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Gov. Haley Barbour has set a Thursday special session for lawmakers to consider proposals that would reduce the cost of modular home construction on the hurricane-ravaged Mississippi Gulf Coast. The special session will convene at noon, said Barbour spokesman Pete Smith. Specifically, lawmakers will be asked to reduce the state's tax on modular homes by $4,000 to $6,000 per home.It is the same proposal that passed the Senate but died in the House Ways and Means Committee when Chairman Percy Watson, D-Hattiesburg, didn't bring it up for a vote during a special session in August. Modular houses are made in factories then shipped to home sites and erected on slabs. Because modulars are made to meet local building codes, they're often allowed to be put in places where mobile homes are excluded from permanent placement.
A top lawmaker says he wants a guarantee from Gov. Haley Barbour that consumers, rather than contractors, will benefit from the governor's proposed tax cut on modular housing - the sole issue in a special legislative session that starts Thursday. "Usually, the homeowner does not pay the tax directly," House Speaker Billy McCoy, D-Rienzi, said in a written statement Wednesday. "Instead, it is paid by the contractor when he buys the modular home and simply becomes a part of the cost of construction. The homeowner never sees it." Barbour says decreasing the tax rate on modular homes could help speed up rebuilding in south Mississippi, where thousands of people are still waiting to rebuild their homes more than 13 months after Hurricane Katrina. The governor's spokesman, Pete Smith, said lowering the tax rate would benefit home buyers.
The chief financial officer of the now-defunct Westra Construction Company Inc. faces theft-by-contractor charges following a contract dispute between Westra, Green Valley Enterprises Inc. and Badger Excavation L.L.C. that allegedly occurred between July 2002 and September 2004.The contract was signed in July 2002 in the amount of $1.05 million to pay construction costs of a new Green Valley adult day care and warehouse at its Madison Street location in Beaver Dam, but the amount was appended to $1.43 million after various contractual changes. However, according to the criminal complaint, former chief financial officer of Westra Construction, Patrick H. Flynn, 58, Harrisburg, Pa., refused to make payment to a subcontractor in the amount of $106,358, resulting in a claim for lien against Green Valley by the subcontractor, Badger Excavation.According to the complaint, Green Valley officials were issued a waiver of lien by Westra Construction after making the final contract payment in the amount of $62,539 in October 2004.
APPEAL: Shelby Township is one of the fastest-growing communities in Macomb County as measured by new home construction. This is rapidly changing many areas, especially the northern and eastern sections of the township, from a mostly rural to a suburban landscape. According to Shelby Township's master plan, 5,300 new single-family homes were added between 1990 and 2002. And according to Housing Consultants in Clarkston, nearly 4,000 residential building permits have been issued since 2000. Sewer lines are being constructed along major streets, helping to add to the growth of this attractive community that offers a variety of subdivisions, some with man-made lakes and water fountains. The northern and eastern sections have larger lots and larger houses. Almost 100% of the township has city water, and about 55% has city sewers, township Supervisor Ralph Maccarone says.
Mississippi Gulf Coast residents can now save a few thousand dollars on quick-built houses under a tax break swiftly approved by lawmakers and Gov. Haley Barbour on Thursday. In a special session that lasted less than two hours, both the House and Senate agreed on legislation that trims sales tax on modular houses from 7 percent to 3 percent, hoping to boost reconstruction in south Mississippi. Barbour signed Senate Bill 2001 into law shortly after 4 p.m. when legislative staff rushed paperwork to his office. "Hallelujah!" said Mack Harper, an Ocean Springs resident who is helping his mother buy a modular home. "I was wondering if they ever would see eye to eye." His mother, Peggy, lost her Gulfport home in Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters last year. He expects to save $6,000 on the three-bedroom, two-bath house.
Backhoes are cleared to start digging at three sites across the WSU statewide system, including a new golf-course clubhouse in Pullman. Designed to seat 100 people with spillover onto a patio and a tented area, the $4-million clubhouse will sit at the base of the 18-hole golf course now under construction near the Student Recreation Center. Ken Alhadeff, chairman of the WSU Board of Regents, said that as a golfer, he thought the seating capacity was too little for the average 140-person golf tournament. If you had 150 capacity, you would be safe for a long time, he said. Nevertheless, Alhadeff and the Board of Regents approved the projects design at their meeting Friday in Spokane. With a pro shop, dining area and bar, the 7,200-square-foot clubhouse could double as a location for weddings, Jerry Schlatter, associate vice president of Capital Planning and Development, told WSUs highest governing body.
The contractor that built the Colorado Convention Center and the Wellington E. Webb Municipal Building has been selected to build Denver's $378 million Justice Center. Hensel Phelps Construction Co. is still negotiating terms of the contract to build the detention facility and the courthouse included in the Justice Center. The Greeley-based firm beat out JE Dunn Construction Co. for the detention facility, and Mortenson, PCL Construction Services Inc. and the Weitz Co. for the courthouse contract. "They were the only firm that submitted on both sides," said James Mejia, Justice Center project manager. "They came with a proposal where if they got both projects, there were substantial savings. That's what persuaded us to go with both and take advantage of economies of scale and pricing." Mejia said he can't disclose the bid amount until a contract is signed.
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