St. Louis Metro chief disappointed in light-rail ruling

ST. LOUIS -- The head of a public transportation agency voiced disappointment "beyond comprehension" that a jury didn't agree with the agency's argument that other businesses were responsible for cost overruns on a massive light-rail project.

Metro president Larry Salci told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in Sunday's edition that he doesn't regret pursuing the expensive lawsuit that ended in a loss for the agency.

Metro blamed the Cross County Collaborative -- the designers and construction managers of the MetroLink light-rail line extension to Clayton and Shrewsbury -- for most of the cost overruns and delays.

Jurors at the 100-day civil trial didn't agree. On Friday, they awarded the collaborative $2.56 million.

Salci said, "My disappointment is beyond comprehension. My disappointment is for the taxpayers. This wasn't a personal issue. I tried to recover damages on the part of the taxpayer. I have a fiduciary obligation to do that."

Salci said he doesn't think the verdict should come into play for voters who will decide whether to raise a St. Louis County sales tax.

Transit sales tax

St. Louis County voters will be asked Feb. 5 to increase the transit sales tax by a half-cent to pay for future MetroLink expansion and to fund ongoing operations. The tax would generate about $80 million a year and would remain in effect for 20 years.

State Sen. John Loudon, R-Chesterfield, who opposed an unsuccessful St. Louis County transit tax increase in 1997, said Metro's credibility was damaged by the verdicts because Metro had blamed the Cross County Collaborative partners for a large share of the $126 million in cost overruns and delays on the Shrewsbury line.

"They've got a credibility issue," Loudon said. "They basically put their stock in the fact that it wasn't their fault. It was the contractor's fault. And now clearly they were wrong. It was [Metro[']s] fault."

The eight-mile train line extension reaches from Forest Park to Clayton and Shrewsbury. Metro fired the collaborative partners -- Parsons Brinckerhoff, STV Inc., Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. and Kwame Building Group -- and finished the project on its own.

'Perceptions are reality'

Metro's lawsuit expenses come from $20 million the agency budgeted for professional services after it took over the Shrewsbury extension. However, that amount also included consultants and engineers hired for that work, and the agency has declined to break down the costs.

If Metro had prevailed, the award would have gone to paying down debt on the Shrewsbury extension. Metro hasn't decided whether it will appeal.

Kwame president Tony Thompson said Friday that the verdict was the first step toward restoring the reputation of his St. Louis-based company.

"But you know, the perceptions are reality," Thompson said. "[Salci] has been running around telling people we were crooks and thieves for four years. This is one day. It may take another four years for us to correct the damage that he's done."

It isn't clear what the verdicts will mean for Salci, who was hired nearly six years ago and whose contract was extended an additional five years last summer.

"I plan on working a number of years yet," said Salci, who makes $250,000 a year. "Right now, my commitment is to St. Louis."