Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson’s attempt to strong-arm the Anchorage Assembly into approving his Navigation Center by authorizing a contractor to secretly rack up an enormous bill failed last night in a 9-3 vote.
The meeting took place a few weeks after it was revealed that a $50,000 contract to Roger Hickel Contracting, Inc., for construction management on the proposed Tudor and Elmore Navigation Center, had ballooned into a $4.9 million contract. Three million dollars of that has already been spent without Anchorage Assembly approval, violating municipal code.
The move could have pushed the Assembly to bend, feeling like they had no choice but to move forward with the project since it was further along than they knew, and millions had now been spent. However, even after unilaterally moving forward with the project, Bronson was unable to show a real plan.
“My support was tenuous because we didn’t get firm numbers or a firm plan,” Assembly Chair Suzanne LaFrance said. “I wanted to give the mayor a chance to continue developing the case for the project. We’ve not received a project document, a project plan, cost estimates, detailed budgets, permitting status, public outreach plan, operating plan. We’ve not received any cohesive information.
“The only way I can vote responsibly on this is no.”
Earlier in September, it was revealed that a $50,000 contract to Roger Hickel Contracting, Inc., for construction management on the proposed Tudor and Elmore Navigation Center, had ballooned into a $4.9 million contract. Three million dollars of that has already been spent, without Anchorage Assembly approval, violating municipal code and likely leaving taxpayers holding the bag.
At an October work session held to discuss the contract, Public Works Director Lance Wilber admitted side-stepping the Assembly was an “error.” It became clear Tuesday night the position that this “error” has left the municipality in, when Municipal Manager Amy Demboski informed the assembly “We’ve already received two demand letters from Roger Hickel construction, meaning litigation is inevitable if it’s not approved.”
Complicating matters, when the administration last approached the Assembly for approval on the complete costs of this construction project, it had an estimated cost of $11.9 million. Costs have now ballooned to $15.4 million, a 29.4% increase.
La France’s reasoning in shutting down the project was shared by most of her colleagues, with several indicating that support was possible if the administration could provide a true project plan and move forward on using the Golden Lion Hotel as homelessness housing, with plans to transition to a treatment facility at a later date.
Kameron Perez Verdia suggested Bronson hire someone to lead the project. It remains to be seen if Mayor Bronson will take Perez Verdia’s advice.
In his final comments, Bronson seemed to reject the idea. He placed the responsibility on the Assembly, which has repeatedly tried to put forth plans to address homelessness while Bronson shut down the Sullivan Arena and moved people to a campground, only to reopen the Sullivan months later.
“I’ll leave that in your hands to, then,” Bronson said. “Come up with a plan, with details on how we are going to deal with the people living visibly homeless on the streets and in our parks.”
