Circumstances and officials have given the thumbs-up to proceedwith plans for the city’s Multi-Modal Transportation Facility.Again.

Mayor Bob Massengill, speaking during his last full week as themayor of Brookhaven, said he hopes the long-standing plan for thetransportation hub has encountered its last obstacle on itsnine-year trek toward becoming a reality.

“Now that the suit has been dropped, we can sign the contractand get this project moving,” he said, referring to a lawsuitbrought against the city by Roxie construction company ScarbroughConstruction.

Scarbrough’s bid on the project, which was $96,000 lower thanthe next lowest bidder, was thrown out on the basis of improperpaperwork. After the bid was awarded to Paul Jackson and Son,Scarbrough protested the award.

But when Scarbrough owner Jan Scarbrough realized that the legalwrangling involved in the suit could hold up the project once again- this time possibly forever if the funds were revoked by thegovernment due to time constraints – he decided to drop it, hisattorney said.

“We’d been told back in February that the project needed to getstarted by summer,” Massengill said. “Or there would be apossibility that the project would be in jeopardy.”

Massengill said the fact that finalizing the plans for themulti-modal facility has taken almost a decade has just been whatamounts to a run of weird luck.

“It’s no one’s fault that it’s taken this long,” he said. “It’sjust been one hurdle after another, but now we can accept thecontract and we’re ready to see this get under way.”

And city officials have contended that the project is animportant one not only because of its longevity and apparentstubbornness, but because it cleans up an area of town that can beconsidered an eyesore, especially when it’s the first realimpression of Brookhaven that people get from the train tracks.

The project was initially planned to be a multi-million dollartransportation hub. But through the years, the plan has beendownsized to fit the budget.

Then there was the issue of dock height that became a rubbingpoint for the city. The Federal Railway Administration refused toallow the dock height on new facilities to be lower than 15 inchesfor boarding purposes, while Canadian National Railway officialssaid they would not settle for anything higher than 8 inches, as itcould damage freight cars.

But after much ado, that worked itself out as well. Massengillsaid he’s not the only one who will be glad to see the project,which he as referred to before as “the most frustrating projectI’ve dealt with in five years as mayor,” become reality.

“I think those boarding and disembarking the trains will be verypleased once it’s complete,” he said.