NCT Encinitas approves $1.5M to improve public works center. With one member apologizing for the city's lack of disclosure and transparency, the City Council voted 5-0 on Wednesday to budget $1.5 million to remodel a public works facility that staffers had billed as "move-in ready."

The action authorized the immediate tapping of $750,000 from a capital improvement budget that would have spread out the allocations through 2011...

The city paid $9.5 million in 2006 to buy the former Mossy Chevrolet dealership on Calle Magdalena as a public works center. The purchase included an additional $100,000 for equipment and temporary structures and $500,000 for immediate improvements.

Critics at the time said the city paid too much.

Follow up:

On Wednesday, Councilwoman Teresa Barth said officials knew more about the condition of the facility than they revealed during summer 2006. Barth was not on the council at the time...

Other council members said buying the dealership was a smart one. To build a center from the ground up would have cost as much or more and neighbors would have objected, said Councilman Dan Dalager.

"To me, it was a godsend when Mossy came in," he said.

Mayor James Bond said that "buyer's enthusiasm" contributed to the city's swift purchase of the site.