Developer submits bill for parking garage

By CAMDEN EASTERLING, Chronicle Staff Writer

Developer Dick Clotfelter has submitted to the city of Bozeman a bill for $1.26 million for expenses he says are related to the $7.9 million downtown parking garage.

Included in that bill are line items spelling out $478,690 for land costs and $275,000 for lobbyist activities to garner $4 million in federal funds.

How much of that the city will pay, though, is yet to be determined.

The Garage at City Center's board of directors Friday approved the list of costs the developer wants the city to cover. City Commissioner Steve Kirchhoff, several private citizens and Clotfelter make up the board, which is not an official city entity.

The report next goes to the city's parking commission, then the city commission.

The city and Clotfelter since June 2004 have had an agreement that Bozeman would reimburse the developer for some of the expenses he incurred while getting the garage going and that the city would own the garage outright at some point.

The city and Clotfelter agreed only on estimates for a total budget.

But the city and the developer never specified how much Clotfelter would be reimbursed for any single component, whether engineering fees or lobbying or anything else.

"I had the ability to contract with whatever I needed to contract with," Clotfelter said.

So far the city has given the garage board just $150,000 from the downtown tax increment fund to cover expenses.

One of the expenses Clotfelter submitted is for work done by Greenberg Traurig, the lobbying firm that employed indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Abramoff has been connected to Sen. Conrad Burns, R. -Mont., who recently said he will return $150,000 in donations he recived from Abramoff and people associated with him.

The Associated Press links the donations to political actions from Burns that favor Abromoff's clients.

Clotfelter gave city Finance Director Anna Rosenberry a report on costs in August that lists Greenberg Traurig and an amount of $30,000. Clotfelter did not submit a description of services rendered or a copy of a contract.

Another expense cited is $245,000 to the Washington, D.C., firm Ryan, Phillips, Utrecht & MacKinnon, which employs Bozeman lobbyist Will Brooke.

Brooke previously worked at Greenberg Traurig and also worked as chief of staff for Burns. He now has a lobbying office in Bozeman. He could not be reached Friday for comment.

Brooke's work secured the $4 million Bozeman received in a federal transportation bill earlier this year, Clotfelter said.

City staff and some city commissioners say they'll need to see more details on those contracts and others before Bozeman writes any checks.

"I'm interested in the commission and the public understanding what they're being asked to pay for," city manager Chris Kukulski said.

Another expense listed is $18,059 for rent on the office space at 20 N. Tracy Ave., which both the garage and the Arts at City Center boards use.

"It's operating costs of doing business," Clotfelter said of the rent.

Clotfeleter said the actual rent is more than that, but $18,059 is the city's share.

Also in the report is a $3,507 line item for utilities.

Other items in Clotfelter's expense report include bills for services from architects and engineers for the garage.

At Friday's garage board meeting, Kirchhoff was the only member who voted against recommending the parking commission favorably review the expense report and forward it to the parking commission.

He needed to see more details on the expenses, he said.

Commissioner Jeff Krauss also attended the meeting and said he, too, wanted more information about the various expenses.

Kirchhoff said he was surprised by the lobbying fee, although he and other commissioners knew Clotfelter had hired a lobbyist.

"How could I have missed all that?" Kirchhoff said.

Garage board members, including Kirchhoff, have reviewed budget reports during the garage design process, Clotfelter said.

During an interview after the meeting, Kirchhoff acknowledged he had seen the budgets.

"Do I remember the actual figures? I don't," he said. "My responsibility is to keep the commission (informed), and I didn't do a very good job."

Kukulski said the city commission will likely review the expenses sometime in January.

Camden Easterling is at ceasterling@dailychronicle.com

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