Will sportsplex halt strike?CROWN POINT | City officials hope to halt a work stoppage that could slow the start of Junior Bulldog playing season.
Officials on Monday approved an amendment to a contract with unions involved in a $4 million improvement project to the city-owned North Street sports complex, where about 900 youths participate in Junior Bulldog football.
Work on the project was stopped early last week after International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 launched a strike.
The amendment, which applies only to the sports complex project, permits all trade union work there to resume. The amendment was approved Monday by the city's Board of Public Works and Safety and must still be signed by a Local 150 official.
Work on the project can resume within a day of it being signed, union officials said at Monday's meeting.
The continued interruption in the work means the ground would not be sufficiently prepared for the mid-July installation of artificial turf on two combined football/soccer playing fields, project manager Jeff Ban said.
Junior Bulldog playing season begins in early August.
"This interim agreement is vital," Ban said. A condensed work schedule and overtime could be necessary to get the work done on time for football season, Ban said.
"All the parties involved are looking at what's in the kids' best interest," Mayor David Uran said. "The kids were being caught up in a labor dispute."