Brentwood committee forms RFQ subcommittee, outlines schedule for municipal complex design selection

A regularly scheduled meeting of the Brentwood Municipal Complex Committee advanced the town’s search for a designer for a proposed municipal complex and police department by forming a four‑member RFQ review subcommittee and setting a rapid selection timeline.

Committee members said five teams submitted requests for qualifications (RFQs). The committee will conduct an administrative check for responsiveness, score firms on set criteria, and shortlist up to three teams for interviews before recommending a firm to the Select Board for contract approval.

The matter matters because the committee’s choice of consultant will shape concept designs and cost estimates that Brentwood officials plan to present to voters as part of a future warrant article and possible bond. Committee members emphasized open communication and transparency with the public during the design and budgeting process.

Committee chair Eric Kelly summarized the immediate next steps: a preliminary administrative review to confirm firms followed RFQ instructions, a qualitative review under published evaluation criteria, combined scoring and shortlisting, and—if needed—interviews. The RFQ’s minimum eligibility requirements include that firms be licensed in New Hampshire and have delivered at least two municipal facility projects in the last 10 years, including at least one police department project within the past five years. The committee said qualifications carry the heaviest weight (40%), project experience 25%, project approach 20%, and responsiveness/administrative items the remainder.

“We met a few of the clients. I believe most of them, if not all of them, did submit RFQs,” said Chief Justin Doty, who will serve on the subcommittee. He and others said the town’s “big emphasis from them was open communication and transparency to the community.”

The committee voted to form an RFQ subcommittee made up of Chief Justin Doty (police department representative), Selectman Jimmy Schode (select board representative),…