SAVANNAH, Ga. () – City council is reconsidering a vote for the Enmarket Arena parking lot project on Thursday, but with a lower price tag.

City officials previously asked for an additional $14 million to finish the project. That price tag now sits at $8 million. But will this drop win council’s approval?

The agenda said $8 million will pay to clean up contaminated soil, pave the lot and make improvements on Cohen Road. Alderman Nick Palumbo, who is against the additional funding to add 2,000 parking spaces, said this still isn’t adding up.

“This is a road that would go through a wetland, through a contaminated site and have to cross a railroad,” he said. “So, to be able to do that and a thousand space parking lot and finish environmental remediation for $8 million. That’s just too good to be true. We can’t keep coming back to take another bite of the apple every single week.”

The city said the price ran high because crews were removing soil just by looking at it instead of testing it first. It also reads experts have found better ways to get the work done, which has lowered the cost.

The price dropped even more after a deal with Waste Management to cut out extra haul fees.

“These are public dollars,” said Palumbo. “This isn’t funny money. It’s not monopoly money.  This is live ammo. These are your dollars. We need to be good fiscal stewards for your money.  People demand accountability for these actions.  For council to truly do its job, we need to ask a lot of really tough questions.”

Palumbo is pushing for other ways to use tax dollars like mobility and stormwater solutions.

He said he will be sure to raise other questions like is the city also asking for an additional $11 million for the project, which is listed at the bottom of the agenda.

“That’s a nice surprise,” he said. “So, a lot of confusion happening even just on this agenda alone, which, hey, that’s right. In the theme and that’s right on trend for this project. It’s been confusing.  We’ve been unable to nail down the cost to a specific number. We’ve had contract mismanagement across the board. Like it’s time to say enough is enough.”

City council will have their workshop on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. to discuss the topic even further before the vote during the council meeting at 2 p.m.