Council awards engineering contract for police department seismic retrofit under federal grant

The Sutherland City Council voted to award an engineering contract to ZCS Engineering and Architecture to complete structural design and construction management services for the police department seismic rehabilitation project. The city previously received a seismic rehabilitation grant for $2,154,920 to fund the work on the former city hall site. The council approved a contract not to exceed $274,300 for engineering and related work. The grant award and the proposed contract were presented by Christy Gilbert, community development. Gilbert told the council that ZCS Engineering and Architecture performed phase 1 work and that the purchasing ordinance allows continuation with the same firm. She described the upcoming engineering tasks as producing structural drawings and construction documents so contractors can bid and complete the rehabilitation. Council discussion included questions about the scope of the engineering work and whether the engineering phase includes construction management; staff confirmed it includes producing full engineered drawings and anticipated construction-phase work to follow. A councilor asked whether the seismic work was for earthquake-related risks; staff confirmed the retrofit work is to bring the building up to seismic standards. Councilors moved the resolution awarding the contract; votes were recorded in the affirmative and the motion carried. The contract award was described as necessary to proceed from the earlier grant-funded survey and analysis to full design and construction. The approval advances the project from assessment to design and positions the city to solicit contractor bids once engineered plans are completed. No construction contract was awarded at this meeting.