Osage Beach approves on-call engineering roster, amends code to drop appointed city engineer role

The Board of Aldermen on Aug. 21 voted to authorize a roster of on-call engineering, architectural and related service providers and approved ordinance language that removes the city engineer as an appointed position, instead allowing designation of engineering services on a project-by-project basis. Public works director Jeff Fisher said staff solicited responses to a request for qualifications, received 21 submissions and recommended eight firms for two-year master agreements with three one-year renewal options. Why it matters: The change shifts the city from relying on a single appointed city engineer to using a set of prequalified firms for plan review and project-specific work orders, a model city officials said is commonly used by municipal governments to speed procurement and match firm expertise to project needs. Fisher told the board the on-call roster was meant to ensure plan-review capacity and quick turnaround when large projects arrive. "We received 21 of those and then had a 5 man interview panel, assess those, evaluate those, score those," he said. The recommended group included architecture and building-focused firms and five engineering firms. Aldermen pressed staff about continuity and institutional knowledge. "There's a lot of historical knowledge there that I would be concerned about losing," Alderman Monroe said, referring to Cochran Engineering, which has performed work for the city in recent years. After discussion, Alderman Hoffman moved to amend the roster to add Cochran; the amendment carried and the board approved the measure with Cochran included. City attorney Cole Bradley presented the companion cleanup ordinance that removes the city engineer as an appointed official from multiple code sections and specifies that the city engineer role may be designated by the city administrator or designee. Bradley said the change aligns the code with the new on-call contracting approach. How the decision was reached: Staff recommended approval; Alderman Hoffman moved to add Cochran to the list; the motion to amend was seconded and adopted. The main motion to approve the contracts with the amendment also passed. What’s next: The contracts are master agreements; individual projects will be issued as work orders under those terms. Existing nonexclusive contracts the city holds with several firms remain in effect until their terms expire, staff said.