Daniel council discusses $30,000 extension for Jones & DeMille engineering services

Council members on July 7 discussed a proposed extension and supplemental authorization for Jones & DeMille, the town’s engineering services provider. Town staff said increased building-permit activity, inspection work and unanticipated tasks (including lead-and-copper compliance work) have nearly exhausted the current authorized amount and that roughly $30,000 more would cover services through the end of the calendar year.

Eric and other council members described the tasks Jones & DeMille performs for Daniel — site and building-permit reviews, GIS, building inspections and permit issuance — and noted that Jones & DeMille currently provides an inspector under contract. Staff said they are pursuing alternatives to reduce long-term costs, including using a local engineer (Tyson Mumford of Caiun Engineering) or reassigning some inspections through a municipality under contract.

Council members asked whether the town had issued a request for proposals; staff said Jones & DeMille were hired based on a Ryan Taylor recommendation and without an RFP. Town staff also said Jones & DeMille have offered a lower-billing staff member (identified as "Emily") who would do Daniel work at a lower rate to limit charges for senior engineers. The council treated the item as a discussion and indicated the extension and budget increase would be placed on a future agenda for formal approval.

Staff noted that the contract is hourly and the $30,000 figure is an authorization cap rather than an automatic payment; the town will only pay for hours worked.

The council asked the mayor and staff to pursue conversations with Tyson (Caiun Engineering) and Heber City to test local/municipal alternatives and to put the extension on next month’s agenda for possible approval.