Subject: Special Winter Park Commission Meeting Wednesday, May 13 at 5 PM
Fellow Winter Park Residents,
Please share with friends and neighbors.
Please email the city commission and tell them NOT TO TERMINATE THE LIBRARY/EVENT CENTER CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT: mayorandcommissioners@cityofwinterpark.org
Monday, Commissioner Todd Weaver called a special commission meeting for today, Wednesday, May 13 at 5PM to discuss and potentially vote on terminating the contract to build the library/event center project. The commission agreed to hold the meeting.
Summary: The commission will throw away as much as $18,000,000 to $24,000,000 in funding if the construction contract is terminated.
How do you build a better project with half the money? You don't.
Based on information from the city, terminating the contract will result in:
- Loss of between $5,000,000 to $6,000,000 in sunk costs already paid to date.
- Termination of over $20,000,000 in contracts and purchase orders issued to date by the construction firm. These terminations will result in actions by sub-contractors with possible losses in the range of $5,000,000 to $10,000,000. Contract disputes are likely to drag on for years with millions of dollars of taxpayer exposure.
- Loss of the $6,000,000 Orange Country Tourist Development Grant Contract. The grant contract is tied to the existing project design only. A new grant is unlikely as future tourist taxes are severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Pledged donations to the current project will be withdrawn, potentially reducing funding by a further $2,000,000.
If the contract is terminated $42,000,000 of funding now in place for the current project is likely to be cut in half or more. Remaining bond proceeds plus earned interest will likely be reduced to between $15,000,000 to $21,000,000 (from $31,400,000), with the final number not known until all actions related to contract termination are finalized several years from now. If the commission does not initiate a new project, we will pay an additional $2,000,000 or more to pay off the bonds early.
Summary: The commission will throw away as much as $18,000,000 to $24,000,000 in funding if the construction contract is terminated.
How do you build a better project with half the money? You don't.
Please email the city commission and tell them NOT TO TERMINATE THE LIBRARY/EVENT CENTER CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT: mayorandcommissioners@cityofwinterpark.org
Regards, Pete Weldon
