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Big Night for Bay at the EIC Awards

Bay Mechanical & Electrical swept the ABC Excellence In Construction Awards on Thursday, October 11, 2011. The Awards banquet was held at the 700 BETA Banquet & Conference Center in Mayfield Village, Ohio.

Bay’s entry for Cleveland State University’s Julka Hall won the top Award of Excellence in (2) two categories; Mechanical Commercial $2-10 million & Electrical Commercial $2-10 million. The project completed the sweep by winning the coveted Chairman’s Cup “Project of the Year” for the mechanical entry. Bay concluded the evening by becoming the first 8-time winner of the Diamond Safety Award.

Julka Hall is CSU’s new College of Education & Human Services. The recently completed project is part of the University’s Master Plan. This is the second CSU project that has won the project of the year. In 2008, Bay won the Chairman’s Cup for the CSU Main Classroom project.

Bay Captures 8th Consecutive Diamond Safety Award

At the annual Associated Builders and Contractors awards celebration held on October 13, 2011 at the 700 BETA Banquet and Conference Center, Bay Mechanical & Electrical was once again awarded the coveted “Diamond Safety Award.” This is an unprecedented eighth time for a contractor to win this prestigious award. The award is presented to the contractor that best exemplifies a commitment to providing a safe work environment for its employees and customers. To win this award the contractor must submit to a lengthy application and reporting process. The award is given to one general contractor and four specialty contractors. “Winning this award for the eighth time is a remarkable accomplishment and something we are all very proud of here at Bay Mechanical & Electrical.” stated Heather Aschemeier Director of Human Resources at Bay upon receiving this award.

Keystone Set to Build New Middle School

Fresh off the construction of a new high school, the Keystone Board of Education has moved forward with plans to construct a new middle school. At their September 28, 2011 special board meeting, the board members voted to award BMEC a contract totaling $2,474,500 for the HVAC and electrical portion of the project.

The 2–story, 57,000 square-foot building will be located on Opportunity Way just north of the existing Keystone High School in Lagrange, Ohio. The new school with state-of-the-art technology will serve sixth through eighth grade with the future addition of an elementary school as part of the master plan.

The new facility is designed to blend in with the high school and offers the community a campus setting.

The ground breaking ceremony for the project took place on May 11, 2011 and the school is scheduled to open in the late fall of 2012

Lorain County Community College

As part of the Lorain County Community College (LCCC) Vision2015 Plan developed in 2007, LCCC set a goal of reaching out to the underserved areas of the county with satellite campuses.

While already completing a satellite campus in Wellington that serves the southern portions of Lorain County, LCCC took another step toward their goal by awarding contracts for the University Center Ridge Campus project in North Ridgeville. On September 22, 2011 the LCCC board of directors awarded contracts totaling $2,757,700 to BMEC for the HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection portions of the new project.

The new, 46,000 –square foot, three-story educational outreach center will be located at the intersection of Interstate 480 and Lorain Road in North Ridgeville. The building will be constructed using Green Technology and will seek a LEED Silver Certification.

The new facility is set to open in the fall of 2012 and will offer general education courses with an emphasis on information technology.

Lorain Community College was founded in 1964 and is one of the top 15 fastest growing community colleges in the nation with the main campus now serving more than 16,000 per semester.

Employee of the Year: Nelson Colon

It’s that time of year again when the management team of Bay Mechanical & Electrical Corp. selects an employee that best exemplifies our corporate mission to provide the best quality, service, and craftsmanship to our customers. The chosen employee is presented with the Award of Continuing Excellence.

This year’s recipient – Nelson Colon- has been with BMEC for 27 years. Nelson graduated from Admiral King High School in Lorain. After graduation, Nelson went to work for U.S. Steel as a plumber / pipefitter where he worked for 10 years. In May of 1984 Nelson joined Bay and added sheet metal worker to his list of skills.

Nelson worked his way through the ranks as a journeyman, a foreman and is now one of our leading superintendents. As with a number of our superintendents, Nelson’s experience and knowledge of all facets of the construction industry allows him to supervise multi-trade projects. Nelson communicates well not only with his fellow employees but also with our customers and the other project team members. His ability to oversee and complete the tough projects makes Nelson a valuable asset.

Recent projects that Nelson has supervised include the Terra Technical College, Nestle Innovation Campus, Bellevue Hospital, and Elyria Municipal Courthouse.

“The projects Nelson has been in charge of have consistently come in on time and under budget.  The recent Terra Tech project had an extremely aggressive schedule, but Nelson brought the job in on time with a steady crew size through planning and coordination.  Nelson takes ownership of his projects and represents the best interests of BMEC in a very professional manner” said Mark Huston project manager on a number of Nelson’s projects.

At the completion of the Terra Technical College project, Nelson earned praise from the owner’s representative. “This is the first project I have done with Nelson and he has been an excellent representative for your company. He asks intelligent questions, is cooperative, and his team’s workmanship was exceptional” stated Tom Stuckey, Project Representative from Poggemeyer Design Group.

Nelson and his wife of 28 years Sherri reside in Lorain and have a daughter Casey who will be entering her junior year at the University of Dayton this fall. Congratulations to Nelson Colon for being presented with this year’s Award of Continuing Excellence!

NEORSD Contract SSR-1 on Track

In our winter 2009 issue of the PIPELINE, we reported that we were awarded our largest single contract to date. The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) Contract SSR-1 is a $17 million project that includes replacing all the unit substations at the district’s Southerly plant. The project also includes constructing new buildings to house a number of the substations that were situated outside. As part of this project, the district is adding state-of-the-art switching capabilities to improve employee safety and equipment reliability.

COO and project manager Scott Dockrill reports that the project is on track for completion in August of 2012. “We certainly had our challenges earlier in the year due to the substantial amount of rain we had, but we were able to hold the schedule. When you work in an existing operating facility, you need a back-up to the back-up plan when a weather event occurs. A scheduled process can be put on hold at a moment’s notice by the owner. Through excellent planning, Keith Gardner has done a great job maintaining continuity on the project and keeping our field staff productive.” Scott says.

Bay has successfully completed a number of major projects for NEORSD. This project is part of NEORSD’s Major Capital Improvement Program. The District is responsible for wastewater treatment facilities and interceptor sewers in the greater Cleveland Metropolitan Area. This service area encompasses the City of Cleveland and all or portions of 61 suburban municipalities in Cuyahoga, Summit and Lorain Counties.

Bay Starts Wellness Program

The safety and well-being of all the employees here at BMEC has always been our top priority. As part of this continuing effort, BMEC created a wellness committee to promote an overall safe and healthy life style both on the job and at home.

One of the committee’s goals is to help assess and improve worksite policies and procedures regarding physical activity, healthy eating, tobacco-use, exposure and prevention, and safety policies and programs.

The committee applied for and was awarded a LIVE HEALTHY LORAIN COUNTY MINI GRANT .This money was used to start the 10K a day challenge. Every employee who participated was given a pedometer to track their daily steps and were encouraged to walk at least 10,000 steps a day. Prizes were awarded on a weekly and monthly basis. “As usual, the employees here at Bay embraced this challenge and we have had a very high rate of participation” stated Heather Aschemeier, Director of Human Resources at BMEC. Heather is also chairperson of the committee and promises more wellness programs in the near future.

Bay Awarded Design Build Generator Contract with Avon Lake Municipal Utilities

Avon Lake Municipal Utilities (ALMU) has 2 critical pump Stations. The Eastern Transmission Line 1 (ETL 1) and Eastern Transmission Line 2 (ETL 2). In an effort to provide continuous flow to their customers on these lines, ALMU issued request for proposals to design and install a back-up generator system for their Moore road pump stations. The installation of a standby generator system would allow ALMU total pumping capacity in the event of a total utility outage.

BMEC submitted the successful proposal and has been awarded the contract. The project will kick-off in April and the system will be on-line in August 2011.

This is one of several major projects that BMEC has been involved in with the city of Avon Lake Utilities. Bay’s most recent contract with ALMU was the completion of the Center Road Pump Station renovation and rehabilitation project which was completed in 2009.

Bay Lands High Service Pump Station in Elyria

At the October City Council Meeting, city officials in Elyria voted to award the construction of their new $6 million High Service Pump Station building project to Bay Mechanical and Electrical. From the existing High Service Pump Station built in 1904, Elyria is believed to be the first inland city in the United States to pump fresh water from the Great Lakes. As the result of a number of expansion projects the current plant currently has 22 million gallons per day (22-mgd) capacity. Although the existing station has served Elyria well, it has outlived its life expectancy. The new state-of-the-art facility includes (4) vertical turbine pumps and (1) vertical turbine backwash pump. This project will increase the plant capacity to 30-mgd. Bay has successfully completed a number of projects for the City of Elyria at both their waste and water treatment plants. This project will kick off in the early spring of 2011 and be completed in June 2012.

A New Alliance is Born

Double D Crane Service has joined Bay Mechanical & Electrical family through an asset purchase. Now, through our operating divisions, this brings a rigging solution to our business. In an effort to provide total construction services to our clients, Bay Mechanical & Electrical can now receive, store, deliver, & set in place equipment up to 20,000 lbs. Our goal is to provide rigging, concrete or steel support bases, electrical & mechanical service for a truly “one-stop” shop experience.

NEORSD Brings Bay Mechanical & Electrical on Board for IR-13B Proejct

Work on the IR-13B project began in early September 2010. This $6.1 million project involves the cleaning & refurbishing of 8 incinerators, electrical upgrades to all 3 plants, a complete remodel of the Westerly control room building, and the installation of multiple new rooftop units & exhaust fans. Completion of this project is scheduled for May of 2012. This $6.1 million project brings Bay’s total current NEORSD working portfolio to over $25 million.