Milwaukee City Hall Study: 1 MILLION DOLLARS

THIS IS NOT OK!



It's not OK for the city of Milwaukee to squander $1 million on an investigation of the City Hall building.

Good grief!

A piece of masonry fell off the building. Given the horrible incident at the O'Donnell Park parking structure on the opening day of Summerfest in 2010, I understand the importance of tending to signs of potential problems. But $1 million to investigate?

That's nuts.

The investigation into why a piece of masonry fell off Milwaukee's City Hall has cost approximately $938,000 to date, a city spokeswoman said Monday.

That's more than nine times the original cost estimate. And with the investigation expected to last at least through April, the odds are growing that the final price tag could exceed $1 million.

Because the investigation could lead to legal action against contractors on the $76 million City Hall renovation project, a Common Council committee is to discuss the issue in closed session Wednesday. The Department of Public Works will not release a preliminary report on the matter until after that meeting of the council's Public Works Committee, department spokeswoman Cecilia Gilbert said.

But the investigation already has continued almost a year after a chunk of terra cotta tumbled from the east side of the iconic 116-year-old building. When it hit the ground, the terra cotta broke into three pieces of about 5 pounds each, slightly damaging a parked vehicle on N. Market St.

That was the evening of Feb. 17. City officials promptly cordoned off the streets and sidewalks around the building as the city and renovation contractor J.P. Cullen and Sons Inc. attempted to figure out what happened and whether any other pieces were in danger of falling off the building.

Inspectors rappelled down the side of City Hall's south tower, found cracks in eight decorative urns and four finials under the clock face, and removed all of them.

Although the streets reopened about two weeks after the incident, scaffolding still surrounds the building to shield pedestrians from any other falling masonry.

The costs of the scaffolding and the street closures are included in the total investigation price, along with the costs of site inspection, crane rental and lab testing, Gilbert said. An exact breakdown of those expenses was not available Monday, she said.

Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc., an engineering and architecture firm in Northbrook, Ill., is leading the investigation, testing the terra cotta and examining how it was installed. That company already had been paid $325,000 by September, city officials said at the time.

Ropelink Inc., of New York City, employs the rappelling inspectors, who have scaled the building three times so far, most recently in December. Each inspection costs about $50,000, for roughly $150,000 to date.

If the city is going to dish out this kind of money on an investigation, it should at least go to Wisconsin firms.

Why send all that money out of state?

One million dollars to INVESTIGATE!

UNREAL!

Is Mr. Mayor Tom Barrett outraged over this drain of funds?

Mr. Mayor, are you there?



Taxpayers of Milwaukee, you're being screwed.