When the large new feeder pipe to the water tower was dug up, the Caterpillar tracked front end loader operator displayed an amazing coordination with the equipment controls. When the initial digging allowed big and aggressive digging, that is what he machine operator did. When the hole got close to the buried pipe, he took very small scoops until the pipe was uncovered. All without a word spoken. I dare say that not shovel full of dirt was dug by hand if it could be dug by the machine. And not one time did I see the machine dig any dirt when it endangered the existing piping. The amazing part was the machine operator was often digging in the blind and his spotter was giving him hand signals to guide the loader bucket. Fast and efficient. The dirt was loaded into another large front-end loader bucket for reuse when the hole was filled. Nobody had to send for the large equipment, it was there when needed without a word spoken by anybody. Everybody knew the plan and didn’t need further instructions.
Then the old original pipe had to be located since it was between the new large pipe and my house. It was still pressurized and any misstep with the front-end loader had the possibility of draining the entire water tank of many tens of thousands of gallons of water. Care was needed and care was taken. Everybody knew that and no questions or communications were needed. Nothing was damaged, therefore nothing had to be fixed.
In the end, my new water tap was made up to the new 12-inch line, a new soft copper feeder line was installed from the new 12-inch pipe, under the school’s road and my concrete to the new meter base piping. The line was purged and made ready for the final meter installation and changeover from the old system piping to the new system piping. All done in about one long morning.
All this major construction work on the roads into Fallston Elementary School was done during school schedule breaks. No interference or extra traffic jams at any time. Good work done by good workers with no problems due to miscalculations. One exception I heard about was when a pipe locator marking was 8 ft off, then they had a problem that required fixing. Customer satisfaction was pushed by the Fuller folks and I am 2,000% satisfied with the work that was done at my house. Teamwork and efficiency leads to cost savings and competitive prices. Not one time did I see a Fuller employee leaning on a shovel, like State workers are infamous for.
There ae lessons here. The high level of performance, quality control, teamwork, adherence to schedule, quality of materials and efficiency exhibited by Fuller Construction should be noted and these folks hired when additional construction work is needed. Brad Cornwell, Manager of the CC Water System should be awarded a bonus for finding and using Fuller Construction for this work. Fuller Construction should be considered for all county work in the future. I am tired of the $Millions in cost over-runs in projects like the LeGrand Center, Shelby Middle School, the new Health Department building and the new North Shelby School project. (Probably $20 million+ altogether was wasted on those projects alone.) Fuller should be hired for the new Advanced Manufacturing Center to be built at Cleveland Community College and anything else the county plans to build. Like a new Courthouse, a new Jail, a new DSS and new auditoriums at Burns and Crest. Also, the $750,000 pipe project at the Kings Mountain High School Football project that CCS is giving away to the David Brinkley crowd to fix a deteriorated drain under the KMHS football field.
Folks, I know good work when I see it. Lots of good work from the Fuller Construction people and the County Water system. Every so-called “leader” in Cleveland County Government should be taking notice of the good work on the Fallston Water System by Fuller Construction and include Fuller in all construction Requests for Proposals. And hire Fuller. That is what smart “leaders” would do. Just like Brad Cornwell.
When you need top notch construction, Call Fuller Construction. You will be glad you did.
There are also political lessons to be learned here. Only in a capitalistic private-enterprise based economy are there incentives for the hard work, efficiency and cost savings that was clearly demonstrated by the Fuller Construction Company. If this work had been performed by a socialist based government bureaucratic enterprise (like CCS), they would not give a whit about customer satisfaction, tied up school traffic jams or cost over-runs. The proof of that is go to School Board meetings and hear the board member say, cost does not matter. Hey, that is why the County’s finances are on the verge of bankruptcy. And a sales tax increase is planned as soon as possible.
Be sure to vote (X) AGAINST the $2 million tax increase on the November 5th, 2019 Ballot. Give the tax and spend all Republican commissioners and CCS and CCC the message. NO SALES TAX INCREASES ALLOWED!!! Stop the waste and corruption! Live within our means!! Show the Commissioners, CCS and CCC who the boss is. Note that Pinnacle Classical Academy just built a new school facility without the $Millions in cost over-runs like CCS and CCC. How? By Debbie Clary, Betsy Harnage and others using good and efficient construction contractors just like Fuller Construction. And eliminating waste and corruption. Vote against the tax increase, none of the $2 million revenue increase will go to benefit of Pinnacle Classical Academy or Fallston Water. Or anybody else that is not an Insider Good-Ole-Boy!!!