From 2000: We’re still paying MOVE costs — $672k a house

This story was originally published on Jan. 12, 2000.

Almost 15 years after the city’s bombing of MOVE destroyed 61 homes, the cost continues to burn a hole in taxpayers’ pockets.

The tab for the MOVE debacle is now expected to climb to $41 million and maybe more. That works out to $672,000 per home — about 10 times what each of the rebuilt houses could fetch on the open market. Or enough for each homeowner to buy a Main Line mansion.

“If we had known this 15 years ago, we could’ve given everyone a check for $200,000 and let them buy a single-family home in Lower Merion,” said City Controller Jonathan Saidel.

Since April, the city has shelled out millions of dollars more than it anticipated to make repairs to the modest rowhouses on Osage Avenue and Pine Street in West Philadelphia.

In just nine months, the repair costs have more than tripled, from $1.7 million to $6 million. Added to the $35 million already spent to rebuild the homes, make previous repairs and settle legal claims, the MOVE total is expected to hit $41 million.

The original estimate to rebuild the homes in 1985 was $4.9 million — $1 million less than the current $6 million repair bill.

Saidel has called for an investigation into how city inspectors approved the shoddy construction that led to the massive repairs.

He also suggested it may still be cheaper to level the homes and start over.

On top of the repair bills, the city spends about $180,000 a year to maintain around-the-clock police inside the MOVE house at 6221 Osage Ave. That constant police presence, according to former Mayor Ed Rendell’s spokesman, is because “public safety requires them to be there.”

The city Redevelopment Agency also has an office in the house, as does the Army Corps of Engineers.

Last week, a city worker sat inside the still-unfinished MOVE house watching “Action News” on television and talking on the telephone. Upstairs, a Redevelopment Authority official sat across the table from a construction company representative discussing the ongoing repairs. Business as usual at ground-zero of one of the worst tragedies in Philadelphia history.

Outside, scaffolds line the street and contruction workers make residents feel like they’ve been living through a long, nightmarish renovation that won’t end for at least another four months.

The events of May 13, 1985, are seared into the city’s memory. For months leading up to the confrontation between the city and MOVE members, residents complained that the radical group lived in filthy conditions and terrorized the neighborhood. A loudspeaker outside the MOVE house continually broadcast a tirade of obscenities.

When MOVE members refused to respond to a police warrant, cops fired thousands of bullets into the heavily bunkered house. Finally, police dropped a bomb on the roof. Mayor W. Wilson Goode approved an order for firefighters to let the blaze burn.

After the smoke cleared, 39 houses on the 6200 block of Osage Avenue and 22 homes on Pine Street were destroyed. Five children and six adults were dead.

Goode promised to rebuild the homes by that Christmas. The rush job resulted in slipshod work.

The bulk of the repair bills came due under Rendell. Now the buck has been passed to Mayor Street.

After intense lobbying by the Osage-Pine residents, the Rendell administration agreed last April to spend $1.7 million to repair the 61 rebuilt homes.

In the final days of the Rendell administration, city officials pushed for a cash settlement with the residents to pay for some of the work. The residents refused because they were uncertain if all of the problems had been discovered.

Nine months later, workers hired to make repairs have found many more problems than anticipated. The $1.7 million cost has more than tripled to $6 million.

That works out to about $100,000 per home just for repairs on homes selling in the real estate market for under $70,000. One recent buyer was state Sen. Anthony H. Williams, who paid $65,000 for his home in 1993.

The $1.7 million estimate was based on an independent study by the Army Corps of Engineers. The repair work went out to bid and was awarded to Allied Construction Services.

Once on the job, Allied found some support joists under the stairs were never installed. Some beams to support the second floors of the houses were not in place.

When Allied went to replace the windows, workers found the sills had to be ripped out because they tilted the wrong way, allowing rainwater to spill into the houses.

With each new discovery the repair costs climbed. Since 1987, the city has spent an average of $130,000 in repairs for each home, Saidel said.

Saidel went to Osage Avenue last week to see the problems first-hand. The street is closed and a construction trailer is parked in the road. The cedar siding on the second floor of the homes has been ripped off to make way for vinyl siding and insulation. All the homes are getting new roofs, windows and sliding glass doors.

Expansion joints that compensate for temperature changes were not installed along the back support wall of the homes on the north side of Osage Avenue. As a result, cracks in the bricks zigzag along the wall. Parts of the wall have been ripped off to make way for new brick work.

“From the many things I saw, it leads me to believe there should be an investigation into how L&I approved this construction,” Saidel said.

Saidel also plans to audit the spending. He’s concerned about the soaring costs and does not want the city to pay for repairs that come with normal wear and tear. Saidel sympathizes with the residents’ ongoing plight. But he said it was important the city put an end to the spending.

“At some point you have to wonder if it would be cheaper to tear down these homes and start over again,” Saidel said.

Saidel sent a letter to Street this week, alerting him to the mounting costs. Street spokesman Ken Snyder said the mayor was exploring the problem and planned to come up with a solution.

Gerald Wayne Renfrow, president of the Osage-Pine Community Association, understands the city’s dilemma but wants to make sure the residents are protected.

“We appreciate the city’s point because we’re taxpayers too,” said Renfrow, who grew up on the block and bought a house down the street. “But if the work was done properly in the first place, the city would have nothing to worry about.”

Almost from the minute the residents moved into the rebuilt homes in 1987, problems began.

After the first snow melted, the roofs leaked in more than 30 homes. Residents complained of drafty windows. Temperatures varied from room to room.

The original developer of the houses, Ernest A. Edwards Jr., was convicted of stealing more than $137,000 from the project and served seven years in prison.

When Edwards was hired for the Osage project, he had missed deadlines and cost projections on a housing job for the Philadelphia Housing Authority. In the 1970s, Edwards had filed two bankruptcies in connection with another development he built in New Jersey.

The study by the Army Corps discovered a host of oversights with the Osage homes.

Discrepancies between the design and final product remain, including plans for half-baths and closets never built.

Gutters were installed without required supports. Brick walls cracked. Poor duct sizing and layout was attributed to the heating and cooling problems.

About 10 percent of the electrical outlets were either improperly wired or broken.

“The city must’ve sent all the L&I inspectors to the Bahamas when they were building these houses,” Renfrow quipped.

The homes came with a 10-year warranty. As the warranty neared expiration, the Army Corps was hired in 1997 to inspect the homes in order to reach a final settlement.

The Army Corps study concluded “while the recommended repair is likely to be intrusive to residents, it is relatively simple and inexpensive.”

In addition to the $50,0000 for the study, the Army Corps received another $59,000 to draw up the designs for the repair work.

The current repairs are expected to continue until April.

It remains unclear whether that will be the end for taxpayers.

This story was originally published on Jan. 12, 2000.