Junction City awards multiple engineering contracts and approves $96,000 smoke-testing contract to meet MAO requirements

The Junction City Council on June 10 approved awarding three city engineer-of-record contracts to spread workload across water, sewer and streets/storm engineering and authorized the city administrator to sign the necessary agreements as amended to a five-year term.

Public Works Director Kevin (last name not provided in staff presentation) said staff received five proposals and recommends contracting with HBH Engineering for water and general engineering, Adkins Engineering for sewer and general engineering, and Ryan & Cross for streets, storm and general engineering. Director Kevin told council the split allows subject-matter expertise and faster turnaround on projects without increasing overall engineering costs. "None of the engineers would cost us materially more; the pay range is about the same," he said in response to a council question about cost.

Councilor Hancock raised concern about the original proposed contract term (a five-year base plus three optional two-year renewals, potentially 11 years). Council sought and directed a revision to a five-year term without automatic renewals; legal staff agreed to prepare the amended contracts. Council then approved the award as amended.

On related sewer work, council awarded the smoke-testing contract required under the sewer MAO (Mutual Agreement and Order) to HBH Engineering in the amount of $96,000. Staff said bids closed May 15 with HBH as the lowest responsive bidder; HBH expects to complete field testing and return deliverables on a schedule that meets the DEQ reporting deadline (final report due January 2026). Director Kevin said HBH will also train city staff during the smoke-testing process rather than perform all work as an external crew.

Public works committee recommended both the engineering awards and smoke-testing contract. Staff said funds for smoke testing are budgeted in the capital fund.