Parks and Public Works Committee tables RH2 on-call water and sewer contract pending utility-rate and CIP review

The Parks and Public Works Committee on Jan. 7, 2025, moved to table agenda bill AB 2512 — a resolution to select RH2 for on-call engineering services for water and sewer — after committee members said they wanted a full review of planned capital projects and their effect on the upcoming utility rate study before committing funds.

The item, introduced by Public Works Project Engineer Andrew Vining, would authorize a three-year on-call contract to provide varied engineering and support services to the city’s water and sewer utilities. "AB 2512 ... is for on call services contract for the next 3 years to provide a variety of engineering services, support services to the water and sewer utility," Vining said during the meeting.

Committee members repeatedly said they were not willing to approve a contract that would add roughly $440,000 into the utility rate calculations until they had decided which CIP projects would move forward. One member summarized the concern: approving the contract now could prematurely embed costs into the rate study and affect customers’ bills.

Dylan (staff member) told the committee the on-call contract is intended to fund feasibility, prioritization and evaluation work — not to start full design or construction immediately. He said the contract would help the city determine which projects could be shifted or pushed out and which require near-term work. "This is an on call contract to help us prioritize some of these projects and determine if they could be pushed out, which ones are the biggest priorities, and what what really is involved in the full design," Dylan said.

Staff also advised that delaying the contract for a few weeks would not prevent necessary work from proceeding in the near term because most invoicing would occur as tasks are performed. "They bill as they do the work," a staff member explained. The committee nonetheless voted to table the agenda bill and directed staff to return after they complete a targeted review of CIP items tied to the water and sewer utilities.

As a next step, staff were asked to annotate the CIP list to identify time-critical projects (including those affecting fire flow and imminent public-safety requirements) and to propose which items could be delayed without compromising compliance or operations. Committee members asked engineers and project managers to return with a prioritization that shows the rate impact of moving or delaying specific projects; staff said they expect to bring those recommendations back to Parks and Public Works for further direction.

Jim Mayhew, a Snoqualmie resident who addressed the committee during reopened public comment, suggested staff limit the preliminary review to the largest projects that materially affect rates (for example, projects at or above $1 million), to reduce the workload and focus on changes that will meaningfully change rate outcomes.

The committee’s tabling does not mean the city will not enter a contract later; staff said a timely decision would be needed if the committee wants to preserve construction schedules for summer 2025. Staff noted that, if the review and ordinance work proceed quickly, the earliest feasible adoption date would be the committee’s second February meeting, but that could slip into March or April depending on the depth of the CIP / rate review and public-notice timelines.

Votes at a glance: the committee moved to table AB 2512 and the motion was seconded and approved during the Jan. 7 meeting. No roll-call vote was recorded in the transcript.

Ending: Staff will return with an annotated CIP showing which projects are time-critical and a revised recommendation for the contract in the context of the committee’s direction on rates; the committee requested that staff aim for a quick turnaround while recognizing public-notice and bid-season constraints.