Council discusses project-management best practices; staff asked to formalize policy

Council members spent an extended portion of the meeting discussing a draft list of project-management best practices presented by Finley, who said the item was brought forward at the mayor pro tem's suggestion and was intended for discussion rather than immediate approval.

Finley ran through recommended items including procurement compliance, professional design standards, maintaining project files, daily staff oversight, third-party inspection for higher-exposure projects, pay-request verification, phone verification of bonding documents and requiring owner responsibility for geotechnical work. "It's just always better to obviously follow all of the statutory guidelines as well as your local policies in terms of procurement," Finley said.

Council members pressed on who would identify stakeholders for implementation, the role of legal counsel on major decisions, and whether staff should return with timelines and templates. One council member said legal counsel should be involved on major decisions to avoid short-term cost savings that create long-term litigation costs. Finley said staff would research resources and examples used by other jurisdictions and bring a formalized document back to council for consideration.

The discussion did not produce an immediate vote; the action taken was direction to staff to research and prepare a formal policy or resolution for a future council meeting.