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City to advertise RFQ for consent‑decree program management; staff lays out scope and timeline
Summary
The City presented a draft RFQ approach for third‑party program management of wastewater consent‑decree projects, seeking nationally experienced firms to provide program controls, dashboards and bundling strategies; staff proposed advertising about Feb. 8 with awards targeted for May.
City engineering staff told the Fort Smith City Board of Directors on Jan. 27 that the administration plans to issue a request for qualifications (RFQ) to hire a third‑party program manager to coordinate the city’s consent‑decree wastewater construction program.
Todd Mitke, acting director of engineering (presenting remotely), said the program manager would perform a program readiness assessment, develop an execution plan, bundle and sequence projects to optimize cost and schedule, provide financial management and an at‑a‑glance dashboard for staff and the public, and identify opportunities to reduce cost drivers. He emphasized the need for firms with consent‑decree experience.
Mitke outlined a proposed schedule: RFQ advertisement roughly Feb. 8, applicants given about six weeks to respond, submittals due around March 20, initial evaluations by early April, candidate interviews mid‑April and a contract presented for board approval at the May 5 regular meeting. He said the chosen firm would be selected on qualifications first, with cost considered at the negotiation stage consistent with Arkansas procurement statutes.
Board members pressed for measurable performance metrics. One director cited an internal remaining project estimate of roughly $600,000,000 and urged that the RFQ ask firms to demonstrate how they would produce measurable savings or efficiency gains; Mitke said cost savings were possible but cautioned against promising a fixed dollar amount, adding that the RFQ language can require firms to identify measurable value‑engineering outcomes and to propose dashboard metrics that tighten the gap between engineering estimates and bids.
Mitke also said staff would personally notify national firms and post the RFQ on the newspaper of record and the city website, and that the evaluation team will include the acting city administrator, deputy city administrator and several public‑works and utilities leaders. The program manager is expected to work closely with staff and possibly embed a full‑time engineer on site, while preserving local staff control over technical decisions.
Board members asked staff to include measurable performance expectations in the RFQ and to describe how the city will compare pre‑ and post‑contract costs to demonstrate value. The RFQ and subsequent contract will return to the board for approval; the advertised timeline anticipates that the firm could begin program management activities around May 19 if the schedule holds.
