City workers build a block wall, patch the ceiling, and hang drywall for new bathrooms and changing rooms in part of the former New China Palace restaurant at Melton Lake Park in April 2014. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
After hearing from an auditor who said he found no irregularities, the Oak Ridge City Council voted 6-1 on Monday to end a financial review of the $281,000 project to build bathrooms and changing rooms in the structure that once housed the New China Palace Restaurant at the Oak Ridge Marina.
The audit had been requested by Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson, who said there was an allegation at the last Council meeting that there was some problem.
“When you get in front of a camera and you allege that something bad is going on…” Watson said, then you need to hear from a third party.
Questions have been raised about the building renovation by Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn, who pointed out that she wasn’t the first to raise concerns, and former City Council member Anne Garcia Garland, among others. Most of the questions and criticisms have focused on the cost. A few different numbers have been reported about what the project was initially expected to cost and what it ended up costing. The 2014 budget showed it had a projected cost of $75,000, Baughn said.
But auditor Adam Allen, a principal of Coulter and Justus, told Council members during a special report on Monday that the renovation cost about $281,000. About half of that was labor, and another 50 percent was materials, Allen said. The audit found no irregularities.
City employee Pat Fallon estimated in April 2014, after construction had started, that the project could cost about $175,000. Since then, he has suggested that that estimate was relatively close. On Monday, Fallon, who is operations and maintenance manager for the Oak Ridge Public Works Department, said materials cost about $140,000.
There were additional expenses for city staff time. Most of the work was done in-house by Public Works employees, although some tasks such as plumbing were contracted out.
Hiring a contractor to do the building renovation could have cost an estimated $460,000, Fallon said.
Among the work that had to be done were removing asbestos tiles and a grease trap, and installing a new water line. When Oak Ridge Today toured the building during construction in April 2014, city workers were building a block wall, patching the ceiling, and hanging drywall.
Some have maintained that it shouldn’t cost so much to build bathrooms.
“$280,000 for a cinder-block bathroom is ridiculous,†said Baughn, who cast the only vote against ending the audit by Coulter and Justus.
Other Council members were apparently satisfied with what they had heard from the auditors or ready to move on.
“There were no irregularities,” City Council member Charlie Hensley said. “To me, that’s the end of the story.”
Council members raised questions about how much it might cost for more work by Coulter and Justus, if they responded to Baughn’s requests, and who was paying for the firm’s work now.
“I don’t think we need additional work on this,” said Mayor Pro Tem Ellen Smith.
“The issue is closed, and we’d like to move on,” Council member Kelly Callison said. There was some unexpected work that had to be done, including to the sewer and drainage systems, Callison said.
“The public has been very supportive,” he said of the new bathrooms, which have been on a city wish list for years, especially in the rowing and recreation communities.
But Baughn, who continued to have questions about project contracts and an apparently unfulfilled public records request, among other things, said citizens have a right to know how money is spent.
“They are legally entitled to answers,” said Baughn, who objected to the suggestion that she might be “grandstanding.†She said the city doesn’t need to incur additional costs, but she wants Watson to comply with a public records request for project documents.
Interim Public Works Director Jack Suggs said the city has received a records request for all invoices, time, and bills related to the building renovation, and the documents should be available in a few weeks through the City Clerk’s Office.
“We are responding to the public records request,†Suggs said.
He said the auditor found no significant problems in the areas checked by Coulter and Justus, which included looking for collusion or favoritism.
When the bathroom renovation started, one section of the former New China Palace had already been converted into a rental shop for kayaks and bikes.
The public restrooms and changing rooms for big events were added in another part of the city-owned building.
It’s one of the steps in implementing a waterfront development plan approved by Oak Ridge City Council in December 2009. That plan included such features as a new picnic pavilion, walking trails, new playground, permanent restrooms, enhanced lighting and landscaping, outdoor casual dining, and recreational equipment rental.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
Copyright 2015 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Philip W Nipper says
For the uninformed, and at first glance, it might appear that the dollar figure is high. I think it would be most helpful for folks to understand the project better if the figures were broken down as to how much money went to the plumbing contractor, electrical contractor, etc. and if some technical specifics were made public such as the issues/problems encountered with the sewer and drain system during the remodel. When ever there is a sewer pump/lift station involved, as with this building, plumbing fees and material costs tend to be expensive. Not to mention the labor intensive addition of drain and water supply piping in a building with a concrete slab floor system. I believe when one factors in all the data one will find that the price tag is not out of line.
Sam Hopwood says
You make some good points, however, the original estimates and the final costs did raise some eyebrows and a look see by the auditors was appropriate in my view. I am glad that someone (s) are willing to ask and probe when something appears questionable. That’s how improvements are generally made and helps to keep folks alert and aware.
Philip W Nipper says
True enough. However, I believe there is a right way and a wrong way to go about asking and probing as you put it. I believe finger pointing, grandstanding, making accusations and insinuating malfeasance without the benefit of facts are some good examples of the wrong way to seek answers. In the end, we all have our own style of leadership. Some are more respected than others.
Matt Bailey says
Sam, I agree with your initial sentence. Mr. Nipper is absolutely correct. The very fact that Ms. Baughn denied she was grandstanding would lead one to believe that she knows she has previously done so on other issues. And, of course, you could debate she was grandstanding here also.
The questions no one asked were this: “Ms. Baughn, you stated the bathroom expense was too high. What price do you think it should have been built for? How did you come up with your figures? And, of course, please explain your qualifications for criticizing any construction project”.
Or, you could do like CC did and decide her criticism is once again lacking in merit and move on with the city’s business.
Matt Bailey says
Sam, I agree with your initial sentence. Mr. Nipper is absolutely correct. The very fact that Ms. Baughn denied she was grandstanding would lead one to believe that she knows she has previously done so on other issues. And, of course, you could debate she was grandstanding here also.
The questions no one asked were this: “Ms. Baughn, you stated the bathroom expense was too high. What price do you think it should have been built for? How did you come up with your figures? And, of course, please explain your qualifications for criticizing any construction project”.
Or, you could do like CC did and decide her criticism is once again lacking in merit and move on with the city’s business.
Mike Mahathy says
Sam, the questions have been answered. Are you now satisfied that the eyebrows have been combed?
Sam Hopwood says
Mike, I just hope that if council needs another bathroom built that they will give me and my dog a chance to bid on it… 🙂
BTW, is all well at the outpost?? Good to hear from you.
Joseph Lee says
This is yet again just another example of some people playing a big game of small ball.
It’s over. The vote was 6 / 1, again. Big surprise. Move on.
Joseph Lee says
Those that wish to stand on principle should feel free to sit in the porta john.
Nancy England says
“Grandstanding” is a term that can easily be applied to the stream of Ms. Baughn’s protests ever since she came on to council. It’s good to make sure council and city employees are on their toes, but not enough to have them continually dancing ‘en point’.
Mike Mahathy says
“When you get in front of a camera and you allege that something bad is going on…†Watson said.
Now that is a classic quote! I wonder who oh who Mr. Watson was referring to?
Joseph Lee says
Mr. Mahathy, One cannot be sure but, I think he may have been referring to the latest rendition of the pas de deux as preformed by Baughn and Garland. Thank you.
Anne Garcia Garland says
Oddly enough, most of the questions have not been answered. If I understood the auditor correctly, they were asked to use the marina building renovation as one of the projects/accounting “jobs” on which they do in-depth review during their latest audit. This is SOP for the audit process. But if they already pulled all the invoices and checked the bids and the hours, etc. for the marina project, why would the city manager not have had those files held out and invited the councilwoman to look at them? She had made two requests of the manager to look at those elements.
When asked how long it took to pull together the information for the manager’s “report to council” on the costs of this project, the answer was “about two hours.” When the staffer was pulling together the information to compile the manager’s report, would that have not been a convenient time to ask the councilwoman to look at the material?
I don’t think either Ms. Baughn or I can rightfully be accused of grandstanding when all we have ever asked is for the city administration to be forthright about the manner in which the citizens’ business is conducted.
Grandstanding is more accurately what another council member does when he tries to accuse the councilwoman of “wasting the taxpayers’ money.” It is the responsibility of council to monitor the administrator. They are specifically charged by the charter with investigating any department about which there are concerns. They are responsible for setting a budget and presumably do so based on the expenditures proposed by the manager.
Maybe the reason citizens come to Ms. Baughn with their serious concerns is because they realize she will be responsive, will look into situations. I appreciate that she does hours of research for us and only brings to council those issues for which she cannot discover a straightforward explanation.
Are no other council members concerned that the city manager did not bring to the full council and the citizens the information about the degree of cost overrun and his suggestions for funding it BEFORE going way beyond the budgeted $75K? Maybe some of them were let in on it privately by the manager but the citizens had no way of knowing that the project was costing more than 3-1/2 times the published budget. Did he ask council if it were okay to leave a code enforcement job vacant, a research librarian position vacant, and reduce the fire department budget by $85,000 to accomplish this project? We might have had a fund-raising campaign to fund it as a public-private partnership. We might have had a proposal to delay the football stadium
parking lot funding (at $275,000) to fund the bathrooms at the marina.
When funding is limited and the citizens want a new preschool, what will the manager suggest we NOT do in order to fund that?
Matt Bailey says
Good evening, Anne:
Since I first addressed the grandstanding issue I’ll discuss only that part of your comments. It was Ms. Baughn who denied she was grandstanding, so one must assume she knows the difference. You must admit, on the heels of the review of the Police Department her credibility is zero these days. And Lord knows she grandstanded thru that for the past year!
After the OOP she still claimed her legal knowledge was beyond the D.A.’s (with no proof). And after the city spent approx. $25,000 for the review, she had but one question to ask. Please remember, it was John who inadvertently proved the high turnover rate claim was bogus. She claimed the bathrooms were too costly, yet she never provided an acceptable dollar amount or how she derived such numbers, nor did she divulge her construction background qualifications when she made that claim. So, Mr. Hensley’s claim that Ms. Baughn was wanting to waste even more money is entirely understandable. That 6-1 vote, like most others, may be a fair judgement that the council has finally tired of her antics and her damages to Oak Ridge.
I wonder how many people believe the straightforward explanations she seeks are entirely self serving. At every turn she’s been given answers that don’t fit her agenda. It’s one victim after another. She claims others are eating up City Staff time, all the while indulging in the very same activity of the City Staff and the School Staff. To attempt to paint Ms. Baughn’s activities as responsive to citizens is certainly a stretch.
Lastly, I share with you this line from Ms. Baughn’s Linkedin page discussing her value to potential employees:
“Influence public policy and priorities through the publication of situational analysis which include creative, workable solutions”
I ask you this because I must have missed it. . Has she provided a workable solution to a single problem, or has it been a series of unsubstantiated and unproven allegations? By the way, she’s apparently using her seat on City Council to promote her worthiness as a potential employee, thus attempting to financially profit from her position. Isn’t this exactly what she accused former Mayor Tom Beehan of doing?
Tracy Stout Powers says
This chick (Trina) has no shame whatsoever, does she? The citizens she is “responsive” to are dwindling quickly. It will take more than 14 -15 votes for her to get re-elected.
Matt, maybe someone from another county or state will believe her linked in hogwash. (Fingers crossed)
Will Smith says
Mrs. Garcia-Garland: You seem to be completely oblivious to the fact that much of the additional cost associated with this project came from unforeseen additional work that was required. The use of city employees DID NOT cost the city any money out of pocket (except for overtime). These people would have been paid by the city whether they worked on the marina project or not, again the net out of pocket cost to the city for their services was zero. And where do you get that other services (like the fire department reduction) were curtailed? Does that come from your imagination, or can you provide a citation? It would seem that both you and Ms. Baughn need a lesson in cost accounting.