Lake City council agrees to study housing and to cooperate with private consultant on P3 proposal

The Lake City Council on Nov. 17 directed city staff to pursue a two-track approach to housing policy: issue a competitive request for proposals (RFP) for an independent housing study, and permit staff to cooperate with a private consultant team led by Precept as that firm develops a potential public-private partnership (P3) proposal for affordable housing.

Why it matters: Councilmembers and residents said the city faces an affordable housing shortage and needs actionable, locally tailored plans. Some members argued a competitive RFP is the fairest way to select outside expertise and to create a public record of objective data; others said the Precept team’s local presentation and experience justified working with them to develop a P3-style unsolicited proposal that would still require formal public notice and council findings if pursued.

At the meeting, Vice Mayor Shabella Young advocated cooperation with Precept and said the firm’s team could help guide phased implementation. Several council members — notably Councilmember James Carter — supported issuing an RFP first to generate an independent housing study and to give the council data it can rely on when evaluating any proposals.

City Attorney Clay Martin told the council the P3 statute is intentionally flexible but requires clear statutory findings, public notices and specific transparency steps when the city receives unsolicited proposals; he said cooperation to help a proposer prepare a P3 submission is permissible but flagged that unsolicited proposals trigger additional public-review requirements.

The council’s practical outcome was a dual direction: staff should prepare and solicit an RFP for a housing study, and City Manager Rosenthal and City Attorney Martin should cooperate with Precept as that firm develops a potential P3 proposal. Any final P3 agreement would return to council for the mandatory public findings and approval.

Clarifying context: During the workshop and the hearing, Precept representatives described a multi-phase approach that would rely on local subcontractors for implementation and bring outside technical expertise for planning, environmental and construction oversight. City procurement staff said best practice is a competitive RFP for municipal work, and councilmembers discussed the appearance-of-impropriety risk if the city selected a vendor without competition.

Next steps: Staff will prepare an RFP for a housing study and will cooperate with Precept in preparing a proposal if the firm proceeds; both tracks will come back to the council for formal consideration. The city attorney will prepare any required public notices and ensure statutory P3 requirements are satisfied before a contract is considered.

Provenance: The housing discussion, consultant presentations and the council consensus appear in the meeting record from the housing-item presentations through the recorded direction to staff.