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Residents press city for environmental cost figures as council advances Pierce Street parking-lot plans
Summary
At second-reading hearings for bond ordinances funding a Fulton/Pierce parking lot and demolition work, residents urged the council not to move forward until environmental abatement costs for the Mangos site are disclosed; administration said prior financial and legal advice supported the purchase and timeline.
During the public hearing for a bond ordinance funding a municipal parking lot and related demolition on Fulton/Pierce, resident Andrew Garcia Phillips warned council members they were being asked to commit taxpayer dollars without clear information on environmental-abatement costs at the Mangos site. Phillips said estimates he had heard ranged "anywhere between $50,000 and $2,000,000" and urged the council to "table" approval until the environmental cost is known.
City representatives defended the process. Mr. Landolfi (a city official involved in past parking-authority work) said the purchase and closing were undertaken on the advice of counsel and financial advisors and that negotiations and timelines date to prior administrations. Council members proceeded with the ordinances (including O-20-26 for the parking lot and O-21-26 for demolition) after discussion, while residents pressed for more detailed cost estimates and documentation before construction and expensive remediation work begin.
