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Q&A
DDC project funding and timeline process
5:23:03
ยท
5 min
Council Member Brooks-Powers questions the funding and timeline process for DDC projects, using the Brookville Park bathroom project as an example. DDC officials explain the various steps involved and agree to provide a detailed analysis of the project's history.
- The funding process involves multiple steps, including OMB approval and comptroller registration
- Design-build is presented as faster than traditional methods, but internal city processes may still cause delays
- Council Member requests a 'forensic' analysis of the project timeline from budget adoption to present
- DDC agrees to provide a detailed breakdown of the timeline and process
- Discussion highlights the distinction between the efficiency of design-build as a method and the overall timeline including city processes
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
5:23:03
So when you say it takes a while to get to DDC, is that a O and B dynamic?
Jeffrey Margolis
5:23:08
I'm not saying it's just the way that the priorities are set by our sponsor agencies and how the funding does get transferred.
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
5:23:14
Well, I'm just trying to understand it because if I fully funded that bathroom so the money is there.
5:23:20
So when you say it takes a while to get to DDC, I'm trying to understand why would it take time to get to the agency if in that fiscal year it was fully funded.
Jeffrey Margolis
5:23:32
Right.
5:23:33
So I think in this particular instance all of the different bathrooms were put together so the funding for all of those six restrooms were combined.
5:23:40
I don't know if Rachel
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
5:23:41
Were all of the bathrooms not fully funded at the time?
Jeffrey Margolis
5:23:43
I'm not sure of the history.
5:23:45
We can we can try and get back to you unless Rachel has some more detail.
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
5:23:48
In the event that all bathrooms are not fully funded, would DDC still be of the position that they would bundle this same group of projects?
Jeffrey Margolis
5:24:00
So in this instance that all six bathrooms again we don't we don't start design or construction unless all of the work is fully funded.
5:24:10
So these are fully funded.
5:24:11
I don't know the particular history on these particular six.
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
5:24:14
So I'd like you guys to get back to me on that because I want to understand the timeline because it's either design build is not as quick as it's being promoted as or because
Gale A. Brewer
5:24:25
all of
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
5:24:25
the bathrooms were not fully funded at the time, my project had to wait until the others were fully funded but then my follow-up question at that point is did it make sense to now bundle it in this package because you have a community waiting for this.
5:24:42
It's been fully funded.
5:24:43
There's no reason that we should have to wait three years to get to the the procurement phase of this which takes another year then to wait eighteen more months to be able to do the construction that that's not sensible to me and with that amount of length of time from when it was funded to now, does DDC anticipate a shortfall because of that?
Jeffrey Margolis
5:25:06
We we do not anticipate a shortfall but we you know understand your your your question and we can get back to you on the the timeline of that particular funding.
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
5:25:14
And is there any way that DDC is able to expedite this because again it's been a while and now you're telling me that I have two and a half years pretty much left.
Jeffrey Margolis
5:25:27
We we will happily talk to the design builder as soon as they are fully on board.
5:25:30
Again we're waiting for registration then we'll issue that notice to proceed in the summer we can
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
5:25:35
How long does the registration take?
Jeffrey Margolis
5:25:37
So it will be going to the comptroller in the next few months and then it's approximately thirty days.
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
5:25:41
Why does it take a few months to go to the comptroller?
5:25:43
I'm just trying to understand the process because I don't I'm not in DDC so
Rachel Laiserin
5:25:47
So we're we're actually at the close to the end of the procurement process for this but we have to go through finalize the contract and go through all the oversights but we're pretty close.
5:25:58
It's fully funded.
5:25:59
We have our certificate to proceed from OMB and it's just these last few steps that we have to get moving forward.
5:26:07
And then it'll be eighteen months for design and construction.
5:26:11
And again a big benefit is if we would have had to do two separate procurements, one for design and perform design to 100% completion.
5:26:21
And then we would have had to do a second procurement for construction, a low bid at that point.
5:26:27
And so we I think we can go back and look at the history of how we got here today.
5:26:34
But it definitely we are ahead of where we would have been in design bid build.
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
5:26:39
So I would love to have a forensic particularly at Brookville Park.
5:26:42
I'd like to know from the moment that it was approved, like not approved but the budget was adopted till now what has happened, what that timeline looks like and if you can give me context as to why like okay it, you know, you gotta wait for OMB to respond to this and it's in numerical order in the order it comes requires this information.
5:27:07
Like I wanna understand that better because that will shape how I advocate for or against prod the project, the design build because again when it was first conveyed to me, it gave a perspective that this was gonna happen really quickly but it's taken a really long time because right now you're talking about six years to design one bathroom.
5:27:35
In our park even though it's multiple bathrooms but for this project that's been fully funded essentially it'll be about six years before it's even built and we have the public that have been notified, they're looking forward to it and so I don't think that framing design build as a quicker way, it may be a way to streamline in some sense but it doesn't seem like it makes it quicker.
Rachel Laiserin
5:28:01
Yeah, I think I think it's a fair question and we'll go back and do that kind of forensic analysis that you mentioned.
5:28:08
It's good lessons learned for us anyway but I will just say that design build as a project delivery method is going to be faster, not necessary that the internal city processes are any faster.
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
5:28:23
Thank you.