The Lake Elmo City Council on Jan. 7 approved an amendment naming Nate Stanley of Bolton & Menk as the city’s official city engineer and authorized terminating the city’s contract with Focus Engineering effective immediately.

Council members and staff said the change follows Focus Engineering’s sale of assets and a staff-led transition plan that assigns Bolton & Menk to provide day-to-day engineering services under a monthly retainer while project work will be billed per negotiated rates.

Administrator Miller told the council Bolton & Menk submitted a proposal to serve as the city’s primary engineer and that a task order had covered service from Jan. 1–7 to avoid a service gap. Nate Stanley, who spoke at the meeting, said the retainer was proposed to remain at $3,100 per month and that the firm will provide a one-time GIS/system-map setup (previously estimated at about $40,000) that is included in the retainer for the first year.

Council members raised concerns about hourly rates for work billed outside the retainer. Council member Dragasich noted that some services Focus billed within the retainer at lower hourly rates would be billed under Bolton & Menk at higher non-retainer rates and asked how the city would control those costs. Dragasich said: “Some of these services that Jack provided … at $150 an hour will now cost us $225 an hour.”

Stanley and other Bolton & Menk representatives responded that many tasks beyond the retainer would be performed by staff with lower hourly rates (for example environmental technicians billed in the $130–$150 range) and that the higher principal rates reflect oversight and specialized expertise rather than the hours that will be billed for routine work. Stanley said he expects to serve as a point of communication and provide oversight while staff-level specialists perform the bulk of project work.

Councilmember Jerusich and others pressed for clarity about which services will remain in the retainer and which will be billed to enterprise funds (for example, water, sewer or stormwater projects). Staff said enterprise funds have engineering line items that are used for task orders tied to specific projects and that those project-level fees have historically been billed to the relevant enterprise funds rather than covered by the general retainer.

The council amended the motion on the floor to include terminating the existing Focus Engineering contract effective immediately. The motion to appoint Nate Stanley and to approve the Bolton & Menk amendment, with the friendly amendment to terminate Focus Engineering, passed on an affirmative voice vote.

Staff said the amendment to the Bolton & Menk professional services agreement does not include an expiration date; the council was told it may solicit an RFP in the future if it wishes. Jack, representing Focus Engineering, spoke in the meeting and indicated he will remain involved during the transition to provide continuity.

The council’s action includes directing staff to manage project authorizations and budget line items going forward, and staff noted that particular capital projects (for example, MS4/NPDES compliance work or large system plans) would be brought to council when task orders and project budgets are prepared.

The council vote: motion to appoint Nate Stanley of Bolton & Menk as official city engineer for 2025 and to approve the amendment to Bolton & Menk’s professional services agreement, with a friendly amendment to terminate the Focus Engineering agreement effective immediately — approved by voice vote.

Council members and staff said they expect a transition period in which Bolton & Menk and former Focus personnel will attend project meetings; early transition work will be covered by the retainer, with project task orders billed to enterprise funds as needed.

Ending: Council members said they favored continuity of service, but several asked staff to provide clearer budget impact estimates of non-retainer hourly work and to ensure project-level oversight to control costs.