Berkeley council unanimously authorizes agreement with Spaulding deDecker for engineering services

The Berkeley City Council on Oct. 20 authorized the city manager to enter an agreement with Spaulding deDecker for engineering-related services after a competitive RFP process and staff interviews.

Deputy City Manager Sean Young explained the recommendation, saying the city currently "does not have the staff engineer" and historically has relied on contract engineers. He said the city issued an RFP, received seven responses, shortlisted two firms, conducted interviews and ultimately recommended Spaulding deDecker. "This does not mean a blanket coverage for everything," Young said, adding that smaller site-plan work will follow the current staff-approval path and that "larger projects would still come before council independently."

Spaulding deDecker representatives gave a short overview of the firm's municipal experience, funding-success track record and project-management practices. Jeremy Schroed, who said he will be the primary contact for Berkeley, described the firm's emphasis on coordinated communication and on providing program guides, checklists and public-facing mapping tools to make project status clearer for staff and residents.

Council voted unanimously to approve Motion M99-25 authorizing the city manager to execute the agreement. Roll-call votes recorded Hennen, Patterson, Volani (listed as Volani/Vilani on the roll), Baker, Black, Gavin and Dean as voting yes.

Council and staff emphasized the transition would involve staff prioritizing projects and that the firm will take over larger projects while routine, smaller projects will follow established procedures.