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Commissioners approve on-call engineering fee schedule; require contract edits on subcontractor payment and insurance limits
Summary
The commission approved a resolution adopting on-call engineering fees and agreed to two contract edits requested by a commissioner: (1) county will contract directly and pay any subcontractors/subconsultants, and (2) remove the clause limiting liability to 'the lesser of' the firm's fee so insurance coverage applies.
Meade County commissioners approved a resolution May 27 establishing fees and deposit levels for on-call engineering review services and moved to finalize a professional services agreement with HDR Engineering subject to two specific edits requested by a commissioner.
Planning director Tanya Vague described the contract purpose: HDR would provide second-level technical reviews of plats and engineering elements when projects exceed in-house capacity. Vague said, "It is to review against our ordinances, to make sure they meet the ordinance requirement. It's not for them to design the project or the engineer. They will comment back to me, and then I would give those comments to the applicant."
Commissioner Weiserich asked for two changes before final execution: first, "If a subcontractor or a sub consultant is needed, the owner shall contract with them and pay them directly," to avoid the prime firm subcontracting the work and billing the county. Second, he asked staff to "strike the terms, 'limited to the lesser of' ... 'or its fee'" in Exhibit B section 15 so the county obtains the benefit of the consultant's stated $1 million insurance coverage rather than a capped recovery tied to the consultant's fees. Weiserich moved approval with those edits and the commission carried the motion.
The commission also adopted Mead County Resolution 2025-17, which attaches the firm's hourly fee schedule and establishes deposits for preliminary and final plats (for example, $1,250 deposit for 5 acres or less; $2,500 for 5–25 acres; greater than 25 acres charged $32.50 per acre in this iteration). Planning staff said deposit amounts reflect an estimate of expected engineering costs and that landowners/developers remain responsible for actual consulting costs beyond the deposit.
The board directed planning staff to communicate the requested contract edits to HDR and, if HDR agrees to the changes, to finalize the agreement; if HDR proposes alternative language, the commission asked staff to return the item for further consideration.
