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Government always is good in coming up with creative ways to spend your money. What it's never good at is making sure those projects get completed on budget -- and on time.
Two examples stand apart here in Wheeling. First is the oft-delayed construction of the Wheeling Fire Department headquarters. There's no question a new headquarters was needed to serve the city, but the project has been plagued with issues from the start. The most recent issue -- the bankruptcy filing of the project's former general contractor, Cleveland-based PCS &build LLC -- has now set work back by months.
In fact, no work has taken place at the East Wheeling location since the end of March. At the same time, the former fire department headquarters in Center Wheeling now is gone, through a private contract being handled by WVU Medicine as part of its new regional cancer center at the former OVMC property.
The second example should come as no surprise to anyone who's watched this project move forward. The splash pad at Heritage Port -- which was initially scheduled for completion by the end of May --now may not be finished until just before Labor Day.
We'll let City Manager Robert Herron explain the hold-up.
"The WesBanco Arena Splash Pad project continues to progress ... slower than we anticipated," Herron told City Council on Tuesday. "That area is a very difficult area to work in because of the electricity and all of the things that are associated with the arena, as well as Heritage Port. But that project is slated to be completed by mid-August."
Again, it was pointed out by several folks prior to the $400,000 splash pad being approved that utilities and other items that service WesBanco Arena would have to be dealt with to place such a feature in that area. Rushing this through just to appease a now former member of city council made no sense at the time, and even less today.
The project likely will finish just in time for city officials to begin to consider how they will care for it over the winter.
With so much positive happening in Wheeling, how can projects such as these continue to plague real progress being made? City elected leaders need to demand more accountability for the taxpayers.