Nolan Finley: Wayne County in talks to scrap partially built jail in Detroit

Wayne County is working on a deal with the state to bail itself out of its wildly over-budget new jail project and instead take over and renovate a state prison in Detroit.
The jail construction on the northeast side of downtown is already well under way, with parts of five floors built and five new cells being completed every day. The county has spent well over $100 million to this point.
But cost overruns threaten to add $65 million to $100 million to the approved price tag of $200 million, and Wayne County doesn't have that money. The county has asked its architects for a new design that would reduce capacity to 2,000 beds from 2,192 to shave costs.

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...#ixzz2V9bYxeB5

leduff said it would cost at least $500 mil to finish it.

This seems to happen frequently, although not on this scale. But I don't really understand how a company can bid x dollars to do a project and then get away with charging 50% more once the project is underway.

First, it happens on this scale a lot.

Second, the contractor cannot change the bid – that is what a contract is all about.

But, what happens [[and Kilpatrick/Ferguson used this trick a lot) is that the owner [[government) asks for Change Orders and those COs allow the contract to be opened up and re-priced. I say re-priced instead of re-bid, because you have already started with one contractor and the COs do not go out for competitive pricing you pay what the contractor asks for.

COs can occur for a number of reasons, some good and some not so good. Sometimes, the COs are because something happened during construction that was unexpected and you honestly need to change the specs. However, in my experience with government [[i.e. taxpayer funded) projects there seems to be an overabundance of COs and cost inflation. I have never seen the large cost overruns on privately funded projects as you typically see with government projects.

This leads me to believe that the following are the cause:

1. Design/architect specs are not complete and they are changed “on-the-fly”
2. Government officials purposely start with a base spec in order to meet a funding limit, but know full well that COs can be used to exceed the limit
3. Incompetence
4. Corruption

Yes, build an overbudget prison in Downtown Detroit to lock up more black folks. Wayne County has more county jails than any other counties in Michigan. Nice going Ficano, you wife cheater!

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Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano declined to comment.

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Well, there's a shocker.

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The state offered Wayne County a similar deal two years ago, before construction of the new jail began. At that time, all the state wanted was $1.5 million to pay off the outstanding debt on the Mound Road prison. But Ficano turned it down and went ahead with building the downtown facility.

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He's toast. About as much chance of winning re-election as Bing has of winning if he decides to run for County Exec.

http://www.freep.com/article/2013060...ne-County-jail

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Originally Posted by stinkytofu

http://www.freep.com/article/2013060...ne-County-jail

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Yeesh.

I'm sure Gilbert will garner a lot of space for a sweet deal out of this one.

But...at the same time, there's a part of me that wishes he wouldn't "come to the rescue" so quickly on this one. Let the mismanagement on this project fester a bit and serve as a lesson learned.

Or...perhaps allow another potential buyer to swoop in and get some property to diversify the core a bit?

This would be a great opportunity to add some density to that part of Downtown. Maybe something similar to this mixed use development proposed for Downtown Tuscaloosa….

http://blog.al.com/tuscaloosa/2013/0...o_approve.html

The $42 million development, planned for the former Tuscaloosa Chevrolet site at the corner of Greensboro Avenue and Jack Warner Parkway, would total 192,411 square feet for residential units and 38,482 square feet of commercial space across five buildings as currently planned.

The residential component would feature 202 rental units with 438 beds and five three-bedroom townhomes. The retail space is planned to be divided into units from 800-4,000 square feet to accommodate boutiques and shops, larger stores and restaurants.

Do they employ comedy writers, or does this just come naturally?

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“The financials, bottom line, have to work out and make sense,” said June West, spokeswoman for County Executive Robert Ficano.

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Is anybody else on here just a little outraged that Ficano just pissed away a boatload of taxpayer money on this jail, or is it just me? I mean, I'm glad everyone has plans for a new coffee shop and art gallery in that spot, but I bet the contractors will want to be paid off anyway, because, after all, they have a contract and Wayne County broke it. I can't wait for the Feds to cuff that asshole and haul him away.

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Originally Posted by Honky Tonk

Is anybody else on here just a little outraged that Ficano just pissed away a boatload of taxpayer money on this jail, or is it just me? I mean, I'm glad everyone has plans for a new coffee shop and art gallery in that spot, but I bet the contractors will want to be paid off anyway, because, after all, they have a contract and Wayne County broke it. I can't wait for the Feds to cuff that asshole and haul him away.

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Usually, there is a termination for convenience provision in county contracts, through which the county can terminate the agreement for whatever reason or no reason, typically without penalty.

In that case, they'd be stuck paying for what they already owe on and what was already completed, but nothing more.

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Originally Posted by Honky Tonk

Is anybody else on here just a little outraged that Ficano just pissed away a boatload of taxpayer money on this jail, or is it just me? I mean, I'm glad everyone has plans for a new coffee shop and art gallery in that spot, but I bet the contractors will want to be paid off anyway, because, after all, they have a contract and Wayne County broke it. I can't wait for the Feds to cuff that asshole and haul him away.

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Well, I guess it depends on if they simply dump the property on Gilbert or he buys it for something close to the money Ficano has pissed away on this. But yes, it's ridiculous.

Also, LeDuff was in Ficano's face about how the project supposedly can't be stopped because it was done by using a bond initiative or earmarked funds or something? I haven't seen that repeated anywhere. Is that true?

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Originally Posted by Honky Tonk

Is anybody else on here just a little outraged that Ficano just pissed away a boatload of taxpayer money on this jail, or is it just me? I mean, I'm glad everyone has plans for a new coffee shop and art gallery in that spot, but I bet the contractors will want to be paid off anyway, because, after all, they have a contract and Wayne County broke it. I can't wait for the Feds to cuff that asshole and haul him away.

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Oh I am.

This is disgusting.

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130604/METRO01/306040311

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The county bought the jail site in 2011 for $14 million from Greektown Casino. Ficano's former deputy executive, Charlie J. Williams, made $420,000 in brokerage fees on the deal.

Walbridge Aldinger was selected over objections from contractors who complained the process favored the company. Its CEO, John Rakolta, served on a board of a nonprofit led by Mullin that was paying her a $75,000 bonus atop her $200,000 salary.

Mullin's former aide, Anthony Parlovecchio, left the county in February 2011 and was hired to ensure the jail project was on time and budget. The job was to pay him as much as $1.9 million; he was fired at Ficano's behest over concerns about a conflict of interest. He has sued the county

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The fuck? How do people turn such a blind eye to this stuff??

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Originally Posted by TexasT

Oh I am.

This is disgusting.

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130604/METRO01/306040311

The fuck? How do people turn such a blind eye to this stuff??
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"Ok, Let's move on folks, there's no corruption here, nothing to see....." The whole story reeks with "setup".