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Wagoner County approves renewal with Meshack/WSB for on-call engineering reviews after commissioners seek spending alerts
Summary
The Wagoner County commissioners approved a renewal of an on-call professional services agreement for hydrology, hydraulics and development review with WSC/WSB (formerly Meshack and Associates) after debate over removal of a spending cap and agreement to receive periodic cost alerts.
Wagoner County commissioners voted to renew a professional services agreement with WSC/WSB LLC (formerly Meshack and Associates) for on-call hydrology and hydraulics (H&H) and development review, despite objections to the removal of a spending cap from the agreement.
Casey Sanders, planning and zoning, told commissioners the renewal keeps the county's engineering review services in place and that the vendor will invoice at hourly rates; the contract language now omits a maximum contract ceiling. “They will be invoicing based on an hourly rate of their services that they do provide,” Sanders said.
Several commissioners expressed concern about there being no cap. One commissioner said they would vote no unless staff agreed to bring any project expenses back to the board at a pre-set level. Commissioners discussed internal controls and reporting as mitigations. Sanders said staff maintains an internal ledger of work requested and will email estimated costs in advance for substantial projects. She offered to add a line in her weekly report showing the balance and invoices sent to the firm.
The board agreed to an internal trigger for review: Sanders said she would return to the board when invoiced or estimated costs approached a threshold; commissioners discussed $30,000 and $50,000 figures during the meeting and asked for a $50,000 internal review point. Sanders said she could implement advance notices and additional reporting without amending the vendor contract. After that commitment, commissioners voted to approve the renewal.
Why it matters: Professional services agreements with no contractual cap can speed needed work on time-sensitive development projects but can expose the county to higher-than-expected bills. Commissioners sought procedural safeguards that preserve the county’s ability to proceed on major projects while increasing oversight.
What the board decided: The board approved the renewal and recorded that staff will provide advance cost estimates and include contract spending in a weekly report; at the meeting commissioners requested that staff notify the board before spending reaches an agreed internal review threshold.
Speakers quoted or referenced in this article are listed in the speaker section below.
