Letter about where is the money…
To the Editor,
You know, math was never a favorite subject of mine, however I think I’ve done well with the basics on addition and subtraction over the years. I sit here very confused over the version of new math the city of Harmony used last summer on the 2020 street and utility improvement project. I see printed in front of me request for payment from GenX stating the project costs were $1,666,629.00. Then I pick up the next piece of paper that has the “Final project costs” given out at the December council meeting saying the total project cost is $1,966,540.95.
Using my math skills learned at Harmony Elementary School, that means some how the project cost is $299,911.90 more than what GenX charged.
The council tracked the expenditures for GenX at the council meetings and agreed on payments. However, I don’t know where the extra ~$300K has gone. I even checked the math with a calculator to double check; still leaves me pondering where the money went.
I stopped into the city office just before the first of the year; our city administrator was available so I asked about the cost of the project. I had him look up the GenX project bid and payments made with totals for the project and then look up the project costs as it was presented to the citizens. He couldn’t explain the difference. Eventually, he stated that all the numbers come from the city engineer and he would know why the difference. Hmmm, seems to me the city engineer is contracted by the city through a company called Stantec, not an elected official or direct employee, hmmm.
So, I’m at a loss still. Where is the money? Why hide it?
Brad Thacher
Resident, Harmony, Minn.
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