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Columbia County commissioners direct staff to rework engineering continuing-service contracts and RFQ process
Summary
After months of questions about how continuing-service engineering contracts are awarded and priced, commissioners asked staff to draft a new RFQ, consider wider solicitation and a randomized ranking committee, and return with a review of all continuing-service contracts.
Columbia County commissioners on Wednesday directed staff to prepare a proposed request-for-qualifications (RFQ) and a review of the county’s continuing-service engineering contracts after public discussion about transparency, pricing and the composition of ranking committees.
Commissioner Rocky Ford led the push, saying the county has too few engineers on continuing-service contracts and that the current process leaves no room to negotiate project prices. "If it's an engineering service and we're paying over $30,000 for it, it should come before the board for approval," Ford said during the meeting. He asked staff to reopen solicitation for continuing-service contracts and to consider using a broader, randomly selected ranking committee drawn from planning, economic development and business groups to reduce the appearance of favoritism.
Why it matters: continuing-service contracts are used to quickly assign engineering on projects under state thresholds. Commissioners said the county has relied on a small set of local firms for many projects and some…
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