The Committee of Finance, Diversity and Inclusion on Oct. 20 approved an emergency ordinance amending city contract language with Osborne Engineering Company for work on the North Coast Connector, a lakefront pedestrian bridge connector, and removed a previously requested $5,000,000 funding line.

Assistant Director Johnson Chambers told the committee the changes are “to make clerical changes in the already, amended ordinance ... remove the assignment of fourth modification to actually read second amendment to the contract,” and to remove the $5,000,000 request. Chambers said, “No dollar amounts being changed. This is just clarification of modification versus amendment.”

The amendment to the ordinance was offered from the floor by Councilman Casey, who moved to “strike section 4” and remove the language that included the $5,000,000 figure; the motion received a second and was approved by voice vote. The committee then approved ordinance number 10-72-2025 as amended.

Committee members pressed staff for project context. Chambers said the total project cost is $470,000,000, with construction costs listed at $447,000,000 and approximately $160,000,000 in hand to fund initial phases. He described the work covered by this contract as the phase from West Third to East Ninth streets and said later phases (East Ninth to East Eighteenth Street) do not have current funding. On the level of design, Chambers said the bridge and shoreway realignment have designs, while the broader north-lakefront elements remain conceptual and in pre-engineering.

Councilman Michael Polis expressed concern about resources, saying, “That's a half a billion dollars going in the lakefront. Half a billion,” and asked that the committee be provided the master plan; Polis and other members requested a copy of the master plan for the full lakefront project.

The ordinance as approved makes clerical corrections to prior ordinance 549-2025 and removes the referenced $5,000,000 funding request from the current emergency ordinance. No formal roll-call tally was recorded in the committee transcript; the measure passed on voice vote.

The committee discussion distinguished the ministerial text change approved at this meeting from broader funding and design decisions for the North Coast Connector; staff said additional funding sources under consideration include tax-increment financing and grant funds, and that subsequent planning and design steps remain to be completed for later phases.

The ordinance will proceed to the full council for consideration as indicated in committee proceedings.