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Council approves design contract for City Park parking lot, members object to variable‑cost language
Summary
City Council authorized design and engineering services for the City Park parking lot to Kimberly Horn & Associates not to exceed $148,000 but several council members sought removal or clarification of contract language that would reimburse the firm for direct expenses (printing, postage, mileage).
The City Council approved a professional services contract with Kimberly Horn & Associates to provide design and engineering for the City Park parking lot at a cost not to exceed $148,000, but members raised concerns about contract language that would allow reimbursement for direct expenses.
Katie Ansler, the city's communications director, told the council the phase‑one work will pave the park parking lot, add landscaping and lighting, and make the area safer and cleaner for pool operations. “The first phase consists of paving the parking lot out there and adding landscaping and lighting and really just making it a lot prettier and safer out there,” Ansler said, adding that a community engagement process showed a paved parking lot was the top priority.
Several council members questioned paragraph 5, “Compensation for services,” which lists reimbursable direct expenses including reproduction, postage, supplies, project‑related computer time and local mileage. One council member said, “I don't think we should pay for the paper that goes into their printers. I don't think we should pay for their phones. I don't think we should pay them for mileage,” and asked whether the city could require the consultant to absorb routine overhead. Staff and the city attorney said professional services are procured as proposals rather than strict price bids and that some firms include such reimbursable costs rather than inflating a fixed‑price proposal.
City legal staff and department heads agreed the council could approve the agreement with a contingency that the cited paragraph be addressed and clarified, and that a change order process would be used if additional costs beyond the capped amount were required.
Action: A motion to approve the contract with Kimberly Horn and Associates, Inc., for design and engineering of the City Park parking lot at an amount not to exceed $148,000 carried after a motion and second. The council also instructed staff to remove internal PDF comment stickies in the contract document before final execution.
Ending: Staff said they would return a cleaned‑up agreement reflecting the council's direction if the consultant would not accept the requested edits; the council approved proceeding so the design phase can begin.
