Council hires owner’s representative for Police Annex project under 27‑month scope

The Oviedo City Council on Monday approved a work order with ZHA, Inc. to provide owner’s representative services for the Police Annex project and authorized a budget amendment to start the program.

City staff recalled a February 24 work session where the council had agreed to proceed with a construction-manager-at-risk delivery method; the owner’s representative contract is the first step to implement that approach. ZHA representatives described their firm’s role in programming, architect selection and contractor procurement and said the initial phase to assemble the team and complete programming will take about three to five months, with an overall engagement of roughly 27 months to cover design and construction management.

Rick Mellon of ZHA told the council the firm focuses on public-sector capital projects and will work with the city to develop a clear program of about 10,000 square feet of new building plus interior renovations to existing space. Mellon said owner’s-rep services include contract negotiation, project management, cost control and risk management during design and construction.

Council members expressed support for hiring the owner’s representative to limit project risk and to expedite architect and contractor selection. The clerk recorded a roll-call vote adopting Resolution No. 4592-25; the motion carried with all council members present voting aye.

Staff said the next steps include finalizing the architect selection process, negotiating the architect contract and moving into programming work to define what will be new construction versus renovated space within the existing police annex footprint.