Menino: The poor economy has caused the mayor to delay any plans for new city hall on the South Boston waterfront. Meanwhile, 2008 Boston assessed property value:$90.4 billion. The average residential tax bill decreased $187 to $2,762.

Signs of Life? In what may be a good sign, some engineers report they are busy drawing up projects. Many in the industry feel that when the financing logjam breaks, projects could come on line very quickly.

Borrowing: Increasingly, developers and small business owners are turning to smaller, local banks to help finance projects. Smaller banks never had the resources to get involved in risky "securitized instruments" that were used by the large financial institutions. Because of this, default rates at local banks in Massachusetts have been very low. This puts them in a strong position during period of potential growth.

Infrastructure: President Obama's ambitious $3.55-trillion budget proposal for fiscal year 2010 includes the creation of a National Infrastructure Bank, which would boost funding for roads and bridges -- also for water and wastewater projects.

Union Supporter? Obama, who had strong support from unions during the election, has now strongly endorsed the Employee Free Choice Act. The bill would allow workers at a company to form a union simply by getting a majority of the employees to sign a card saying they want to unionize. Businesses strongly oppose the measure. They prefer the current approach, which allows both labor and management to lobby workers, and then have a secret ballot election at the business location. The fight over this bill will be very vicious.

Ads: Already business groups are running full-page ads in major newspapers opposing the Free Choice Act.

But Not Always A Supporter: Despite his support for the Employee Free Choice Act, Obama looks like he will be willing to challenge some of unions' sacred cows. Example: he is supporting charter schools, which are strongly opposed by most teacher unions.

Health Care: More union dissatisfaction with Obama may arise on the health care front. The president established an informal health care advisory group, made up of representatives from labor, the medical profession, business groups, and insurance companies. But recently two of the key labor groups quit, apparently out of dissatisfaction with the way the still-evolving proposals are taking shape. Both AFSCME and SEIU quit the group. This could be a sign that the unions will not get all they want from Obama's health care plan.

Ford: The automaker will lower wages and benefits, and narrow the pay gap with its foreign competitors under a new United Auto Workers agreement. Ford said its hourly wage, including benefits, will now be about $55 an hour compared with the $48 paid by foreign auto makers operating in the U.S. Current Ford pay package:over $60 an hour per worker.

Wage Freeze? Some local union contractors are wondering if the Boston construction unions would benefit from following the UAW's lead, and institute a wage freeze. Getting agreement from all unions would be important -- since no single union is likely to decide this on its own.

Construction Site: If you are interested in learning more about the complexities of the construction industry in Massachusetts, take a look at the new website of The Construction Institute. It provides many useful links--including a wide range of academic reports on union labor issues.

World Plumbing Review:One of the best industry publications around is World Plumbing Review...even if it does have articles with silly-sounding titles like "Waste removal at 30,000 ft." It recently did a story on the new NoMix toilets which have a separate section of the bowl for "yellow wastes." Requires men to urinate while sitting...Some Swedish towns are now collecting urine, which is used as fertilizer.

High Costs: But high printing costs recently forced World Plumbing Review to decide to cease printing -- and go entirely on-line. This is happening to publications all over the world.

Museum: In case you missed the stories in dozens of local newspapers or on TV: The Plumbing Museum has reopened in a former icehouse in Watertown, thanks to support from the J.C. Cannistraro Company. The Cannistraro family worked with our association and the Manoog family of Worcester to create the new museum. The original museum had been founded in the 1970's. Recently, the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC had offered to take the many remarkable objects in the collection, but the Manoogs wanted to keep the museum in Massachusetts. For more details, visit the great new website of The Plumbing Museum.

New Technology: Our industry is always coming up with new ways of doing things. Here are some recent examples:

From Thin Air: An article in The Guardian of London describes a new device that literally pulls water out of thin air. The WaterMill, uses the electricity of about three light bulbs to condense moisture from the air and purify it into clean drinking water. The mill looks like a giant golf ball that has been chopped in half: It is about 3 ft. in diameter, and attaches to wall. It works by cooling air to just below the temperature at which dew forms. Mill ceases to be effective below 30% humidity, which is common level in states such as Arizona.

GPS: According to CONTRACTOR MAGAZINE, 60% of mechanical service businesses now equip their trucks with GPS.

New Flushometers: Seen at the L.L. Bean store in Maine, and in other locations: the new toilet flushometers which users can press "Up" for liquid wastes, and "Down" for solids. The "green" water saving movement continues to grow.... PHCC National is educating contractors on business opportunities in the "Green Plumbing" movement. See the PHCC Web site.

Tours: Want a tour of the Deer Island Treatment Plant? It's an amazing place. Call Deer Island Tour Line (617) 660-7607.

New Film: In case you missed it at Industry Appreciation Night, a short new film on the plumbing industry in Boston can be viewed at our PHCC of Greater Boston Web site. Film features interviews with some key people in our industry:John Cannistraro, Sr., the founder of J.C. Cannistraro; Local 12 Business Manager Kevin Cotter; well-known and highly-regarded plumber Hank Fandel; and Gregg Petersen, the 2007 winner of the UA's New England Apprentice Contest

Vo-Tech Advantages: A recent report on WBUR (90.9 FM) highlighted successes of Massachusetts' vocational high schools. Vo-tech students tend to be much more satisfied with their education, and they do better on MCAS tests, and graduate at higher rates, than at typical high schools. For decades, trade education has played second fiddle to training for college. But many expect a resurgence in trade education--especially since there will be growing need for skilled trades people as baby-boomers retire.