According to Norfolk Southern, the design process “was put on hold” while the village and the railroad hammered out details of the $22 million settlement. The settlement negotiations also pushed the project far over budget when during those talks the village agreed to apply the $3 million design fee to the renovations’ $25 million cap.

The original cost estimates did not include the design fee. Once that fee was added, cuts — or “changes” as Norfolk Southern put it — became necessary.

“In pre-settlement discussions, we had a budget that did not include design fees,” said Abbey Palmer, Norfolk Southern Senior Manager of Community Impact. “During [settlement negotiations] with the village and Norfolk Southern it was mutually agreed upon that we would put that $3 million design fee into the overall $25 million budget. That is how we got to our over $3 million overage on the project.”

When Norfolk Southern initially came up with the conceptual designs in June of 2023, the designs presented utilized all $25 million. At that time, the railroad announced a “collaboration” with Michael Baker International and Norfolk Southern’s Chief Engineer David Becker “to develop some of the more technical aspects of the master plan” and reported that “after the design phase is complete, Michael Baker International will manage the construction project bidding and award all contracts to local, qualified Ohio-based businesses.” In an update last March, Norfolk Southern said it “has pledged $25 million to the project, including funding the master plan.”

But that all changed when both sides came to the table to talk about a settlement as East Palestine village manager Antonio Diaz-Guy explained.

“The park project always had a cap cost of $25 million. The bids came in, and these are not exact quotes, at between $21 million and $37 million,” he said. “Without going too far, basically Norfolk Southern was eating that design cost on the project until the settlement agreement incurred it. The $3 million was added during the legal process.”

Diaz-Guy also explained the lack of a contract concerning the project.

“There is a non-binding memorandum of understanding between Norfolk Southern and the village. The legal settlement supersedes that,” he said. “It’s to be given to the village as a gift and the legal settlement solidifies that with the condition it’s executed within the budget.”

Diaz-Guy added that entering into a contract at this point would mean the village would “lose an additional year of design” but he did not elaborate as to why.

From the beginning, the contract was between Norfolk Southern and the firm Michael Baker only. Michael Baker was hired by Norfolk Southern to hire the contractors and oversee the project. When completed, the railroad was to “gift” the village the new park as a gentleman’s agreement that also included the renovation and gifting of the train depot to East Palestine. The settlement agreement affirmed both commitments but only after concessions from the village — including taking on the burden of the $3 million design fee and letting go of the proposed first responder center which would have boosted both the village’s disaster-response capabilities and economy.

The railroad called the park and depot projects “key pillars of Norfolk Southern’s plan to invest in the community’s future.” Both the projects were purportedly spearheaded by Norfolk who then brought those proposals to the village.

By the time the settlement was reached, construction at the park — including the evacuation of the park’s inner grass circle, removal of trees and pre-surfacing work — was already underway and renovations on the depot’s exterior complete, though, despite a ceremony in May during which then-CEO Alan Shaw handed off the keys to Mayor Trent Conaway, ownership of the depot has yet be be transferred to the village.

Ground-breaking for the park project — which was to be completed in eight phases to prevent interruption in the use of the park during construction — was held last July. Work on Phase 1, which was to include among other things the construction of the amphitheater, installation of new sports courts, lighting, new walking paths, draining and grading work, moving electrical lines underground and directing stormwater to a temporary retention pond, began shortly after. That phase was anticipated to be complete by the end of last year with Phase 8 complete by the end of 2027. Months into construction, Phase 1 is still ongoing and plans for Phase 2, which was already projected to be well way and finished by March 31 , is yet to begin. On Tuesday, Wendy Berrill of Michael Baker International said that Phase 1 should wrap up by the end of Spring.

“May 23 is the projected end date of Phase 1. Phase 2 can begin as soon as we award the contracts and as soon as we get that permit from the department of health,” Berrill said. “That’s the only thing really holding it up. We do need to demo the courts but we have to wait until the tennis season is over.”

The condition of waiting until the end of high school tennis season came after East Palestine tennis coach Ashley Murphy was assured construction would not impede her teams’ ability to practice and play matches at the park. Murphy came to several council and park board meetings to make sure both the village, the railroad and Michael Baker held up that promise. Murphy made it clear that she needed a direct answer after she was faced with conflicting information regarding the availability of the courts for the entirety of the 2025 season. Last year, her teams were displaced as the school district decided to move tennis practices and matches while environmental sampling was conducted at the park — a major burden that Murphy said her team could not bear in 2025.

In February, Norfolk Southern finally agreed to hold off on the demolition of the courts until the conclusion of the tennis season during a special council meeting held to discuss the lagging renovations.

At that same meeting, it was reported that Phase 1 was being completed without the benefit of an on-site project manager. At that meeting Norfolk Southern said the project manager made “monthly” visits to the site.

East Palestine resident Tom Brittian questioned why that was so on Tuesday and asked if there would be someone onsite during Phase 2 that would “watch over, make sure and maintain progress.”

Palmer clarified what she called “confusion and miscommunication” and insisted that there has always been a project manager on site.

“When we said there was somebody here once a month, that was someone from Norfolk Southern,” she said. “We have a boots-on-the-ground project manager through Michael Baker. There is someone on site every day.”

Palmer later identified that person as Abigail Hopkins. At last month’s special meeting, Norfolk Southern was unable to provide a name when pressed by councilman John Simon.

Brittain remained skeptical.

“There has been some difference of opinions from the people who have been there observing what has been going on,” he said “If that is the case, I wonder why we are a year behind in schedule and over budget. If we had a site manager on point we would’ve known that at the beginning. I am asking because I want to make sure there is a site manager for Phase 2 because I don’t want to see us go another year behind.”

Guy-Diaz said that while he could not “speak to what happened in the past,” he could “personally verify” that a project manager was on site now.

Diaz-Guy later requested that council approve a resolution to move forward with Phase 2 of the project, allowing Michael Baker to award the bids. The resolution was unanimously passed with the caveat that moving forward any change in work orders would be brought to the village’s attention before any decision concerning a difference between a quote and a cost was made.

The stipulation was meant to help reign in the already-busted budget. Change orders are often used in construction contracts to document and agree upon alterations to the original terms of a contract, whether it be changes in scope of cost, or schedule, due to unforeseen circumstances or necessary adjustments. Currently, Michael Baker reviews change orders and makes a decision in house. So far, just one has been issued on the park project. That change was regarding the catch basin due to the location of sentinel wells put into place to monitor the municipal water supply for derailment-related chemicals.

No timeline was given regarding the projected completion date of Phase 2. Phase 2 involves the construction of a new aquatic center — a new olympic-sized swimming pool, splash pad and pool house. Berrill said the date depends on how quickly Michael Baker receives the final permit needed. She did say that from start to finish the Phase could take anywhere from 225-300 days depending on which contractor wins the bid.

As far as the cuts needed to stay within the budget, those will be made to the Phase 3 plans. No changes will be to Phase 2 to keep the project moving and to not compromise the pool — the project’s big-ticket item.

It is still not known how much of the $25 million will be spent on the aquatic center. Water Superintendent Scott Wolfe asked for that number — as have other residents in previous meetings — on Tuesday. In prior discussions, the village did not have that information. On Tuesday, Diaz-Guy confirmed the village had finally received an itemized list of the cost estimates, but could not provide it at the time as there was too much information to go through. He did say he would put that cost of Phase 2 in the meeting minutes, as if it is public information. Whether the complete itemized list or other documents provided to council by Norfolk Southern during Tuesday’s meeting will be made available to the public is unclear.

selverd@mojonews.com