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Council hears questions on Sawgrass contract, task‑order approach for city street repairs
Summary
Council members pressed administration staff about a multiple‑task order master services agreement with Sawgrass Consulting and a $3.832 million change order for storm drain maintenance, raising procurement and scope questions and clarifying why task orders are being used for faster repairs.
Council members questioned city staff at the May 6 Mobile City Council meeting about a recently authorized master services agreement with Sawgrass Consulting and a related task‑order approach intended to speed street repairs and resurfacing.
Council members asked whether the Sawgrass agreement functions like a multiple‑award task order contract (MATOC) and whether the city followed competitive procurement practices before awarding an agreement that allows task orders without fixed totals. A staff speaker explained the approach is intended to let the city issue task orders to identify problems and then execute repairs quickly, responding to council direction to move faster on street maintenance.
The administration described the arrangement as a “multiple task order” vehicle that pairs professional services for identification with construction or materials to fix problems. The city said it originally considered a traditional bid process and that this task‑order model is the closest available mechanism to deliver rapid response repairs while coupling professional assessment with materials and construction.
Council members also discussed a change order with McElhaney (spelled in the meeting as MacLaney/McElhaney) for annual storm drain maintenance that increases the contract by $3,832,000; staff said that work responds to recent heavy rain events and is part of on‑call maintenance that can be collapsed into the city’s stormwater fee program. A council member described right‑of‑way mowing contracts aggregated across locations and noted an overall increase that reflected expansion of service areas, including Rangeline Road.
Among the clarified procurement points, staff said the contract structure couples professional services (assessment and design) with materials and repair work so the city can issue task orders and obtain hard numbers for budgeting and the resurfacing program. Staff agreed to provide paperwork documenting the procurement history to council members who requested it.
Actions listed on the council agenda included authorization of a master services agreement with Sawgrass Consulting for a 2025 CIP citywide street assessment and approval of change order No. 2 with McElhaney/MacLaney Construction increasing annual storm drain maintenance by $3,832,000; council discussion focused on procurement authority, scope, and budgeting rather than on operational details of individual repairs.
