[PRCo] Re: pat__service__cuts__2007.01.23-changed to 2/1/07

[John Swindler]

>From today’s Post Gazette.

One could ask the question: why did PAT need more space when system 
ridership was declining.

John



Port Authority urged to move to less-expensive office space
Friday, February 02, 2007
By Joe Grata, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Port Authority could save money by moving out of rented office space in 
the Heinz 57 Center, Downtown, and going back to its partly vacant former 
administration building in Manchester, state Auditor General Jack Wagner 
said.

At a news conference yesterday, he urged the authority to cancel its lease, 
saying his agency determined the cost to be $7.8 million for rent and $7.7 
million for renovations and furnishings as part of a 10-year deal.

He also claimed the cash-strapped agency is paying for parking for 
"executive management" that was free at the Manchester building.

Mr. Wagner said he called attention to the lease now as a "significant 
interim matter" that came up as part of a comprehensive, long-range audit of 
authority spending.

"It is unconscionable that management would continue to lease prime space at 
taxpayer expense that is unnecessary," he said in a statement. "Your fiscal 
crisis requires that immediate steps be taken."

Port Authority spokesman Bob Grove said a return to Manchester has been 
under consideration.
He said the authority has estimated the move would cost $8 million -- $4.3 
million for repairs and renovations to the Manchester building and $3.7 
million for the remaining 3 1/2 years on its Heinz lease "unless we could 
find someone to sublet to. Given the Downtown office vacancy rates, we're 
not sure that's very likely."

The authority leases the entire third floor and part of the fifth floor of 
the Heinz 57 Center. The administrative and nonunion staff moved there more 
than six years ago for what was then a lack of space in Manchester and to 
put employees closer to transit, riders and people with whom they work.

Last year's rent was $835,000.

Mr. Grove said the authority has 17 reserved parking spaces, 13 for pool 
cars shared by staff and four for administrators, including construction and 
operations managers who often need to go on the road. The authority doesn't 
pay for the spaces but, in exchange, employees do cleanup around the First 
Avenue T station that's part of the First Avenue Parking Garage.

The Post-Gazette reported in November that authority officials were 
contemplating a return to Manchester for long-term cost-savings in light of 
recurring budget crises.

The five-story building in Manchester, at Beaver and Island avenues, was 
built in 1972 at a cost of $9 million, most of it coming from the federal 
government. It contains a parking deck and a sprawling ground-floor garage 
that houses the main bus repair, major overhaul and repair shops, with 165 
employees.

About 100 treasury, technology and training personnel use the office space, 
but about two-thirds of the remaining space is vacant. Efforts to lease the 
space to private interests have failed.








>From: Jim Holland <prcopcc at p-r-co.com>
>Reply-To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
>To: "- 1714 PRCo__WP__JTC (WP-Cleveland;__DCT) -" 
><pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>,        "- 1717 PRCo__WP__JTC 
>(WP-Cleveland;__DCT) -" <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
>Subject: [PRCo] ({[pat]}__service__cuts__2007.01.23
>Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 13:12:27 -0800
>
>  From another list:::::::
>.
>.
>.
>There was outrage in Pennsylvania's second largest city to proposed
>transit cuts and fare hikes by Port Authority of Allegheny County,
>Pittsburgh's light rail and bus operator. A series of public hearings
>began today:
>http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07022/755895-100.stm
>In a story in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, staff writer Jim Ritchie
>traced Port Authority's troubles since it acquired Pittsburgh Railways:
>http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/search/s_489650.html
>.
>.
>.
>Jim___Holland
>
>
>

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