(The following article by Anjeanette Damon was published in the Reno Gazette-Journal on April 9.)
RENO, Nev. — Reno has spent $50.2 million on the $282 million train trench project and is still within budget, according to an updated budget presented Wednesday to the Reno City Council.
Borrowing an idea from his November election opponent — trench foe Mike Robinson — Mayor Bob Cashell has asked that the updated financial spreadsheet and a chart tracking the budget be posted at City Hall.
That chart is expected to be up by next week because council members asked for some changes to the one presented by staff. Council members want the chart to track how actual expenditures compare to the expected expenditures and construction timeline.
The trench is designed to separate pedestrian and vehicle traffic from trains in downtown in an effort to improve public safety and air quality, and spur downtown development. Construction began last year and is expected to be finished in spring 2006.
The budget update included the first planned expenditure from the $26 million contingency fund — a $3.5 million lawsuit settlement to relocate a high-pressure fuel line away from the construction zone. The city also must pay $250,000 to Union Pacific Railroad for its legal expenses to fight that lawsuit.
Other than the settlement costs, Public Works Director Steve Varela said the city is within budget to relocate the other utilities, including phone, power and cable television lines, in the project area.
“One of the things we talked about quite often during the process of developing this project was that we would be way over on the utility budget,” Varela said. “We are right now doing the relocation work and our budget of $10.6 million is still good.”
About $6 million of utility relocation costs is part of the $170.7 million design-build contract awarded to Granite Construction. The city expects to pay another $4.1 million in relocation costs, Varela said.
The budget showed $466,735 in overruns for consultant fees, including environmental oversight and project management. The city covered that with savings from another contract and a reduction in staff costs from hiring a project management team.
The total budget presented to the council is $264 million. That figure does not include $18.8 million the city spent in July to issue bonds for the project and create the bond reserve fund.
The budget also does not include mitigation costs for the Rusty Spike power substation, which will be modified to make way for the temporary track. Varela said the cost has not been calculated and most likely will come out of the contingency fund.
It also does not include costs for the city to acquire the Kings Inn on Third Street. City staff decided the property was needed several months after presenting the original acquisition plan to the council.
Property manager Brent Boyer wouldn’t comment on how much acquiring the property will cost the city, citing federal law that keeps appraisal amounts confidential.
The council recently delayed condemnation proceedings against the Kings Inn because its owner is in bankruptcy court.