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Q&A
Council Member Sandy Nurse questions OMB on borough-based jails and HPD programs
3:03:27
ยท
4 min
Council Member Sandy Nurse engages in a Q&A session with OMB officials, focusing on the budget for borough-based jails and updates on HPD programs. She inquires about the increased cost estimates for the jails project and presses for information on independent engineering assessments and updated term sheets for HPD programs.
- The cost estimate for borough-based jails has increased from $13 billion to $16 billion due to reallocation of existing DOC capital funds.
- OMB officials confirm they are planning to conduct a value engineering assessment for the jails project.
- Discussion on the status of updated term sheets for HPD programs, including Neighborhood Pillars and Open Doors, with OMB indicating they are close to finalizing them.
Sandy Nurse
3:03:27
Thank you, chair.
3:03:29
One, I'm echoing council member Brewer's water fountain thing.
3:03:33
We tried to get a handful of them in one school, and you all rejected it after we already allocated.
3:03:38
So either we'd like our money back to figure out where we can spend it or give us the water fountain.
3:03:44
I have two separate sections, one on the borough based jails.
3:03:48
The mayor referenced 16,000,000,000.
3:03:50
Recently, the last time we had this, it was 13,000,000,000.
3:03:53
So can you talk about the difference
Jacques Jiha
3:03:55
It's the, again, the cost increase because of the $13,000,000,000 if I remember correctly, it's because we use some of the capital money that was already in DOC budget and we allocated to Bourbon based jail because we cannot do any more capital projects at Rikers.
3:04:19
Okay, that's the reason why it appears to be 13 something instead of 16, but the true cost is 16.
Sandy Nurse
3:04:26
So, you're, okay, just to reiterate
Jacques Jiha
3:04:28
Is the
Althea Stevens
3:04:28
funding in reallocating
Sandy Nurse
3:04:30
other capital
Althea Stevens
3:04:29
Yeah.
Sandy Nurse
3:04:30
To this, okay.
3:04:33
And, you know, what are you all doing in terms of ensuring that these project costs aren't going over, Where are we in terms of all of the contracts being executed?
3:04:46
I know that each facility is about $2 to $3,000,000,000 to $4,200,000,000 How are we going to ensure that $16,000,000,000 doesn't balloon even further?
Jacques Jiha
3:04:54
We're working with, again, there's no guarantee because of material costs of significant increase.
3:05:03
We just got a new tariff on steel and steel is a big piece of disposal, and we don't even know what the ramification of that's going to be for the board based GR because a lot of it is steel based.
3:05:19
So, I don't know yet what the ramification of all the tariffs gonna be on construction costs yet, but I'm assuming there's gonna be some increase.
3:05:31
Okay.
3:05:32
We would come back to you at some point when we have a better clear guidance in terms of what's going on to give you a better sense of cost.
3:05:41
So therefore, I cannot say for sure there's not gonna be another cost issue.
Sandy Nurse
3:05:44
Fair enough.
3:05:45
I understand about this cost of things like that.
3:05:48
I think every year we've asked are you gonna do some kind of independent engineering assessment?
3:05:52
Every year you say no, why not?
Jacques Jiha
3:05:56
Aren't we doing some value engineering?
Tara Boirard
3:05:58
We're working on doing a VE.
3:06:01
Have to get back to you on the time frame.
Sandy Nurse
3:06:02
You are planning on doing one?
Tara Boirard
3:06:04
Yes.
Sandy Nurse
3:06:05
Okay, great.
3:06:05
We'd love to hear more about that.
3:06:08
Last year, one of the deals made for the adopted budget was funding for a couple of HPD programs, actually a bunch of HPD OT programs, but specifically neighborhood pillars, open doors.
3:06:21
We were promised updated term sheets from HPD.
3:06:27
I'm asking here because we've been asking behind the scenes, so we just would like to know when we will get those updated term sheets for us to look at and and have a conversation about.
Tara Boirard
3:06:39
Tara?
3:06:40
Sure.
3:06:40
I know that we promised, I believe, at the end of last year that we'd have everything settled and December.
3:06:46
Yeah.
3:06:46
Yeah.
3:06:47
We're we're almost there.
3:06:48
So we received the last round of back and forth with HPD last week, and we're hoping that we're close to, you know, the the end stage.
3:06:56
For some of the programs, wanna be clear that it doesn't mean that there's a hold on the program.
3:07:01
All of the the deals are continuing.
3:07:03
This is just to be more transparent about how we're setting costs.
Sandy Nurse
3:07:06
But some of them are, I think, open doors.
3:07:08
What is is being held for a minute?
Tara Boirard
3:07:10
That's less about a term sheet issue and just more evaluating the particulars of the the program.
Sandy Nurse
3:07:15
Do you can you tell me just briefly if you have which ones are on hold until there's a new term sheet?
Tara Boirard
3:07:21
Nothing is on hold.
Sandy Nurse
3:07:22
Okay.
3:07:22
Nothing.
3:07:23
Okay.
3:07:24
So, you anticipate us having those term sheets to review this month?
Tara Boirard
3:07:29
A lot of this is an iterative process that also involves HPD, so I can't unilaterally say that we're going to be good with the term sheets.
3:07:37
I can't tell you that we're working actively with them.
Sandy Nurse
3:07:38
Do you have are you willing to let us look at anything that you have now?
Tara Boirard
3:07:43
That we have to talk to HPD on that piece.
Sandy Nurse
3:07:45
Okay.
3:07:45
I think it'll be helpful just so we can see where we are and Mhmm.
Amanda Farias
3:07:48
If we
Sandy Nurse
3:07:48
can be helpful
Hailey Nolasco
3:07:49
Sure.
Sandy Nurse
3:07:49
In any way.
3:07:52
Thank you, chair.