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Board approves Love Communications contract extension; county attorney flags legal and procurement issues
Summary
Advisory board voted to approve an amended contract with Love Communications through Dec. 31, 2025, after a lengthy legal review raised concerns about repeated amendments, billing clarity and an absence of a clear renewal process.
The advisory board voted to approve a contract amendment with Love Communications that authorizes services through Dec. 31, 2025, but the county attorney warned the board about repeated after-the-fact amendments and recommended formal procurement (RFP) for future terms.
Grand County Attorney Steven Stocks reviewed the contract history and told the board the document had been amended multiple times since the original 2023 agreement. Stocks said the county’s practice of extending or replacing terms by amendment after a fiscal year ends creates transparency and procurement risks: “If you let a contract expire… the person that technically contracted you with previously shouldn’t have a better opportunity of getting the contract over somebody else,” Stocks said.
Stocks and staff also discussed billing practices and scope. Staff said Love tracks hours and can produce reports showing “value billing,” and that the county generally only approves invoices for active projects rather than charging meeting attendance. Stocks noted the contract contains a limiting clause that states the county’s lump-sum payment is intended as “full payment for all services under this agreement,” which should limit out-of-scope billing but requires clearer project-level invoicing.
After discussion about whether to put the work out to bid, the board voted to approve the amendment (authorizing services through Dec. 31, 2025) and asked administration and legal staff to refine procurement options and prepare an RFP for next year. The chair said the approved amendment would be presented to the county commission for final action.
Why it matters: Love Communications manages a large portion of the office’s media buy, analytics and PR coordination. The contract’s structure, billing practices and repeated amendments raised transparency and procurement concerns that county legal staff said should be addressed by either running an open RFP or tightening renewal language.
Next steps: Legal and administration to advise on whether to run an RFP for 2026 and to produce clearer billing and deliverable language; staff to present contract to county commission for final approval as required.
Speakers quoted: Steven Stocks (Grand County Attorney); Ben Frederigill (Moab Office of Tourism director).
Topics: contract management; procurement policy; vendor billing and scope.
