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Des Moines staff seek council direction to update public‑works contracting rules to match state law
Summary
Assistant city attorney outlined recent state legislative changes affecting small and limited public works processes and presented model MRSC policies; the council directed staff to adopt MRSC model policies, peg dollar thresholds to state law, and retain current contingency guidance while allowing project‑specific higher contingencies.
The Des Moines Committee of the Whole discussed proposed updates to the city's public-works contracting policies June 5 after recent changes in state law. Assistant City Attorney Matthew Edgems explained the changes and invited council direction on three key questions: whether to adopt MRSC model policies for direct contracting, whether to peg dollar thresholds to the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) instead of fixing amounts in city resolution, and whether to raise the standard contingency (retainage) amount for public‑works contracts from 10 percent.
Edgems summarized the legal context: Washington replaced the older "limited public…
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