NORFOLK -- The HRT executive committee decided to take no action against HRT President Michael Townes in a special meeting called after revelations "The Tide" light rail system is over budget and behind schedule.
The committee held a closed-door meeting Wednesday for more than three hours to question Townes about the $40 million cost overrun and project delays.
In the end, the committee could not find consensus on whether to recommend Townes be ousted from HRT.
After the meeting, Jim Wood, the chairman of the committee and of the board governing HRT, told 13News he personally no longer has confidence in Townes.
Wednesday's meeting followed a session with City Council on Tuesday, during which Townes told council that Norfolk needs to come up with $13 million to close the funding gap.
Townes also revealed Tuesday HRT realized "schedules were slipping" as early as July.
He said he first learned of potential problems in October after an internal cost-to-complete analysis.
The light rail project is now behind schedule and over budget for the second time since the start of the project.
The state is covering $20 million and federal grants are expected to cover $7 million of the overrun.
HRT is hoping for additional federal funding to bridge the remaining $13 million gap but it ultimately falls to Norfolk to pay for any increase.
City Manager Regina Williams said the goal is to exhaust all potential funding sources before tapping into city funds.
Williams, briefing City Council members with Townes, said light rail construction continues and will finish despite the latest troubles.
Council members demanded more accountability for the project.
"Who's watching the checkbook?" asked Mayor Paul Fraim.
Councilman Randy Wright blamed project consultants for the rising costs.
HRT has not determined when The Tide will be operational, but it is not expected to be ready until 2011.
On Wednesday the board governing HRT will meet to discuss personnel matters relating to the recent light rail troubles.
Townes said Wednesday he expected to still have a job after the meeting.
"Let's look at what HRT has accomplished in 10 years and what transit has accomplished in the 24 years I've been running transit in Hampton Roads," Townes told reporters. "These are complicated difficult projects."
"I think some of the consultants have definitely lets us down," Wright said. "They have not done the due diligence that was required."
"No bill just comes in and we sign off on it and it just goes," responded Townes.
"We require that we have accountability from our CEO, that's what we pay a CEO to do," Wood said.
The job performance of Townes and other HRT managers is likely to come up at the next full board meeting, scheduled for Jan. 28.
Townes told reporters Wednesday afternoon he will still have a job after January.
"I am the person to be held accountable for HRT's performance, but there are clearly other entities," Townes said.
