Razing Norfolk building for light rail to cost over $1M

NORFOLK

Chalk up a million more bucks for light rail.

A divided City Council approved spending an additional $934,000 in taxpayer money Tuesday night to purchase a small office building on York Street that officials say would cause a safety issue when light rail opens in May.

However, some council members say Hampton Roads Transit, not the city, should be responsible for purchasing the building. The transportation agency is constructing the city's light-rail line.

"Let HRT pay for this," Councilman Andy Protogyrou said. "This is their fault. It's their mistake. I don't see why Norfolk taxpayers have to pay for this."

HRT officials say the light-rail tracks are safe and were approved by the city, state and federal agencies.

"If the City Council wants to make it safer, that's a good thing," said Tom Holden, HRT's public affairs manager.

The building, which houses a psychiatric practice and a printing company, is about a yard from light-rail tracks as they turn west from Duke Street onto York Street.

Mayor Paul Fraim said there's a blind spot where the tracks turn that could lead to pedestrians being injured or killed by light-rail trains.

"I don't know how the engineers configured the tracks here, but just to the naked eye, it's a safety issue," Fraim said. "As the train comes around the track, you cannot see it and you may not be able to hear it. I think we did the prudent thing."

Protogyrou and other council members said the blind spot was a design flaw made by consultants and engineers hired by HRT.

Light rail, expected to cost $338 million, is more than $106 million over budget. That does not include the money the council decided to spend this week with its 6-2 vote.

The issue was debated for nearly a half- hour in closed session. There was no public debate.

Councilman Paul R. Riddick, who chairs the HRT board, said he went back and forth on the issue before voting to approve the additional money. "I just decided the best thing to do is to get this done as soon as possible," he said.

Councilman Barclay C. Winn, who also serves on HRT's board, said the current management of the transit agency is not to blame.

Michael Townes was forced to resign as HRT head earlier this year primarily because of the project's cost overruns.

"There are skeletons coming out of this project because of poor management and poor engineering" under Townes, Winn said.

City Attorney Bernard A. Pishko said the building was appraised by the city at slightly less than $1 million. It is assessed for tax purposes at $755,000, City Assessor Deborah Bunn said.

Pishko said building owner Jim Baylor was seeking $600,000 in compensation for diminished value of the office building because of light-rail construction, which had previously claimed a small parking lot and two offices attached to the building.

In all, it will cost HRT and the city $1,175,000 to acquire the property.

HRT is kicking in $261,000 that will essentially pay for Baylor's claim of diminished value. The city will pay $20,000 in closing costs and $914,000 for the building.

Fraim said the building will be demolished and the site cleared before light rail begins running. He hopes it will become a park.

"The site just cries out for grass and a few trees," he said. "If you stand there on the corner, it looks like the place was built for machines instead of people. This will allow us to soften that up a bit."

Harry Minium, (757) 446-2371, harry.minium@pilotonline.com