Cranley to streetcar bosses: 'Put up or shut up'

In the wake of news that the streetcar's contingency fund is practically drained, Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley said the city's streetcar team will be expected to execute the project as advertised: on time and on budget.

"We need to have a team that will bring it in on time and under budget, or we need a new team," Cranley said Wednesday. "It's put up or shut up."

Over the next few days, City Manager Harry Black will work with the streetcar project leaders "to prune the budget and take items out of it," Cranley said.

"Mr. (Streetcar Project Executive John) Deatrick was quoted as saying with a little bit of luck things will be OK. That is not a good strategy," Cranley said. "We don't need a strategy of luck. We need one of certainty."

A little more than a third of the 3.6-mile streetcar track through parts of Downtown and Over-the-Rhine has been built. There's still nearly two years to go before it's up and running.

Cranley's comments aren't a surprise. He tried to kill the project last December and has repeatedly said no additional money for it will come out of the city's operating budget.

On Tuesday, Deatrick told City Council's transportation committee that all but $80,443 of the project's $9.7 million contingency fund has been accounted for. The $148 million project price tag is for construction. The contingency fund – which is part of the $148 million – accounts for unexpected expenses.

Deatrick didn't want to comment on specifics, but said he'll work closely with the city manager and elected officials to bring the project in "within budget." Deatrick is scheduled to meet with Cranley and Black on Thursday.

"We'll go over expenses and see how we can control costs in the future," Deatrick said.

City Councilman Kevin Flynn, who Tuesday called the numbers "phony baloney," is doing a line-by-line look at where the money went – and he has questions.

Flynn gave The Enquirer a spreadsheet of contingency expenditures that details 39 payouts and projected expenses. Flynn has concerns about 20 of them.

The biggest problem: The budget was set before contracts were bid out – a move made by the previous city administration. And pausing the project last year cost about $1 million.

"You had delays in bidding, you had delays in (contract) award, then you had the delays (last) December," Deatrick said Tuesday. He was not part of the project when the budget was set.

From day one, the project was gobbling up contingency money, the document shows:

• $492,933 associated with council's delay in signing the original contract with Messer Construction in 2013. Flynn argues that money should have come out of the project's regular budget.

• $637,108 paid to contractors for the three-week delay last December while council considered whether to go forward with the project.

• $250,000 spent on an independent audit, which council ordered to determine whether to move forward with the project. (Officials consider this part of the $1 million expense for the December 2013 delay.)

• $606,000 to purchase a wheel maintenance machine. The city had hoped a federal grant would cover that expense, but the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments transportation planning agency denied the grant request several months ago. OKI is in charge of ranking and prioritizing how federal money is spent locally.

• $313,782 for Greater Cincinnati Water Works design changes.

• $608,948 for "additional consultant support."

• $1.06 million is projected for additional staff time. There are a dozen city employees working on the project; three of them are inspectors who are hourly employees and entitled to overtime. On Tuesday, Flynn called that amount "ridiculous."

Additionally, Flynn is questioning another cost not on the spreadsheet document. He wants to know why three project leaders went to Spain last spring to inspect the streetcar rail cars at the manufacturing plant.

"None of them have expertise in streetcar fabrication," Flynn said. "They should have sent one engineer (with expertise in that area)."

At the time, Deatrick told The Enquirer they had to sign off on the final design. Since Cranley took office last December, most meetings with the Spanish manufacturer have been done via video conference. The actual cost of the trip is not detailed in the document.