Utah County renews plan-review and inspection services contract with edits to vehicle language

Utah County commissioners voted to renew a contract for professional plan review and inspection services and directed staff to remove contract language that suggested contractors could use county vehicles.

Steve Kitchen, who identified himself as a "building official," told the board the item was to "clean up the language in our contract that expired" and to renew terms after negotiations. Kitchen said negotiations and a review of state contracts showed the proposed rates were "in line with or less than the rates that were in their contracts." He also described current usage as minimal: the department’s budget for the service is $2,500 for the year and Kitchen said roughly $500 had been used to date.

Commissioners questioned whether local consultants could provide the service to avoid travel from Layton and associated mileage charges. Kitchen said demand has been low and the likely cost of soliciting bids did not justify seeking alternatives now. Commissioners also flagged a clause that contemplated contractors using county vehicles; Kitchen and other commissioners said contractors have never used county vehicles and agreed the clause should be removed because of liability concerns. Unidentified Speaker 7 moved approval with the vehicle language struck; the board approved the motion by voice vote, 3-0.

The contract was described as a one-year agreement with the option to renew in one-year increments; the agreement did not specify a maximum number of renewals in the materials discussed at the meeting. Purchasing staff had not completed a full mileage verification review for prior contracts; the building official referenced email discussions with a Robert Baxter and an internal cover letter included in the packet.