Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Capital Projects Infrastructure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Legislature approves $500,000 contingency request for Spruce Street garage reconstruction
Summary
County Department of General Services requested a $500,000 contingency increase after demolition exposed extensive corrosion in the Spruce Street parking garage; officials said existing contingency of about $1.3 million has been spent and additional work from corrosion and past fire damage required more funds.
The Albany County Legislature approved a request to amend the 2025 Department of General Services budget to add contingency funding for the Spruce Street garage reconstruction after demolition revealed more extensive structural deterioration than expected.
Commissioner Latina, speaking for the Department of General Services, said crews found significant corrosion to underground steel and piles as demolition progressed. Latina said previously budgeted contingency—about $1.3 million—has been exhausted and that the department is seeking an additional $500,000 in contingency funds to finish the project. Latina said the department expects to complete the work by November and that the reconstruction should extend the garage’s service life by 25 to 30 years.
Latina described damage under the top deck attributed to decades of road-salt exposure and said sandblasting during demolition revealed steel deterioration "right down into the columns." He also said crews discovered additional damage from a past fire under the decking that required replacement of heat-damaged structural steel.
Legislators pressed staff on whether program change orders accounted for part of the cost growth and whether the initial structural assessment by the project’s engineer and architect should have anticipated such deterioration. Latina said the original consultants—identified in discussion as CT Veil (architect of record) and ONS Consulting Structural Engineers—were brought in early and were used as consulting engineers during construction; he said staff is "very comfortable" with the consulting engineers’ work but that some deterioration exceeded initial expectations.
Discussion noted the project’s total, pre-change order budget and the scale of the overrun. Latina said about $350,000–$400,000 of the additional cost stemmed from program change orders (exterior paving and exterior design changes), and that an estimated $250,000–$300,000 of the requested $500,000 contingency would likely be spent to complete the structural repairs. Legislators approved the additional contingency; the roll call recorded one dissent.
