Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

Brian Lee|Telegram & Gazette

HUBBARDSTON Police Officer Scott Chatigny admitted to the state Ethics Commission he pushedmunicipal work to his side business, Oakley Construction, by placing boguscompeting bids.

Chatigny paid a $10,000 penalty to the state for violating the conflict-of-interest laws prohibition against a municipal employee having a financial interest in a contract with the same municipality, the commission said in a statement Wednesday.

The state saidthe phony bids were part of Chatigny's ploy to improve the standing of Oakley's bid, which would be lower than the phony bids. Municipalities require multiple bids.

Before owning Oakley Constructon, Chatigny owned a roofing company that was dissolved in 2007. The state said he leveraged the roofing company to make competing bids on town work.

In May 2016, Oakley Construction submitted a proposal of $1,820 to install two solid core wood doors at the police station. The town awarded the company the contract for that amount.

In November 2016, Chatigny submitted a proposal for $1,275 to install a steel door at the police station.When Hubbardston sought two additional quotes, Chatigny, using a fictitious name, submitted a phony $1,425 proposal purportedly on behalf of his defunct roofing company, while a third proposal for $1,650 was received from a company operated by Chatignys friend.

The town awarded the contract to Oakley Construction for $1,275.

In or about December 2016, the town sought bids to repair the roof on a town office building.

In response, Oakley Construction submitted a proposal for $8,690 proposal, and Chatigny, again using a fictitious name, submitted a phony $11,221 proposal purportedly on behalf of his defunct roofing company. The town accepted Oakley Constructions proposal.

After the town accepted Oakley Constructions proposal for the roof repair, Chatigny sought a meeting with the town accountant in a conference room at the police station. During the meeting, Chatigny, who was on duty and in uniform, sought a pre-payment of $4,345.

The accountant, citing state law, refused. The accountant then canceled the contract.

By submitting false high bids to drive the contracts to Oakley Construction, Chatigny violated the conflict of interest laws prohibition against municipal employees presenting false or fraudulent claims to their municipal employer for payment.

The Ethics Commission noted that Chatigny was in uniform when he sought the meeting about the pre-payment, while conflict-of-interest laws prohibit public employees from using their positions for private gain.

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Ethics Commission: Hubbardston officer used deception to drive work to remodeling business - Worcester Telegram

Students enter Lincoln Heights Elementary School at the beginning of the school year. On Monday, the Scottsbluff Public Schools Board of Education voted unanimously to start a modernization and renovation project for the districts five elementary schools. District officials said that the renovations, spanning five years, will not require a tax increase or additional bond.

Roosevelt Elementary School was built in 1939, some 82 years ago. Over that time, district officials said the elementary school has been renovated just once. Its second renovation in nearly a hundred years may be coming this year.

On Monday, the Scottsbluff Public Schools Board of Education voted unanimously to start a modernization and renovation project for the districts five elementary schools. District officials said that the renovations, spanning five years, will not require a tax increase or additional bond.

Instead, the district will draw from its stores of cash. According to the plan presented at the January school board meeting, the project would draw from the districts building fund. Presenters said the district would not require a tax increase or additional bond to pay for the renovations.

This is an important presentation this evening because, in some ways, its a combination of work and more of a beginning of work, said Scottsbluff Public Schools Superintendent Rick Myles.

Myles opened the presentation but it featured an onslaught of building principles, assistant principals and other central office administrators pitching the project to a board that in the end voted unanimously to move forward. The presenters at Mondays meeting were a small representation of a much larger team working on the renovations, Myles said.

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Scottsbluff moving to remodel all elementary schools, Roosevelt first on the list - Scottsbluff Star Herald

The storm that has covered the entire city of Madrid It has led to difficult days in the capital. Given this, the Real Madrid has decided to lend the City Council the machinery it is using for the remodeling of the Bernabu with the aim of making it useful for removing snow from the main arteries of the city.

The news has been revealed by the mayor of Madrid, Jose Luis Martinez Almedia, which has thanked the white team by making its gesture public with the city council. And I am going to give a specific example that is precisely the works that are being carried out in the Santiago Bernabeu. Real Madrid and the contracting companies immediately put at the disposal of the City Council the machines that work in the execution of these reform works and that allowed us to begin yesterday to clear that entire area of Paseo de la Castellana , thanked the mayor of the city.

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Madrid gives up the machinery it uses in the remodeling of the Bernabu to remove snow - Sportsfinding

The rehabilitation of the stadium includes, among other things, the construction of new stands, boxes, six bathrooms for the spectators, and dressing rooms with showers, lockers, and toilets for the players.

PALENQUE Tabasco (Mexicans Against Corruption) The Ministry of Territorial and Urban Development (Sedatu) assigned this Monday, January 11, a contract for 89 million pesos to renovate the stadium of the baseball team Guacamayas de Palenque, whose founder and the director is Pio Lopez Obrador, brother of the President of Mexico.

The contract was granted to the company Alz Construcciones SA de CV, originally from Tuxtla Gutirrez.

The award was granted in a second-round because, in the first round of the bidding, Sedatu disqualified the 26 bidders who competed for alleged noncompliance with the requirements established in the call bases.

In the first round, there was a consortium of four construction companies that submitted a proposal 33 million pesos cheaper than the one that was finally declared the winner. In the second round, a construction company proposed executing the work 12.5 million pesos cheaper.

The evaluation committee of Sedatu rejected both proposals due to technical aspects, such as not having submitted the curricula vitae of the personnel proposed for the work and for not having accredited experience in similar works.

The stadiums rehabilitation includes the construction of new stands, boxes, 12 premises distributed on the sides of the entrance hall, six bathrooms for the spectators, dugouts for the teams, and dressing rooms with showers, lockers, and toilets for the players.

The contract also contemplates improvement works in the sports unit where the stadium is located. Lights will be placed on floors and posts, LED lines suspended on ceiling lights, reflectors for the court, and updating for the baseball stadiums exterior lighting.

The current built area of the sports facilities is 5,793 square meters, and the expansion will be over 15,372 square meters, according to the plans consulted by Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity (MCCI).

The stadium is owned by the municipality of Palenque, as stated in its real estate inventory for 2020.

AMLO trains with the teamOn November 13, 2018, two weeks before taking office as President, Lpez Obrador trained at the Palenque stadium and wore the Macaws uniform, as can be seen in photographs shared on the teams social networks. During that visit, he committed himself to support baseball in Palenque, the Chiapas municipality where he has his ranch.

Guacamayas de Palenque has been four times champion of the Tabasco Professional Baseball League. It is currently a branch of the Olmecas de Tabasco Club, which participates in the Mexican League.

Pios TeamThe President of the baseball team is Po Lpez Obrador, brother of the President. When Po registered the Chiapas Macaws trademark in his name on July 28, 2017, he gave the teams address as Calle Jimnez 88, in the San Juanito neighborhood of Palenque, which corresponds to the baseball stadium that will be modernized with federal resources.

In a letter he sent on that date to the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI), he mentioned that he had been President of the team since its foundation in March 2015.

Po Lpez Obrador, in my own right and under protest of telling the truth, I come to declare in my capacity as President of the Chiapas Macaw Baseball Team (also known as Palenque Macaws), that there is no type of society or civil association that can represent the team that participates in the Professional Baseball League of Tabasco, For this reason, and given the powers with which I have held the position of President of the team since its foundation, as shown in various advertisements in the different media, and in order not to leave both the name and the logo of the team in question in a state of defenselessness, I have come to request the registration of the trademark,the letter mentions.

The concession of the ownership of the trademark was granted on November 9, 2017. The registration of the name of the baseball team had been requested in August 2015 by Csar Augusto Jurez Ugalde, who was the private secretary of Governor Manuel Velasco. However, the IMPI denied it.

Assignment in the second roundThe winning company was created on July 3, 2002, in Tuxtla Gutirrez, Chiapas. Its majority shareholder is surveyor Angel Heraclio Lara Ziga, originally from Simojovel, who is associated with builder Alberto Ziga Penagos.

The contract was assigned to him in a second-round because, in the first round, the bidding was declared void.

There were 26 bidders in the first round of the competition, although 22 submitted their proposals in person, of which 15 were consortiums formed by two or more companies.

The lowest proposal in that round was submitted by the consortium formed by Obras Civiles de Antequera, Next Time SA de CV, Grupo Constructor Velacor, and Grupo Juracn SA de CV, who proposed to execute the work for 56 million 182 thousand pesos, 33 million less than the construction company that was finally assigned the contract.

In contrast, the most expensive proposal in that first round was Tcnicos de Oaxaca SA de CV, which intended to charge 185 million 412 thousand pesos for the work.

On December 1, 2020, the contestants were summoned to the board room of Sedatu in Mexico City to announce the decision, which was declared void because the evaluation committee considered that all the bidding companies had failed to comply with any of the technical, legal, or economic requirements established in the call for bids.

This forced the bidding process to be carried out again. On December 18, 2020, a new opening of proposals took place, with the representatives of 22 bidders, three of them integrated as consortiums.

In this second round of the bidding, the cheapest proposals were made by the companies Promocin y Distribucin Cinco SA de CV, for 76 million 964 thousand pesos; Alz Construcciones for 89.3 million pesos; Los Cedros Construcciones and Lax Constructora for 89.4 million pesos.

While the highest bids corresponded to Construcciones Centurin in joint participation with Construcciones de Mxico for 119 million 771 thousand pesos, a similar amount to that proposed by Tecnologa Urbana Aplicada SA de CV.

The decision on this second round of the bidding was scheduled for December 23 but was postponed until January 6, 2021. That day, however, it was decided to postpone it again to Monday, January 11.

The Yucatan TimesNewsroom

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AMLO's government grants $89 million pesos to remodel the stadium for the baseball team headed by his brother. - The Yucatan Times

Since last year, several of the major amusement and theme parks in the greater Tokyo area have successively been undergoing major renovations. J-Cast News (Jan 11) considers the factors affecting leisure business.

The preponderant motivation has been the aging and weathering of the facilities. But their corporate management has also implementing new business strategies.

The prolonged coronavirus pandemic has certainly had a serious impact, particularly in that more people feel inclined to avoid long trips, sticking closer to their homes when seeking recreation.

First is Yomiuriland. Located in Inagi City in the Tama Hills area west Tokyo, the park has constructed a new baseball stadium for the Yomiuri Giants B team (second string squad) and the accompanying commercial concessions have been placed under joint management.

Before undergoing a takeover bid, Yomiuriland Corporation had been listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Since the takeover, it assumed the status of a subsidiary, with the parent Yomiuri Shimbun owing 34% of shares in the newly reorganized company.

Along with revenues from admission tickets to baseball games, the corporation will engage in sales of food and beverage sales and baseball merchandise.

Toshikazu Yamaguchi, president of Yomiuri Shimbun, tells J-Cast news that considering the inevitable downsizing of the newspaper market, the company's new strategy will be "to position Yomiuriland as a core business for sports, culture and entertainment."

The Seibu Railway Company, meanwhile, has been proceeding with renewal activities of its 70-year-old Seibu-en amusement park in Tokorozawa City, Saitama, which it temporarily closed last November. The company plans to complete construction and repairs by this spring.

Among the new features will be an emphasis on Showa-era nostalgia, boasting a town in the style of the 1960s, along with new attractions tailored to the same theme. Visitors will be greeted by an old-style streetcar (tram) at the entrance and rows of shops will offer examples of Showa-era commerce, complete with live performances.

Some 10 billion yen will have been invested in renovations. Director Takashi Yamazaki, well known for his award-winning "ALWAYS Sanchome no Yuhi" film series, and theme part expert Tsuyoshi Morioka, who oversaw the renovation of Universal Studios Japan, were consulted on the project.

Last August, the Seibu Group shut down Toshima-en, its other theme park located in Tokyo's Nerima Ward. A portion of the property will be used for new facilities based on the Harry Potter film series in collaboration with the Warner Bros film studio, with opening planned in the first half of 2023.

Visitors to the park will be able to experience some of the famous scenes appearing in Harry Potter films. The new park will be the second of its kind to be operated by Warner Bros, following the one in the UK that opened in March 2012.

Most of the remainder of Toshima-en will be sold to metropolitan Tokyo, which plans to develop it as a park for evacuation in the event of a natural disaster. The sale of this valuable land situated within one of Tokyo's 23 wards is expected to considerably enhance Seibu's bottom line. While occupying a smaller area than does Toshima-en, the new Harry Potter facility is expected to become a lucrative new attraction for its operators.

Japan's Numero Uno in the theme park realm, Tokyo Disney Resort, has adopted a business model into which huge amounts of capital have been invested. While its gate is currently reeling from the coronavirus pandemic, merely by virtue of its being located on the periphery of a huge metropolitan area TDR is banking on current renovations and additions, such as the LEGO Hotel scheduled to open later this year, in expectation these will ultimately contribute to future success.

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Tokyo area theme parks remodel themselves while waiting out pandemic - Japan Today

Ken Calverley and Chuck Breidenstein, Special to The Detroit News Published 5:53 p.m. ET Jan. 14, 2021

If you are a homeowner, you know the feeling. You walk into your garage or on to your front porch and note the concrete is sinking! It wasnt that way yesterday, was it? What happened?

The Guys talk all the time about the importance of base and supporting soils under concrete and asphalt.

Keep in mind that the ground beneath a construction ultimately supports and distributes the load from the building or driveway. If that soil is not well compacted or it disappears or shifts in any way, it can impact whatever is resting on it.

When we begin to build a house or place slab-on-grade concrete for sidewalks, patios and driveways we first seek undisturbed soils. These would be soils that have not been dug or otherwise manipulated for many years. Undisturbed soils are not as likely to further settle or compact. We can create such soil conditions through measured compaction with mechanical devices.

Driveways need the proper material below them for stability.(Photo: Paul Brennan , Pixabay)

Soil composition is also important. Undisturbed clays can be a good base in many cases. But clays have two faults. They can absorb and retain lots of water which makes them dimensionally unstable. Clays that retain water in freezing conditions can lead to frost heave which will lift concrete. Expansion and contraction due to gain or loss of water in the clay can lead to shifting concrete as well.

Soils that are well-drained and well compacted are ideal. Well-drained soil mimics the sand on the beach your kids play in; no matter how much water they take from the lake to dump in that castle moat they are building, the water simply runs down through the sand.

But sand under concrete has issues as well. Water running adjacent to a concrete driveway may sweep away the sand beneath it and undermine the slab. The Guys have seen this many times in brand new drives and sidewalks.

A great alternative is to use a product like crushed concrete or limestone on top of an undisturbed base. It will compact and drain and it is less likely to ever wash out. When your slab is placed on this base, it is formed such that the slab is above the surrounding grade and it will shed any surface water. A cross slope of 1 inch in 60 inches is enough to shed surface water.

When surface water is shed and directed away from the slab and subsurface water cannot accumulate below the slab, the slab will not shift due to weathering conditions as long as the base remains stable. At that point the biggest danger to your slab is overloading. If you allow a too heavy truck or piece of equipment on the slab it could create damage.

As to porches and garage slabs, the same thinking applies but with additional considerations. When we excavate to build a basement, we over-dig; that is we dig a bigger hole than the construction will occupy. When we fill this back in or backfill we should again use readily compacted, well drained materials like sand or pea-gravel. Many builders simply use native soils like the clay they took out.

The use of native soils may sound ecologically friendly, but from a construction standpoint it can possibly wreak havoc. Clays can take years to settle and when they do whatever they support will settle as well; like your garage slab or patio or front porch.

We should pin these slabs and porches to the house foundations with steel rod or even provide a shelf or notch in the foundation for the concrete to rest upon. In theory, the house foundation should never move or settle so tying these constructions directly to the house foundation can virtually assure they will never move, either.

Keep in mind there is a solution for those unbroken, settled, slabs. Brett Butler from A-1 Concrete Leveling says they can save most such slabs and add years to their serviceable life.

Now you better understand the potential problem and are armed with good solutions!

For more Home Improvement advice listen to the Inside Outside Guys every Saturday and Sunday on News/Talk 760, WJR-AM from 10 a.m. to noon or contact us at insideoutsideguys.com with your questions.

Read or Share this story: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/life/home-garden/2021/01/14/inside-outside-guys-sinking-feeling-concrete-slabs-porches-and-patios/6625882002/

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The Inside Outside Guys: That sinking feeling concrete slabs, porches and patios - The Detroit News

'Celebrations after field goals and touchdowns, that would be the only thing we could maybe try to control a little better,' Soho owner Jay Manno said.

BUFFALO, N.Y. It appears Playoffs on the Patios was a success on Chippewa Street.

Fans got to sit at socially-distant tables and watch the Buffalo Bills beat the Indianapolis Colts 27-24 in an AFC Wild Card game on Saturday afternoon.

2 On Your Side spoke with the owner of Soho Burger Bar, who was very happy with how it turned out with about 300 people.

"All in all, it was good, clean fun, and very COVID fun," Jay Manno said. "Celebrations after field goals and touchdowns, that would be the only thing we could maybe try to control a little better.

"It wasn't bad, it wasn't by any stretch out of control. You can see on some of the video, some people jumping up and down without face masks on."

Manno is hoping to do it again next weekend for the Bills playoff game.

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Playoffs on the Patios a hit on Chippewa during Bills playoff win - WGRZ.com

LANSING, Mich. Michigan ban on indoor dining isn't going away quite yet.

"We're working on a path to allow indoor dining at restaurants with safety measures such as mask requirements, capacity limits and a curfew starting on Feb. 1," Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said at a press conference on Wednesday. The ban was slated to end on Jan. 15.

Joe Bell, owner of The Peanut Barrel in East Lansing, is trying to remain optimistic.

"She wants us to have a little more time to prepare this time than she gave us the last time," Bell said.

But he's adapted the restaurant's patio to be more comfortable for people dining outside.

"We bought the heaters in September, and we put them out in early October," he said.

Bella Williams has been dining outside despite the cold and plans to continue.

"I don't really mind eating outside as long as it's convenient and safe," Williams said.

In the meantime, Bell says he plans to get his restaurant ready for indoor dining again.

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Indoor dining is off the table until Feb. 1, but patios are flourishing, even in a Michigan winter - WSYM-TV

SALT LAKE CITY Baby, it's cold outside.

Yes, while eating outdoors became a more popular option in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, which can spread more easily in confined spaces, the cold winter weather has largely quashed that possibility in Salt Lake City. Largely but not entirely.

Some Salt Lake restaurants have patio heaters that keep the space usable throughout the year. And with the pandemic still raging throughout the state, eating outdoors in comfort might be a welcome option for Utahns wary of traditional indoor dining. It also brings more business to restaurants that desperately need it after a punishing year.

A disclaimer: Just because a patio is heated doesn't mean it won't still be cold if it's, say, 25 degrees outside. So contact these restaurants individually to see exactly what kind of heater is warming what size of space, as well as to check the availability of patio seating on any given night. Sometimes propane runs out, patios are booked up, or restaurants decide it's just too cold some evenings to seat outside.

And while we know there are lost of great patios in the greater Salt Lake area, this map only includes ones within the city limits. If there are any eateries we've omitted here, feel free to let us know at news@ksl.com.

With that, check out our map and bon appetit! Just click on the blue icons for more information about each restaurant.

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Map: Here are the bars and restaurants with heated patio seating in SLC - KSL.com

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) After months of shutdowns, restaurant owners of Soho Buffalo and Rec Room tell News 4, it felt good to get staff back to work and customers back at their outdoor tables. Now, with the Citys permission, they should be able to continue this for next weeks second home playoff game.

The Mayors Office with the Reopen Buffalo plan, did extend the patios through May, said Owner of Rec Room, Chris Ring. So all our paperwork is in there. All our insurance is there. So well basically do this kind of thing moving forward through May with the Citys approval, he added.

According to the citys Special Events department, if a restaurant has never submitted an application for this type of event, they need to reach out as soon as possible to get all required paperwork in by Monday, January 11th, 2021. For any business previously approved, like Soho and Rec Room, they just need to confirm their plans with the Special Events Division.

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Playoffs on the Patio should continue for next Bills Playoff Game - WIVB.com - News 4