This past Monday evening ice arena project engineer Mark Hayes of ATS&R explained to the city council how he has gutted the arena plan trying to fit it within the $6 million construction cap budgeted by the city – except that ATS&R still estimates the cost to be $6,476,518. But in a last ditch effort, ATS&R offered to make a list of items which could still be cut out, such as scoreboards, concrete floors, and subsoil heating (how about the roof?) to bring the cost down to… still $126,518 over budget.
So after another inept and unprofessional presentation by ATS&R, I watched the city council vote to approve bid documents which DO NOT YET EXIST, based upon the “promise” that ATS&R will work really, really, really hard over the next 10 days to get them prepared.
I think such premature action by the city council is irresponsible and inexcusable. Civil servants entrusted with public funds should move forward on public projects only when critical elements are thoroughly addressed and complete. The process for approving and funding public projects should necessarily be arduous, time-consuming, and painstakingly detailed.
The action by the city council to approve incomplete bid documents was imprudent and careless. It appears to me that, as a corporate body, the city council either has a serious lack of judgment, or they are motivated by something other than a commitment to carefully protect the public’s interest.
City Council Lacks Good Judgment
Advertisement
Daryl
It is imperative that this city council kick this can down the road far enough that they believe it can not be stopped by future city councils. That they do it in a slip shod manner should not come as a surprise to anyone. The money involved is unimportant, it only receives surface consideration from the council because they know the taxpayers will be forced to pick up the slack for any short fall.
The removal of certain additional accoutrements to feign cost savings is a sham exercise. As I said months ago they were included in the first place for the sole purpose of garnering sympathy from other groups for their cause, and would be removed at a later date once the project was assured. These other interests, Walkers, Curlers, etc., were used by the hockey puckers to grease the skids of public opinion.
It seems to me that since these few people, the council and some residents, are so determined to have this arena they could all chip in enough money to make up the difference needed?
They should just chip in for the whole thing. Where is the money coming from for all overhead expenses? I highly doubt charges for usage will take care of it. We are in it for the long haul. Just like the infamous garbage burner which was touted as a money maker and energy saver. It is not in use now and we are still paying for it as a special on our property taxes.
On Dec. 15 the Fargo Forum had an excellant article on the donation side of the funding for this arena. It seems that the committee is refusing to provide to the City or the Forum a list of those who are donating and the total of the “pledges” from that list. The State of Minnesota has strict guidelines of how this is to be handle but they have refused over serveral month to comply with requests for that information. Does that mean that they really don’t have the donations lined up that they say they have? Something sounds out of place with their activities. And of course, if the time comes that the City finds out that they don’t really have the money they claim, the city gets to make up the difference. Is this whole thing a scam?
In any case, it’s nearing the time for bid opening. The city should not, in any way, accept any bids prior to having the proof that the donations are in place. Otherwise, the residents are most likely going to be paying a whole lot more than the $4 million the council has supposedly limited it to.
What the committee is doing has become clear to me. They will not release the donation list until after the bids are let and probably until construction begins. Then we will find out that they are actually way short of having the money they claim and the city will have no choice but to approve another million or more dollars. Oh, of course, at that time, as long as the city has to come up with another million, they might as well add back in things like a scoreboard and cement floor and push it to another 2 million dollars. This all has a very strange odor that comes from a mixture of some council members and the committee being way to cozy with each other.