Chicago migrant crisis: Records shed light on contract for tents, city cracks down on buses
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The tents continue to come down at the site in the Brighton Park neighborhood that was going to be a base camp for migrants until Gov. JB Pritzker shut down the plan.
At another proposed site for a tent base camp at 115th and Halsted streets in Morgan Park, there was no activity just yet on Friday.
Meanwhile, as CBS 2's Sabrina Franza reported, we have been pressing the Mayor's office for comment on how much the setup and immediate takedown of the tents at 38th Street and California Avenue in Brighton Park cost the city.
The Mayor's office told us they are in talks with the owner of the so as possibly to get out of the lease that is costing the city $91,400 a month.
They said the state has the ownership of the setup and takedown.
However, we referred back to the contract that the city signed with GardaWorld – which sheds some light on what the mishap could have cost.
The grand total of the GardaWorld contract was almost $30 million - $29,366,298.11, to be precise. Of that, the contract lists a cost proposal for the setup and dismantling of outdoor, soft-sided lodging for up to 1,400 people – for $595,518.94.
Since the setup was never completed at Brighton Park, it is not clear if that amount was paid in full. The city's website does not list any payments made to GardaWorld at all.
We are also trying to find out if that cost includes any fixes the city made while trying to solve the site's environmental issues – like when the city covered the huge lot in inches of gravel.
On a relevant point, the city also has a new way to make money going forward – in the form of fines for buses carrying migrants that do not alert the city of where and when they will drop people off.
The city said bus operators are not following that rule, and so a City Council committee on Friday voted in favor of impounding buses as a way of encouraging those requirements.
"There are also have been situations where they have been coming to the drop site and outside of the hours, and without providing notice to the city," a city attorney said at the City Council committee hearing Friday. "Doing that would be impoundable as well."
The ordinance on rules for buses goes to the full City Council vote on Wednesday.
We are also keeping tabs on the environmental review for the second proposed migrant tent location in Morgan Park.
Sources told us the review was supposed to be completed on Friday. Ald. Ronnie Mosley (21st), whose ward includes the area, told us he has not received anything yet.