Long Beach overpaid to repair Queen Mary – and there’s still work to be done, audit says

Long Beach overpaid to repair the Queen Mary, the legendary vessel that for decades has been a large tourer attraction for the seaside metropolis, but has fallen into disrepair and inactive requires millions of dollars successful fixes, according to the findings of a metropolis audit released Monday, Nov. 15.

The metropolis gave Urban Commons Queensway, LLC, the Queen Mary’s erstwhile operator, $23 cardinal to repair the vessel successful precocious 2016. But 2 years later, astir of the 27 projects Urban Commons and the metropolis had agreed were astir urgent had not yet been finished, the audit. That review, conducted by City Auditor Laura Doud this year, besides recovered that $23 cardinal successful captious repairs stay necessary.

Urban Commons couldn’t instantly beryllium reached for comment.

Long Beach took backmost the day-to-day operations of the vessel implicit the summer, aft Urban Commons surrenders its 66-year lease amid its ongoing bankruptcy; the metropolis is successful the process of transferring power implicit to the Harbor Department.

Doud’s audit recovered six cardinal issues:

• Urban Commons failed to supply outgo accusation for enactment done by subcontractors.
• The city’s lease with Urban Commons did not code markups oregon a absorption interest and determination were immoderate instances wherever markups were excessive.
• Long Beach approved purchases that were not successful enactment with the $23 cardinal designated for captious repair projects.
• The lease statement did not see a vetting process for subcontractors.
• There was a deficiency of consistency regarding the scope of enactment of immoderate repairs, meaning, successful immoderate cases, Urban Commons did not clarify however overmuch enactment immoderate projects needed, making it hard to find if the estimated costs were reasonable.
• The lease statement did not necessitate Urban Commons to person a competitory bidding process for immoderate repair projects. Competitive bidding processes let the metropolis to get the champion prices and declaration terms.

“We cognize the City paid much than indispensable for immoderate of the projects owed successful portion to the excessive markups and absorption fee,” Doud said successful a statement. “We cannot archer successful item however overmuch oregon wherever each the repair wealth went owed to a operation of missing outgo accusation from Urban Commons and subcontractors and the deficiency of item successful subcontractors’ vague invoices breaking down labour and worldly costs.

“We bash cognize that lone 7 of the 27 repair projects were completed,” she added, “and that a deficiency of capable absorption oversight contributed to these problems.”

Doud’s added successful her audit that 11 projects were partially completed and 9 projects had not been started astatine all, truthful determination are 20 projects successful full that were deemed “urgent and critical” that inactive request to beryllium completed.

Her audit included recommendations for the metropolis to travel to guarantee nationalist funds are utilized appropriately to hole the Queen Mary, saying the metropolis should see circumstantial connection successful the lease statement to marque definite whoever fixes the vessel adjacent spends the wealth properly.

“If nationalist funds proceed to beryllium spent connected the Queen Mary,” the audit says, “the City needs to guarantee the funds allocated for this plus are safeguarded and spent according to champion practices and successful enactment with City policies.”

This communicative is breaking and volition beryllium updated.