– News about Quincy Massachusetts from Quincy Quarry News

Mr. Snippy koched-up yet again
A City of Quincy head shot image

In the final hours of last night’s City Council ran late into the night meeting came word of two eight-figure city projects’ facing even further delay.

That and only reasonable to expect even more cost overruns given their delays.

Word of these latest koched-up Koch Maladministration Charlie Foxtrots came to light when the Commissioner of Public Buildings was questioned by a City Councillor for status updates on this two projects as well as others during the hearings on Quincy Mayor Thomas P. Koch’s proposed just short of 10% budget increase for fast approaching Fiscal Year 2024.

One problem project is the now-near $20 million total cost and many years delayed new Animal Control facility just off of Quarry Street near the Avalon Quincy apartment complex.

The problem: asbestos was discovered late in the going. 

Old City of Quincy Animal Shelter venue
Quincy Quarry News Photo

So what, apparently, for the fact that the site had been used as dump in past years and thus the potential for asbestos contamination was a known concern even if perhaps not by the Einsteins managing this project.

Also unknown or at least not forthrightly shared last night was would be the cost of addressing the asbestos contamination, much less any indication of how long the project was going to be further delayed because of asbestos..

And as for the second delay, the opening of the so far running over twice original projected cost of a specialized local public school school for students with autism is currently now on tap for opening in the fall of 2024 instead of the prior projection of the fall of 2023. 

Then again, what is another year’s delay on a project that was supposed to be completed by the end of 2020.

Also yet again, COVID was blamed.

At the same time, estimates as to these latest delays, however, was posed.

Public Buildings HQ still a work in progress, piece of work —whatever
A Quincy Quarry News exclusive file photo

Then again, it is not as if the Commissioner of Public Buildings is good at things financial nor at things building-related for that matter.

For example, the Public Buildings Commissioner also conceded that the renovation of an old mansion in Quincy Center bought by the City of Quincy in 2017 for use as a but transitional headquarters for the Public Buildings Department and was supposed to be completed by January of 2018 or thereabouts continues to be incomplete as well as the Commissioner did not offer up a projected completion date on a project that was only supposed to run a bit over $100,000.

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