STONE HARBOR – Just two weeks ago, Borough Council President Reese Moore shocked some of his colleagues on the governing body by announcing that the new construction estimate for the 93rd Street stormwater pump station skyrocketed from the earlier estimate of $11.5 million to $19.1 million.
The project is a part of the borough’s proposed plans for flood mitigation.
The project has been at one level or another of planning for years, with the borough even changing the lead engineering firm. The firm now overseeing the project for the borough is Mott MacDonald.
At the June 21 meeting, when Moore announced the new estimate, he said that Tom Thornton, of Mott MacDonald, was unable to be present to explain the dynamics that led to the much higher estimate. There was no comment made at the most recent July 5 meeting as to why Thornton had not been asked to attend and address the issues for the public.
The new estimate and what strategy to take with respect to it were not items on the July 5 agenda. They were raised because of public comment by Geoff Woolery, representing the Stone Harbor Property Owners Association (SHPOA), and Justine Herzog, a resident who described herself as an engineer with 30 years of experience mostly managing engineering projects.
Woolery focused on the need for an independent peer review of the project. He said he recognized that some on the council wanted to move forward on a project that has been so often delayed. Yet, he argued that a review was critical for a project of this scope, especially one that has just seen a 66% hike in the construction estimate.
He dismissed ideas voiced at the June 21 meeting that the borough already has the engineering talent to review the project, noting standard operating procedure for the situation the borough is in requires a review by people outside the project. He did not express those concerns only as an individual but rather as a representative of SHPOA, saying that the association considers such a review “essential.”
Herzog reinforced Woolery’s call for an independent review, warning that it is possible the borough is not yet ready for such a review despite the time and money expended. For a review to be successful, Herzog said, the project has to have a solid design basis, and major issues cannot still be undefined or in doubt. She was particularly concerned about the apparent lack of consensus on valve controls.
In June, Borough Administrator Robert Smith spoke of the need to focus on some “issues nagging at us.” Who has the leadership role to make sure such focus is present has never been entirely clear. Smith also voiced support at that meeting for a review by the engineering team the borough already has in place on the project. Now, he and the council were hearing strong calls for an independent review.
Through all of this, the public remains in the dark on what the issues are that drove up the construction estimate. If that information has been shared with council members, who were stunned at the last meeting, or even with SHPOA leadership, it has not been discussed in a public forum at a council work session.
Herzog told the council that it would be a grave error to go out to bid after so large an increase in the construction estimate. A dramatic shift in the estimate “probably means you do not have a well-enough-defined design,” she said. To go out now, she warned, would mean almost guaranteed overruns and delays.
“Do this right, or do it twice,” she added.
Much depends on whether the borough has what both Woolery and Herzog term a “well-defined design basis.”
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.
