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Bob Goodlatte

Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke County, says he still hasn’t gotten the answers he’s been seeking on the renovation of the Poff Federal Building in downtown Roanoke.

You’ll recall that he has been complaining that the renovation costs too much money.

Here’s his release:

Today Congressman Bob Goodlatte renewed his request to Martha Johnson, the Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA) for answers on the proposed renovation of the Richard B. Poff Federal Building in Roanoke. On November 23, 2010, Congressman Goodlatte wrote to Administrator Johnson calling on the GSA to halt the renovation of the Poff Federal Building, citing the General Services Administration Office of the Inspector General report indicating a clear violation of the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA). The GSA Inspector General’s audit shows that the GSA provided the maximum contract amount, in violation of federal contracting law, giving bidders that information and depriving taxpayers of a fair process to determine the true cost of the project.

“The IG’s report on the GSA audit of the Poff Federal Building project further reinforces my belief that the proposal was ill-conceived from the beginning and improperly pursued once funded by stimulus dollars,” said Congressman Goodlatte. “The GSA’s own audit has now revealed evidence of the failure of the agency to comply with applicable laws and a breakdown in following standard operating procedures. This compounds previously uncovered evidence of a lack of a cost-benefit analysis of the project that would have compared it to constructing a new building, as well as the enormous cost overruns that have resulted in accommodating the Department of Veterans Affairs at its temporary offices.”

In addition to the November 23rd letter Congressman Goodlatte sent to Administrator Johnson, he had a meeting on November 30, 2010, with David Ehrenwerth, GSA’s Regional Administrator. In that meeting Congressman Goodlatte detailed his concerns about the lack of transparency surrounding the planned renovation of the Poff Federal Building. He expressed his concerns that a well-developed cost-benefit analysis of the Poff Building renovation project was never performed. The GSA has provided nothing more than guesstimate of the cost of replacing the current building and has done nothing to consider other alternatives such as delaying the project, building only a new and secure courthouse, rebidding the project in compliance with the law and other alternatives and ideas that have been shared with the Congressman and the GSA. The analysis done after the stimulus funding was announced does not assess the qualitative difference between a renovated building and a new structure that could meet the needs of the building’s tenants. Nor does it address the alternative of performing only necessary maintenance on the building, saving the taxpayers more than $51 million until such time when a proper plan can be formulated and funded. Despite the fact that it has been nearly four months since Congressman Goodlatte sent his letter to Administrator Johnson and met with Mr. Ehrenwerth, GSA has failed to provide any sort of response to the Congressman’s questions or concerns.

Congressman Goodlatte continued, “I understand that David Ehrenwerth will be meeting with the Roanoke City Council today to discuss the Poff Building renovation. He has failed to respond to any of my questions so it is my hope that he will be more forthcoming with the City Council. The fact remains that the mounting data continues to reflect poorly on how GSA has handled this taxpayer-funded undertaking. I strongly urge the GSA to discontinue the full contract for the project. Taxpayers have been compromised by the lack of competition in pricing the project, leaving no assurances that fair and reasonable prices were reached for such an enormous mission.”

Since the announcement nearly two years ago that the Poff Building would undergo renovations which are now totaling more than $61 million, when including the cost of moving the current tenants, temporary locations for those tenants and security costs, Congressman Goodlatte has received numerous inquiries from constituents concerned about this project. Specifically their concerns include the excessive price tag for the project, the cost effectiveness of this project relative to alternative construction, and the inability of local businesses to bid on the initial stages of the project. Since that time Senators Jim Webb and Mark Warner have expressed concerns about the planned renovation and Congressman Goodlatte has aggressively sought answers from the GSA regarding the cost and scope of this wasteful and misguided project.

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