New Controversy Could Delay Opening of Silver Spring Transit Center (VIDEO)

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett is surprised by a request from WMATA for $15 million to cover future repairs and maintenance at the Silver Spring Transit Center.

According to Leggett, this is an attempt by WMATA to get more money from the county that is not authorized. Take a look:

At the same time, WMATA says its waiting to meet with the County to review remaining issues and finally sign off on the multi-million transportation project. Sherri Ly, manager of Media Relations, WMATA released this statement:

“We are surprised by the County’s position that the outstanding issues are anything less than legitimate and substantive. We have been waiting for more than two weeks for the County to set up a meeting so that we can work through the remaining issues in a constructive and cooperative way, recognizing the importance of this facility to the County and the region. As the County is aware, the acceptance of the new facility into the regional transit system requires approval by the WMATA Board, and we look forward to resolving the remaining items as quickly as possible to ensure that acceptance.”

Timothy Firestine, Montgomery County Chief Administrative Officer sent this letter to WMATA stating that “WMATA appears to be holding transfer of the facility hostage until the county accedes to unreasonable demands.”

The County was set to turn over the keys to the new multi-level, multi-modal transportation hub on August 23, but with this new controversy, that date may be pushed back.

About Cindy Peña

Cindy is a freelance multi-media journalist with MCM and grew up in Montgomery County.

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