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Eagle Pass MPO discusses adding backup planning consultants; no action taken
Summary
The board considered three options for backup general planning/engineering consultants — keep Stanley Consultants as sole prime, open a new solicitation, or adopt the city's pre‑qualified as‑needed consultants — and discussed budget and continuity issues; the board took no action.
Staff said the MPO currently contracts with Stanley Consultants as the general planning consultant and presented three backup options: remain with a single prime consultant; open a procurement to solicit competing firms; or accept the City of Eagle Pass's prequalified as‑needed engineering consultants as backup resources. The item was presented as a consideration to provide continuity if the prime consultant became unavailable.
"Having different options than just one...you never know what kind of workload your consultant may have," said the TxDOT representative, Sarah Garza, urging multiple options for capacity. Sid Martinez described the typical model in larger regions: a prime general planning consultant that uses subconsultants for modeling, public involvement and engineering tasks.
Staff said any as‑needed work would be paid out of the MPO's $375,000 annual planning budget and that no work would be guaranteed to backup firms unless authorized. The board discussed procurement timelines and whether opening a bid would slow current work; staff said ongoing work would continue with Stanley and that a procurement for backups would not interrupt progress.
No action was taken; staff will continue operations with Stanley Consultants while the board considers backup models and could return the item in a future meeting if members want to pursue procurement.
