El Paso city attorney to start tallying San Jacinto Plaza price tag

How much does the contractor renovating San Jacinto Plaza owe the city? That’s what El Paso City Attorney Sylvia Borunda-Firth and the contractor, Basic IDIQ, are going to start figuring out.

The council voted Tuesday to give Borunda-Firth the power to figure out, along with the contractor, how much money the contractor will pay the city.

The city is charging the contractor, $1,000 a day since may because the project is so late. But the contractor can dispute the amount.

For example, it can point out days the weather delayed work. The contractor can also say some of the delays are due to the city’s orders.

“Remember when everyone was waiting for the infamous cable, well the cable is here,” Borunda-Firth said. “We had some issues with the welding being redone. There is a lot of activity if you go out to the ‘Placita”‘now. But we need to keep them moving. Keep them on track and make sure we bring the project through completion.”

Borunda-Firth went onto say that the city does expect the project to be done by the end of this year but could not say whether the plaza would be ready for the annual tree lighting ceremony.