The Sacramento Municipal Utility District’s Board of Directors this week approved a $111 million contract for the construction of a new SMUD building. The decision was not unanimous, as one member was unhappy with the terms. The contract with Turner Construction, which runs from Dec. 20 to July 31, 2013, is for the design and building of a new operations center. Commission vice president Renee Nunes Taylor said Dec. 16 that although she supported the project as a whole, she didn’t agree with the labor agreement component of the contract, which mandates that subcontractors use union labor. “I have to say that I have not been convinced that it makes sense for a public agency to put forward a contract that favors one business model over the other,” she said, referring to union and non-union labor. The new energy efficient facilities, which would consist of five buildings, would be more energy and cost efficient than the current 59th Street Corporation Yard, said Mike Wirsch, SMUD labor relations manager. “It will be the largest net-zero site in North America,” he said. “That means we’re generating at least 10 percent more than our energy use on site during the course of a year.”
