) 357-0056; Fax (518) 357-0059
Contacts: Jim Trembley; Kathleen Florell
Near-Rychcik Electric, Inc.
5200 Amsterdam Road
Scotia, NY 12302
(518) 887-2296; Fax (518) 887-4038
Contact: Dave Near
PEAK Associates, Inc.
P.O. Box 219
Walker Valley, NY
12588
(845) 744-3864; Fax (845) 744-4281
Contact: Karl Greer
RA & Sons Construction
Co., Inc.
182 Ushers Road
Round Lake, NY 12151
(518) 877-8521; Fax (518) 877-8540
Contact: Rocco Angerami
Windo-Therm
2746 State Route 7
Pittstown, NY 12185
(518) 663-5750; Fax (518) 663-7678
Contact: Jim Devine
FEDERAL DOL PROPOSES
OVERHAUL OF “EXEMPT STATUS” (Go Top)
The U.S. Department of Labor has
published a proposal to modernize its 50-year-old regulations defining
exemptions from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for “white-collar”
employees. USDOL says that the measure
will guarantee overtime pay for 1.3 million more low-wage workers.
For the first time since 1975,
the Department’s proposed regulations would raise the salary threshold – below
which workers would automatically qualify for overtime – from $155 per week to
$425 per week. The impact of this
revision will be to increase the wages of 1.3 million lower-income workers and
reduce the number of low-wage salaried workers currently not eligible for
overtime pay. Other proposed changes
include revising job duties required to qualify for the exemption to better
correspond to 21st century workplace realities. The old regulations, written in 1949,
mention job classifications that no longer exist, such as key punch operators,
straw bosses, leg men and gang leaders.
A major part of the streamlining
of these rules includes the elimination of the current “long test” and “short
test” for determining exemption from overtime, replacing them with a “standard
test” for executive, administrative, learned professional, creative
professional and computer employee categories.
A new provision exempting
certain highly compensated employees is also in the proposal, and the docking
of pay of exempt employees has been reworked.
Members who would like a copy of
the proposed rule or of a chart comparing the new standard test with long and
short tests should contact the NESCA office.