Sinkhole chaos: Lake Montebello repair costs triple; city demands answers

(WBFF) — City leaders were jolted this week when they learned that the costs of rebuilding the area around Lake Montebello had almost tripled.

A portion of the popular hiking and biking trail was shutdown three years ago when a massive sinkhole formed nearby. The city estimated the initial repair costs would top $11 million, however, members of Baltimore’s Board of Estimates learned this week that costs had surged to more than $30 million.

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“As you saw in the pictures, it got worse and worse and worse and we kept extending it and extending it and adding more money,” said Matthew Garbark, Director of Baltimore’s Public Works Department.

The city requires “emergency procurements” to be disclosed to the Board of Estimates within 45 days. At the city’s Board of Estimates meeting this week, DPW officials struggled to explain why.

“This was a procedural issue that we’ve identified internally and we have checks and balances in place to ensure this doesn’t happen again,” a DPW representative told board members.

However, taxpayer advocate David Williams said it’s time the city demand more accountability. “We’re not talking about a little bit of money. This is a 20-million dollar overage and DPW should have told somebody. There’s really no oversight happening at the Board of Estimates. That has to change,” he said.