Dickinson County to consider hiring consultant for Safe Streets for All study

Dickinson County public-works director Martin said the county issued a request for qualifications for a Safe Streets for All planning study and received limited responses, leaving one qualified, available firm as the likely consultant to lead a federally eligible intersection-safety study. He said the consultant’s study budget is $240,000 and the county’s share would be about $12,000.

“We put it out on the website to invite anybody else that wanted to come along, and we ended up getting three letters of reply … and so, obviously, with only one applicant, they rated the highest,” Martin said, explaining the county team evaluated firms on past performance, availability and familiarity with relevant contracts.

Martin told commissioners the study would identify candidate intersections and produce cost estimates so the county could apply for federal grant funding. He said the consultant’s work — including local site visits and community engagement — would likely take about a year, and staff planned to present a formal consultant-approval item on the commission’s regular agenda next week.

Commissioners discussed timing and grant-match issues, noting that a federal project can require property acquisition and 10–20% local matches for construction. Martin said the modest match for the planning study could be funded from public-works budgets and that the study is a required step to access federal Safe Streets grant funds.

The commission did not vote on the consultant at the study session; Martin recommended placing the consultant approval on next week’s agenda for formal action.