The construction of the new Walgreens’ drug store at the intersection of U.S. Highway 63 and Missouri Route 72 has begun and should be completed by the beginning of October, if good weather cooperates, said the job supervisor on Wednesday — despite a complaint from a disgruntled citizen.

The supervisor of the general contractor in charge of the construction of Walgreens, Doug Conley, was pleased with the progress as he watched the construction workers raising the walls of the new building.

What he didn’t know was that a local resident had called the Rolla Daily News to report a proliferation of “Mexican workers” at the Walgreens’ site and that some of them were probably “illegal aliens.”

The disgruntled resident, George King, who reported this “probability,” also stated, his son, a carpenter, couldn’t find work.

King stopped at the construction site and tried to speak with some of the workers, but none of them understood English, he claimed.

Furthermore, King said, he was aghast at the thought that the City of Rolla would spend $500,000 to extend Route 72 just to entice Walgreens into building a new facility that would probably put the local pharmacies of Hillcrest and Sinks out of business.

Approximately 30 workers, representing a number of subcontractors, were on the construction site Wednesday, measuring the the unfinished retaining wall and leveling the grounds of the 14,800-square-foot structure, and Conley was busy running back and forth between the various construction projects.

When asked whether he had any plans for hiring local workers, Conley said, “Right now, I don’t have a clue if I’m going to hire any local people.  All the specialty work is done by subcontractors from out of the state.”

Conley works for the general contractor of the project, Harman and Son Construction, Inc., located in Fort Worth, Texas, and his company hires a multitude of subcontractors.
The subcontractors on the job site Wednesday included such companies as Hicks Construction, from Niangua; C&N Masonry, from Bentonville, Ark.; and Brice Plumbing, from Jefferson City.

After he heard of King’s complaint about the possibility of illegal aliens on the job, Conley answered bluntly, “Yeah, there’s probably a lot of Mexicans here.  I don’t have a clue if they’re legal — I would say they all are legal, or they wouldn’t be working here.”
Conley admitted he didn’t know who was responsible for checking the workers’ employment eligibility credentials, other than the contractor that hired them.
A telephone interview with the construction manager from the Batis Development Co., the company in charge of the Walgreens project, settled the issue.

“It’s every employer’s responsibility to check on the eligibility of all its employees,” said Joe Erwin of Batis.

“We only have about 180 days to get this done, and a lot of these contractors have worked on other Walgreens.”

Erwin said the complaint probably was instigated by the masons employed by C&N Masonry, who are, in large measure, Mexican.

“We’ve done the last 10 Walgreens stores with these guys, and they’re not going to do anything illegal,” Erwin said.  “They’re good masons, real conscientious, and they don’t cause any problems.

“As far as pointing out a group of people and judging a worker’s eligibility by just driving by, it’s unfair,” Erwin said.  “I’ve never had an undocumented worker on any of my jobs.”

Erwin forwarded a portion of the contract between Batis and all contractors and subcontractors that deals with employment eligibility requirements.  Basically, it states that every contractor would comply with all U.S. immigration laws.  The contract is posted at the job site, Erwin said.

As to hiring local workers, Erwin said a number of local companies already had been contacted, a long time ago, to prepare them for having enough materials on hand for the construction project.  Rolla Redi-Mix was one of the local companies afforded a plan.

Back at the Walgreens’ construction site, Supervisor Conley looked a little puzzled by the other issue put forth by the complaining citizen — the issue of someone’s son, a carpenter, not being able to find work.

“If the guy’s looking for work, he needs to stop and see if one of the subcontractors can use him,” Conley said.  “Just this morning, one of the subcontractors hired another laboror, a local guy.

“When my painter subcontractor comes in, they’ll probably hire some local people, too.”