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Hood County resident urges removal of 10% expenses markup from architect contract
Summary
During public comment, resident Mark Laria told the commissioners the contract includes a 10% markup on expenses and urged the court to remove it, saying taxpayers should not pay the charge; the court did not resolve the point and asked the architect to revise the contract.
Mark Laria, a Hood County resident, used the public-comment period to call attention to a provision in the draft architect services agreement that applies a 10% markup to expenses. Laria said he believed the architectural firm had earlier signaled it would waive that markup and asked the court to remove the fee entirely.
"I hope that 10% markup... will be removed from that because that's taxpayers money," Laria said, framing the markup as an avoidable cost paid by local taxpayers.
The commissioners heard the comment and moved into a longer workshop review of the draft agreement. The architect, Wayne Gondek of DRG Architects, did not state during the workshop that the firm would automatically remove the markup; instead the court asked Gondek to return with a revised draft that clarifies reimbursable expenses and billing practices.
Next steps: The architect will revise the contract language and resubmit it for placement on an upcoming commissioners' court agenda for formal consideration.
