Council sends architect selection for fire station and village hall back to advisory committee

Mayor Klein opened the discussion and said the council would “kick this back to the subcommittee” that previously reviewed architect proposals and asked that committee to provide a recommendation at the Oct. 8 council meeting. The mayor said he would attend the committee meeting.

Why it matters: The council had planned to select and vote on architects during the Sept. 3 special meeting; referring the choice delays a formal decision by roughly a month and pushes the selection process back to the group that will work most directly with the chosen firm.

What the council decided and why: Mayor Klein told the council he and other members had discussed changing the planned process and that the ad hoc advisory committee — which includes fire and police leadership and several local representatives — would meet in the next few weeks to review proposals and return a recommendation. "We will meet sometime in the next, couple weeks or so, and we will have further discussion on this, and hopefully a vote on it, at the October," the mayor said.

Councilwoman Kim Ulmer objected to repeatedly referring items to committees when the full council had been prepared to decide. "I do think that we cannot, consistently just push things back down to committees, particularly if it's already been laid out that the, plan would be and the process would be that we would be making the decision," Ulmer said. Ulmer also said she had checked references for all four finalist firms and planned to share that information with the committee. She cautioned that projects often falter when there is "too many chefs in the kitchen" and urged a single, identified leader from Orange Village to drive the process.

Next steps and schedule: Council members said they expect the ad hoc committee to meet within weeks. Several speakers asked the committee to meet during daytime hours to accommodate staff. The mayor said there will be no council meeting Oct. 1; the council expects to consider the committee's recommendation and any necessary vote on Oct. 8.

Discussion vs. decision: The council did not take a formal vote to select an architect on Sept. 3. The substantive action was a council direction to the ad hoc advisory committee to review proposals and return a recommendation at the Oct. 8 meeting.

Community context: Council members noted the importance of having clear leadership during design and construction to limit cost and schedule impacts. The council and the mayor said the firms interviewed were qualified and that an identified Orange Village leader (committee chair, mayor or other appointee) should manage direction to avoid conflicting guidance to the architect.

Ending: The ad hoc advisory committee will reconvene; the mayor said he will attend and the council expects a recommendation at its Oct. 8 meeting.