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Council delays award of $2.3M Safe Streets for All contract after concerns about fees and negotiations
Summary
Council declined to finalize the consultant award for the federally funded Safe Streets for All (SS4A) program and directed staff to continue negotiations and return with revised contract language; one council member voiced opposition during the vote.
The Pecos City Council on Sept. 11 declined to finalize an award for the city's Safe Streets for All (SS4A) consultant contract and directed staff to return with the item at a future meeting. The SS4A grant totals about $1.9 million in project funds plus a $444,000 batch for a roughly $2.3 million effort, city staff said.
City staff recommended awarding the administration and plan-development contract to Foresight Group LLC after an RFQ and interview process. City Manager Charles Leno said staff identified Foresight Group LLC as the top-rated firm but that the administration portion of the contract could be negotiated rather than accepting the standard 20% maximum administrative fee. "I didn't like that number," Leno said of a potential 20% administrative fee on the $2.3 million project, adding that 20% would amount to "half a million dollars."
Staff and council discussed scoring, the composition of the evaluation panel (made up mostly of city staff and finance personnel), and the need for community outreach. Several council members raised concerns about travel and "boots on the ground" experience because some recommended firms are based out of state; staff said firms proposed to include local field work and that travel costs would be part of negotiations.
When a motion was called to award the contract, one council member voiced opposition during the vote and the mayor paused on whether the motion carried. The council then discussed vote counting and whether two "ayes" were sufficient; staff proposed bringing the item back to the Sept. 25 meeting to allow time for negotiation and additional review. Leno said negotiations would continue and that if the city could not reach an agreed price with the recommended firm it would move to the next-ranked bidder.
Why it matters: the SS4A plan is intended to produce a comprehensive safety action plan that can guide federal-funded street, sidewalk and pedestrian-safety projects and support related local capital requests, including school and county projects.
What happens next: staff will continue negotiations with the recommended firm, incorporate the city attorney's suggested contract revisions, and return the award to council for action at a subsequent meeting.
