Newport council raises Civic Center project audit to $300,000
Newport Beach officials have agreed to spend more money on an extensive audit of the city’s Civic Center project, which has drawn criticism for significantly rising costs.
The City Council voted 4 to 3 last week to increase the audit’s budget to $300,000 from $100,000 and to contract with Florida-based R.W. Block Consulting to conduct the audit.
Mayor Ed Selich and council members Tony Petros and Keith Curry dissented.
The City Council first approved an audit in June with the goal of securing an independent contractor to review change orders and construction practices to find out how the price tag on the new City Hall grew from an estimated $107.6 million to about $140 million between 2008 and the Civic Center’s opening in May 2013.
The council originally set aside $100,000 to fund the audit, but city staff realized that might not be adequate and asked the council to allocate $612,920 to cover the cost, according to a staff report.
Councilman Kevin Muldoon proposed that instead of setting aside the recommended amount, the council allocate an initial $300,000, then give the auditor the opportunity to ask for additional funds if further study is needed.
Mayor Pro Tem Diane Dixon said the audit would provide a road map for future city building projects.
“It is incumbent upon a government agency to do this,” she said. “We have a fiduciary responsibility to our taxpayers who funded this project. My wish is that it gets a clean bill of health and we can move on.”
When the Civic Center project originated in 2008, city officials planned to redevelop the existing City Hall site at the entrance to the Balboa Peninsula. But the project eventually moved to the more upscale area of Newport Center, where construction on the complex off Avocado Avenue at 100 Civic Center Drive began in 2010.
Costs swelled as the scope of the project expanded, eventually including a 17,000-square-foot expansion of the Central Library, a 14-acre park and a 450-space parking structure.
The audit will review the construction contracts and subcontractor bids, determine whether delays increased costs and consider whether the final cost of the Civic Center was affected by using C.W. Driver, a Pasadena-based company, as both the lead contractor and project manager.
Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
Fry writes for Times Community News.
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