The massive Rochester City School District modernization project is causing controversy at City Hall. Time Warner Cable News reporter Jordan Mazza shares what has city leaders divided.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- It’s the largest construction project in Rochester history: the city school district’s $1.3 billion facilities modernization program, or FMP.

But now, Phase Two of the program has city leaders battling each other in a political firestorm. It all started when the board overseeing the program decided to end the project labor agreement, or PLA.

“There was a lot of support for a project labor agreement from the board up until about a month ago, and no one’s really clear why that support was pulled," said city Councilmember Molly Clifford. "From my perspective, still looks to me like project labor agreements are a way to save money, keep the project on time, and ensure minority hiring requirements. I think it’s unfortunate that they’ve chosen to proceed without it.”

Clifford and some of her city council colleagues called a special public meeting Monday to discuss the issue.

PLA opponents argued the agreements exclude non-union workers, and other laws can ensure minorities are hired. But some city council members say they don’t understand why the PLA was scrapped without a replacement plan.

“I think if we had heard more details about what the plan was to ensure minority hiring requirements, and what would happen if they didn’t meet those goals, then I think we would feel better," Clifford said. "I think most of the people in this room are willing to accept that maybe it’s not the only way to meet those requirements. But it certainly worked in Phase One. There’d better be something that’s a whole lot better that could work in Phase Two, and we are really unclear about what that would be.”

City Councilmember Adam McFadden says he doesn’t believe the meeting should have even been held at all.

“I’m going to use the nice term: It's B.S.," McFadden said. "We have no authority whatsoever to do anything about a decision made by a separate legal entity. That entity was set up to avoid political stuff, and we’re seeing that here today.”

McFadden says he believes it can all be traced back to a long-standing divide over who should control the mayor's office.

"It's about the mayoral race next year," McFadden said. "That's what the whole thing is about. This isn't about the PLA. This is about politics."