Committee approves Watershed and utility-related contract renewals and sole-source maintenance while voting to resolve permit compliance matters

The City Utilities Committee took several administrative actions affecting the Department of Watershed Management and related city services, approving contract renewals, a large sole‑source maintenance agreement and items to resolve permit compliance matters.

On the consent agenda, the committee approved a one-year renewal option for bill-printing services with Datamax Incorporated on behalf of the Department of Watershed Management, authorizing up to $750,000 for the renewal period (01/27/2025–01/26/2026), contingent on FY2026 budget adoption.

The committee also voted to authorize a fourth renewal option for the City’s intergovernmental joint funding agreement with the U.S. Geological Survey for long-term water quantity and quality monitoring. The committee record lists the renewal amount as not to exceed $506,310 for a one-year term retroactive to 01/01/2025 through 12/31/2025.

Separately, the committee approved ratification of a seven‑amendment extension to an annual security-guard contract (Thorpe Building Services) that covers about 43 critical wastewater and infrastructure sites across multiple departments. Staff said the four-month retroactive extension (02/14/2025–06/14/2025) reconciles outstanding services rendered and added funds not to exceed $2,319,873. Staff described the combined burn rate for the departments covered at roughly $500,000 over the covered period and said the newly executed multi-year replacement contract is approximately $45 million over three years (~$15 million per year).

In the resolutions section the committee approved a sole-source first renewal option for maintenance and support of the Inquesta customer information system; the item authorized up to $4,591,893.09 for maintenance and related services with Systems & Software Incorporated, contingent on the FY2026 budget.

The committee also addressed a consent order with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) related to permit compliance violations and unpermitted discharges; the committee approved authorizing the commissioner to execute the consent order and to make the payment amount listed in the agenda to resolve the cited violations (agenda text contains the payment amount). The committee recorded votes as favorable on the listed legislative and resolution items, generally by 6–0 margins where a roll call was reported.

A committee question clarified that the bill-printing renewal and other items are contingent on budget adoption. Committee members asked for details on site counts, costs and contract timelines during discussion; staff provided site counts for security coverage and reconciled the retroactive amendment as covering outstanding, already-rendered services.