Council approves $29,000 pavement-management contract after conflict concerns

Victoria City Council approved a contract authorizing Bolton to develop a 10-year pavement-management plan for the city in an amount not to exceed $29,000 after public concerns about a potential conflict of interest were raised.

A resident asked the council to pull the related consent-agenda item and questioned whether the city engineer’s employment with Bolton created a conflict. "I believe this and other items that are also gonna be before you in the record create a substantial conflict of interest," the resident said during public comment and asked for transparency on how any conflict would be mitigated.

City counsel and several council members responded that engineering-professional rules differ from lawyer conflict rules and that they had not seen evidence the contract was improper. Counsel said he did not "track the argument" raised in submitted materials and that it was not clear the city could investigate criminal wrongdoing; he noted that contracts can often be unwound if there is a legal basis to do so. Council members discussed the risk of delaying the pavement-management program, with one member warning that refusing the contract could set back work the city had done for decades.

Council member Roberts moved to authorize Bolton to provide the pavement-management services; Council member Patterson seconded. The motion carried by voice vote.

What happens next: The contract will proceed as approved. Council asked staff to ensure transparency around contracting and to consider how questions about relationships between consultants and staff are handled in future procurements.