During the January 23rd meeting of the Lower Gwynedd Township’s Board of Supervisors, the supervisors voted unanimously to advertise a Responsible Contractor Ordinance. This type of ordinance is often controversial when considered. Supporters believe that it creates safeguards to ensure large public work projects are constructed safely and properly. Critics argue that it is just a ploy to reward unions (through a requirement regarding a specific type of apprentice program) and increases the cost of a project.

This ordinance would not impact all construction projects undertaken by the township. As advertised, it would only be trigged when the cost is expected to be $250,000 or more.

We asked the board of supervisors three questions regarding the proposed ordinance. They were:

Does the township have construction projects in the future that will be impacted by the adoption of the ordinance? For example, a new township building.

Which supervisor(s) introduced the ordinance? Or was it from an outside source? If so, who?

Was the current township building built with union labor? If not, are there issues with the building that led you to consider adopting the RCO?

In response, the supervisors provided the following statement to AroundAmbler.com:

The Responsible Contractor Ordinance was advertised in an effort to gain feedback and input from the community. There are significant capital projects that the Board hopes to embark upon in the near term and we are considering all avenues to ensure we get the best quality work while being good stewards of the taxpayer’s dollar. As with all ordinances, no decision will be made until after a public hearing.

You can view the text of the proposed ordinance here (starting page 9). Below is the video of the discussion about the proposed ordinance from the January meeting. While the agenda for the February 27th meeting is not yet published, there could be a vote on that date.