Troublemaker jumps on Willowgate; Carmany fights back in the comments.

Troublemaker writes:

In Greensboro the City Council must approve all change orders in construction or demolition contracts in excess of $20,000.00. The City Manager lacks the legal authority to approve construction change orders in excess of $20,000.00 absent City Council approval.

Mike Barber raised this issue at the meeting, and Johnson replied that change orders in excess of $20,000 did indeed come before the council, but the threshold for settlements was $100,000, and the money paid to UMB was a settlement, not a change order. Johnson then went on to admit that “this project was done which is not a way that is not normally doen for some of the larger projects.”

But there was still is no account for the initial $16,000 bump in the original contract. It’s interesting that Carmany has taken to the blogosphere to the defend this deal when she had the opportunity to do so in a public forum. Instead, she remained silent, as did other council members, with the exception of Barber. The city had the opportunity to address this matter with a detailed account of expenditures for the Willow Oaks project and did not do so, leaving us to speculate about what went down with UMB. That’s the council’s problem, not ours.