Clermont council approves expanding shortlist for architectural services, extends contract for building official services

The City of Clermont City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to expand the pool of professional architectural firms the city can use and to amend an existing contract to continue outsourced building official services while staff recruits a permanent in-house official.

Council approved a motion to award a continuing professional services list for architectural services that includes the top five firms identified by the evaluation panel, rather than the three firms originally proposed. The motion also asked staff to schedule a workshop on a local-preference policy for future procurements.

City procurement staff told the council the evaluation used a scored RFQ process and that committees rank responders by qualifications. Procurement director Felice Forest said firms that are not awarded may request feedback on their scores and may review submittals from higher-scoring firms to improve future proposals.

Councilmembers debated whether the city should change its procurement rules to give local businesses more points or otherwise favor Clermont firms. Some said they want a policy-level discussion and an ordinance to provide a consistent approach; others said staff already has discretion within bid documents to select additional firms and that changing the ordinance requires more study. The council voted 5-0 to expand the award to the top five firms and to schedule a workshop on local preference.

On a separate consent-agenda item, the council approved a contract amendment to add building official services to an existing professional services agreement. The city’s building official had resigned; staff said the amendment covers plan review, inspections and interim building official duties on an as-needed basis while the city recruits and hires in-house personnel. Legal staff said existing contracts include termination-for-convenience language giving 30 days’ notice in most cases.

Several residents urged the council to pursue in-house capacity, saying contractors can be slow or inconsistent; staff and council members said in-house staffing remains the long-term goal but the amendment is a stopgap to avoid permitting delays.

Council members said procurement and contract transparency remain priorities and that procurement staff will provide more guidance to local firms about how to improve future submissions.