The Chairman of the Vermilion County Board says he applauds efforts of those working to finish the Kennekuk Environmental Education Center. But Mike Marron says it must be done by following the law and paying prevailing wages.
Marron says he became aware that efforts have been suggested to evade the law by ‘leasing’ County Conservation District land to a private group to avoid paying the prevailing wage. And Marron adds the approach being discussed would also involve modifying the plans to make the project smaller. ‘’This is both wrong and short-sighted,’’ says Marron. ‘’All public projects must be in compliance with the prevailing wage law that both the County and Conservation District so publicly adopt as a requirement of State law,’’
Jamie Pasquale, Interim Director of the Vermilion County Conservation District, says the Conservation District Foundation has been ‘’looking at any option they could’’ to finish the project. And Pasquale says he agrees that ‘’when you do government projects, you’ve got to follow the law.’’
Representatives from several Vermilion County labor unions attended a Conservation Board meeting in February and voiced their concerns about the matter.
‘’There can be no exception or attempts to avoid the law,’’ said Marron in a news release Monday afternoon. ‘’It will not fool anyone and can only lead to the discredit of Vermilion County as a whole,’’ he added.
