And at least some of those bills leave citizens [and this editor] scratching their heads.
Initially, the firm, Red Barn, had requested more than $400,000 in expenses for the last four months of 2010. With some individual consultants taking in between $15,000 and $24,000 per month; it’s easy to understand how the project has run out of money.
The downtown project is nearly out of money. And $12 million in, the city has very little to show for it. Aside from a relocated park and ride lot, a temporary food court, and… well, that’s about it.
This project was one of the city’s financial shortfalls and sources of controversy that continue to swirl around the departure of former interim city manager Charlie Long. (That story can be found here.)
From the Contra Costa Times:
A demand by the developer of Hercules New Town Center that the city pony up several hundred thousand dollars for expenses is on hold, at least until the next City Council meeting on Jan. 25; by then the developer hopes to have completed an internal audit and discussed the invoices with top city officials.
The Red Barn Company sought $427,621 for expenses connected to the planned mixed-use development in the last four months of 2010, a request later reduced to about $294,000 after it turned out the city had already paid the September invoice of about $133,600.
Read the full article here.