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Court authorizes up to $20,000 for interim engineering review contracts while county engineer position is vacant
Summary
Commissioners approved agreements authorizing the county judge to contract with AKA Engineers and MRB Group for up to $20,000 total for short-term engineering services (primarily plat reviews) while the county engineer position is vacant; commissioners discussed a prequalified RFQ process for future engineering design work.
Bell County Commissioner—s Court authorized the county judge to sign separate agreements with AKA Engineers and MRB Group to provide interim engineering services during the absence of the county engineer, not to exceed $20,000 in total under the agreements and with associated budget amendments to fund the contracts.
County staff described the agreements as hourly professional services to be used primarily for short-duration tasks such as plat review and technical review of county documents. The contract language presented specifies that performance of engineering services would occur only after written authorization by the commissioners court or a designated county representative.
Commissioners discussed why two firms were selected: county staff said the firms are familiar with public-sector work, are locally available and provide redundancy if one is unavailable or has a potential conflict of interest. Commissioners asked that the engineer—s office notify the precinct commissioner before engaging services on a particular plat and suggested using the same local process to identify whether a plat review requires engagement.
Several commissioners and staff said the county should launch a request-for-qualifications (RFQ) process to develop a prequalified list of engineering firms for future design work; county staff agreed to prepare a draft RFQ for commissioners to review. The budget to fund the interim contracts will come from reallocating salary and wages funds within the county engineer—s office while the position remains vacant.
Commissioner Reynolds moved to approve the agreements and associated budget action; Commissioner Woodson seconded. The court approved the motion by voice vote.
