Red Hill Valley Inquiry will cost Hamilton $28M or more

Hamilton mayor Fred Eisenberger says he regrets the city’s decision to hold a judicial inquiry into the Red Hill Valley Parkway.

The city is being warned about another major increase in the cost of the inquiry, possibly to $28 million or more. $28M would be more than three times what the city planned on spending for the inquiry.

When the city first decided to hold an inquiry into the Red Hill Parkway it was told it would cost six or seven million dollars in 2019.

Hamilton city council is being told the inquiry will cost as much as $28 million, possibly more.

A report from the city’s legal department says the total estimated cost of the inquiry will be $26 million to $28 million, with additional costs yet to come. Eisenberger says these inquiries are “crazy expensive,” and calls the price increase a “regrettable turn of events.”

The inquiry was called after hundreds of accidents on the parkway, including four deaths and a report that parts of the pavement were slippery.

The latest city report says the increased cost of the inquiry is “primarily due to the Commission Counsel’s rescheduling of witnesses, additional interviews [and] the privilege dispute process.”

The report says the largest expense for the inquiry is commission counsel fees and disbursements at almost $9.4 million.

The report says the Commission Counsel exceeded their estimate of legal fees by $1 million for the period from January to June 2022. From July to the end of the inquiry the initial estimate was $690,000. The report says that’s gone up to $3.16 million.

The report says “the city has limited visibility into the breakdown of Commission Counsel fees” Details of the commission lawyers’ actions are private, covered by solicitor-client privilege.

CHCH News reached out today to the Red Hill Inquiry for their response and they didn’t have any comment. The city report says Hamilton will be reaching out to the inquiry to ask for a discount on some of these legal fees.