By Juan Montoya
Not only has the company that was awarded the $5 million contract to construct the Stegman Building Performing Arts Academy on the corner of 11th and Washington proven a nightmare for downtown businesses which have had to endure a closed streets that disrupt their trade, but it has also gobbled up more than a $500,000 in change orders since they started the job.
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Alpha Construction of Harlingen is hobbling along.
And downtown businesses have tired of complaining to the city administration and commissioners that the closing off of the streets to pedestrian and vehicular traffic has hurt them for months going into years.
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For months after they started in 2015, the building was literally gutted and only the shell remained.
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And time and time again the company went to the city with change orders totaling more than $500,000. The original contract cost was to be $5,030,600 with a "contingency fund" of $306,400.
However, the contractor went through that sum like a hot knife through butter in seven change orders. Since it was part of the "contingency" fund included in the original contract, the change orders did not have to get commission approval.
After having gone through that, the contractor and city officials came back to the commission and get an additional $247,435 for the eighth change order that includes another $100,000 as a "contingency."
With the approval of the last change order, it means that they got and additional $553,835 added to the original contract price of $5,030,600 and that the project will end up costing a total of $5,584,435.
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And then someone pointed out – and submitted the photos here – that the project is literally crawling with Harlingen subcontractors.
If the taxpayers of Brownsville are footing the bill and putting up with the congestion and negative impact on downtown businesses, shouldn't the city at least require that local subcontractors be hired to keep some of those millions here?
One or two cost overruns could be understood. But this has become a clear pattern of either connivance or incompetency on the city side.
When is the hemorrhaging of the public's money going to stop?
Are "contingency" funds just a round about way to put more money in the
pockets of contractors in cahoots with city staff?
Then, to add insult to injury, unemployed Brownsville residents can only stand by and watch Harlingen companies milk the city at will.
Not only has the company that was awarded the $5 million contract to construct the Stegman Building Performing Arts Academy on the corner of 11th and Washington proven a nightmare for downtown businesses which have had to endure a closed streets that disrupt their trade, but it has also gobbled up more than a $500,000 in change orders since they started the job.
Alpha Construction of Harlingen is hobbling along.And downtown businesses have tired of complaining to the city administration and commissioners that the closing off of the streets to pedestrian and vehicular traffic has hurt them for months going into years.
For months after they started in 2015, the building was literally gutted and only the shell remained.
And time and time again the company went to the city with change orders totaling more than $500,000. The original contract cost was to be $5,030,600 with a "contingency fund" of $306,400.However, the contractor went through that sum like a hot knife through butter in seven change orders. Since it was part of the "contingency" fund included in the original contract, the change orders did not have to get commission approval.
After having gone through that, the contractor and city officials came back to the commission and get an additional $247,435 for the eighth change order that includes another $100,000 as a "contingency."
With the approval of the last change order, it means that they got and additional $553,835 added to the original contract price of $5,030,600 and that the project will end up costing a total of $5,584,435.
And then someone pointed out – and submitted the photos here – that the project is literally crawling with Harlingen subcontractors.If the taxpayers of Brownsville are footing the bill and putting up with the congestion and negative impact on downtown businesses, shouldn't the city at least require that local subcontractors be hired to keep some of those millions here?
One or two cost overruns could be understood. But this has become a clear pattern of either connivance or incompetency on the city side.
When is the hemorrhaging of the public's money going to stop?
Are "contingency" funds just a round about way to put more money in the
pockets of contractors in cahoots with city staff?
Then, to add insult to injury, unemployed Brownsville residents can only stand by and watch Harlingen companies milk the city at will.