Fort Worth city council members on Tuesday agreed to withhold $250 million in bond money from the Panther Island project, backing the mayor’s request for a comprehensive audit.
Jim Lane, a board member of the Tarrant Regional Water District, said Tuesday that the board had called an emergency meeting for Thursday morning.
But Chad Lorance, spokesman for the district, said the meeting was never set.
The next scheduled meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 30, he said.
"We are at a stage where we need to know much more about where we stand,” said council member Jungus Jordan.
Voters approved the bond issue in May.
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The water district, not the city, is in charge of the $1.1 billion project and the bond money.
But the city controls the purse strings because the bond money must be spent through a special tax district. Council members agreed Tuesday not to extend it until the audit is done.
Mayor Betsy Price called for the review on Monday after the federal government decided not to fund Panther Island earlier this year, throwing its future into doubt.
Longtime water board member Jim Lane said late Tuesday he would support the mayor’s request for the audit – but only if the city and Tarrant County agree to help pay for it.
Matt Oliver, a spokesman for Trinity River Vision Authority, noted the agency has routinely done audits since its inception.
"If our partner, the city of Fort Worth, is looking for something more than that we look forward to working with them on that to make sure any questions they have are answered," Oliver said.
Price said the project may need to be scaled back to focus on flood control, which is why the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers initially agreed to fund it.
Backers say they’re hopeful the federal funds will be approved next year but acknowledge there’s no guarantee.
Critics say Panther Island morphed over the years from flood control into an economic development project.
