City Hall
O'Brien to Propose New Limits on Tunnel Agreement
City Council member Mike O'Brien, a critic of the proposed deep-bore tunnel, plans to introduce five amendments to a resolution proposed by the city council earlier this week. That resolution would put off the signing of three contracts between the city and the state until next year, after two potential tunnel contracting teams release their bids. O'Brien's amendments would put off signing any agreements with the state until certain conditions are met:
First, the state would have to fully analyze all the potential traffic impacts of the tunnel, including the impact of tolling, and committed to mitigate those impacts.
Second the state would have to give King County the authority to raise taxes to pay for additional express and RapidRide bus service to downtown as part of the viaduct replacement project. Last year, Gov. Chris Gregoire, then-King County Executive Ron Sims, and then-mayor Greg Nickels signed a letter that said all three parties "support efforts to obtain state legislative authority for King County to implement a 1% Motor Vehicle Excise Tax" to pay for an estimated $190 million in capital costs and $15 million in annual operating expenses.
Third, the state would have to identify all of the differences between the initial design-build contract and the contract that's ultimately awarded. (The final contract will be hammered out between the contractor and the state, and will likely look much different than the initial bids).
Fourth, the Port of Seattle would have to solidify its commitment to spend $300 million on the viaduct replacement project.
Finally—reiterating an amendment O'Brien had proposed earlier to an ordinance signing the agreements—the agreements would not move forward unless the state legislature removed a provision in state law stating that Seattle-area property owners will pay for any cost overruns on the tunnel.
O'Brien just released his five amendments internally a few minutes ago, and says he hasn't had a chance yet to ask his colleagues whether they'd support them. He says he hasn't heard much support for the cost overruns provision (which only Mayor Mike McGinn appears to support), but says "I don't know that people disagree with me" on the other four. "Since it's now a resolution [not a binding ordinance], I think that lowers the bar," O'Brien says.
Yesterday, Mayor Mike McGinn decried the council's proposed resolution, saying that it failed to protect the city from the risk of cost overruns on the tunnel.
First, the state would have to fully analyze all the potential traffic impacts of the tunnel, including the impact of tolling, and committed to mitigate those impacts.
Second the state would have to give King County the authority to raise taxes to pay for additional express and RapidRide bus service to downtown as part of the viaduct replacement project. Last year, Gov. Chris Gregoire, then-King County Executive Ron Sims, and then-mayor Greg Nickels signed a letter that said all three parties "support efforts to obtain state legislative authority for King County to implement a 1% Motor Vehicle Excise Tax" to pay for an estimated $190 million in capital costs and $15 million in annual operating expenses.
Third, the state would have to identify all of the differences between the initial design-build contract and the contract that's ultimately awarded. (The final contract will be hammered out between the contractor and the state, and will likely look much different than the initial bids).
Fourth, the Port of Seattle would have to solidify its commitment to spend $300 million on the viaduct replacement project.
Finally—reiterating an amendment O'Brien had proposed earlier to an ordinance signing the agreements—the agreements would not move forward unless the state legislature removed a provision in state law stating that Seattle-area property owners will pay for any cost overruns on the tunnel.
O'Brien just released his five amendments internally a few minutes ago, and says he hasn't had a chance yet to ask his colleagues whether they'd support them. He says he hasn't heard much support for the cost overruns provision (which only Mayor Mike McGinn appears to support), but says "I don't know that people disagree with me" on the other four. "Since it's now a resolution [not a binding ordinance], I think that lowers the bar," O'Brien says.
Yesterday, Mayor Mike McGinn decried the council's proposed resolution, saying that it failed to protect the city from the risk of cost overruns on the tunnel.
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