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Engineering asks for more staff to reduce reliance on consultants, highlights right-of-way enforcement wins
Summary
The City Engineering Department proposed three staffing changes for 2026 to increase in-house capacity for right-of-way permitting, project engineering and construction inspection.
Andrew Seabore, city engineer, presented the Engineering Department’s 2026 budget and described three proposed staffing changes designed to expand in-house capacity and reduce dependence on external consultants.
Seabore described the proposed reclassification of one engineering field specialist to a program manager to lead right-of-way permitting, the addition of a second project engineer to advance capital initiatives and standardization work, and a new construction inspector to increase oversight of work in the field. He told council that adding these positions would improve staff workload distribution, reduce costly contractor change orders, and allow the city to retain more work in-house.
Seabore emphasized the importance of right-of-way permitting and enforcement. He referenced a recent instance in which enforcement activity and legal support allowed the city to claim a $1,000,000 bond for repairs after a contractor failed to restore city infrastructure. The engineering director said the department also continues incremental updates to standard drawings, procedures and EPO tools to improve efficiency but noted turnover and position vacancies had slowed some documentation work.
Seabore summarized capital project lifecycle phases (planning, design, right-of-way acquisition, construction, operation/maintenance) and explained engineering’s lead role in design, right-of-way and construction phases. He said some projects can be executed in a year while others take multiple years depending on funding and right-of-way needs. He also noted the recently established Transportation Commission will advise on safety objectives and implementation.
Questions from council members focused on hiring difficulty for specialized engineering roles, the ability to offset new personnel costs with consultant reductions, and specific project items such as right-of-way acquisition status for High Street. Seabore said consultant savings are expected to offset much of the proposed personnel expense over time and that some right-of-way acquisition was underway for High Street but the work remained in early phases.
No budget appropriation was adopted at the hearing. The proposed staffing changes are subject to the city’s budget process.
