Rolling Meadows mayor, aldermen seek accounting of how fire station funds spent
Some Rolling Meadows aldermen and the mayor want a better accounting of how contingency funds have been used in the construction of the city's two new fire stations.
But despite an attempt to delay some payments to the builder, the bills were approved this week in a narrow vote - the latest in a long-running controversy over the relocation and construction of fire stations 15 and 16.
Mayor Joe Gallo and Alderman Nick Budmats questioned some $200,000 in contingency funds recently spent in building Station 15, 3201 Algonquin Road, which opened in December. They sought further explanation from city staff about what those payments - meant for unforeseen expenditures during the project - were for.
Gallo also encouraged the seven-member city council to postpone remittance of nearly $700,000 in bills through March to construction manager R.C. Wegman Construction Co. in order to further evaluate the spending.
"Normally it's trivial in the overages, but this is not trivial," he said during a council meeting held by video conference Tuesday. "We should do some due diligence."
City Finance Director Melissa Gallagher said contingency funds for Station 15 were primarily used for permitting costs of various aspects of the project, such as a change to electrical systems.
For Station 15, $52,857 remains of the original $259,031 contingency, through the end of March, Gallagher said.
For Station 16, at 2340 Hicks Road, where only final punch-list items remain to be completed, $235,736 in contingency is left.
In both cases, the contingencies were included as part of the guaranteed maximum price contracts approved by previous councils in 2018 and 2019. If either project were to exceed those set amounts - $5.8 million for Station 15 and $5.3 million for Station 16 - it would have to come back to the council for approval, Gallagher said.
"At the end of the day, both of these stations are going to be under budget," she said Thursday.
While the council was voting this week only on payments through March, new city documents Budmats received this week show the Station 16 contingency fund continued to be spent through April, he said.
"To me, this is a good time to get some last-minute oversight before we pay the final bills on the project," Budmats said in support of a delay to the payments.
Aldermen Lara Sanoica and Jenifer Vinezeano also agreed to a postponement until the next council meeting May 12 - four days before the invoice deadline.
But four other aldermen voted to approve the bills. They included Alderman Kevin O'Brien, who said he trusts the staff involved in project oversight, including the fire chief, builder and engineers. So far, O'Brien said, both stations are tracking under budget.
"We have to entrust the staff that they're doing the work and doing their day-to-day jobs," he said.
Station 16 was set to open in March, but has been delayed due to COVID-19. Chief Jeff Moxley said the opening is scheduled for May 7.