The 2013 cost estimate presented to CalTrans for the Potrero Interchange Phase 1 was $23,000,000 and Phase 2 was $54,400,000.
Beaumont City Council August 16, 2016, Agenda Item 2: Potrero Interchange
Once again Beaumont Staff and Council are pulling the Potrero Interchange story to funnel money out of the City.
Staff Report page 7 states: “Urban Logic has been paid over $11,000,000 for this project.”
The ‘staff report’ did not include the $819,856 paid to Urban Logic from the Bond Fund Accounts by the current City Council on March 17, 2015: http://www.ci.beaumont.ca.us/D…
And what has the taxpayer received for their $11 Million?
A glossy flyer.
The $11 Million glossy flyer can be viewed on the City’s laser fiche under Weblink Public Documents/Public Works/Potrero Interchange.
Over $2 Million was funneled out of the Bond Fund Accounts under the guise of ‘Potrero’, which makes this project part of the SEC investigation.
A total of $13 Million has been paid under the guise of ‘Potrero’. $12 Million to Urban Logic and another Million to a company called ‘Natures’ Image’ that was a regular on the City’s check warrants for many years.
Two letters regarding Potrero were sent to the City from the Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC). Mayor Mike Lara and Mayor Pro-Tem Lloyd White both sit on the Commission, but neither spoke about Potrero’s funding on RCTC’s Agenda.
The first letter, dated July 8, 2016, informs the City that the funding allocated to Potrero would be discussed at the July 13, 2016 Commission Meeting. The City apparently did not respond to the RCTC and solved their problems in typical Beaumont fashion by stamping the letter “Received: July 14, 2016.”
The RCTC sent another letter dated July 21, 2016 to inform the City of Beaumont that $8,929,000 previously allocated for the Potrero Project would be spent on other more viable County projects.
The RCTC stated the reasons for deprogramming the funds was:
Project Delays
Local Matching Funds Uncertainty
CalTrans has not Approved the City of Beaumont to be the Lead Agency for the Project.
Another ‘delay’ cited in the City’s Staff Report is the fact that LAFCO refuses to annex the remaining property needed for Potrero into the Beaumont City Limits. The property, known as LAFCO 2014-20-5 Annexation of Hidden Canyon Warehouse (ASM Beaumont Business Center), is being retained by the County until the City of Beaumont can produce Audited Financial Statements and a means to provide Sewer and Fire Protection to the area.
In 2013 the cost estimate presented to CalTrans for the Potrero Interchange Phase 1 was $23,000,000 and the cost estimate of Phase 2 was $54,400,000: http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/trans…
Funneling $13 Million to Urban Logic and Natures’ Image doesn’t not mean that the City only needs $10 Million to complete the Phase 1; it means that the City still needs $23 Million just to complete Phase 1 and another $54.4 Million to complete Phase 2.
The City of Beaumont has three immediate needs of financial significance; the Sewer Plant, the TUMF Judgement, and the building of three (3) Fire Stations.
It is insulting that Beaumont Staff and Council continue to ignore the needs of the Citizens in order to pander to Lawyers and Consultants, but it is the ‘Beaumont way’.