Roswell finance director outlines procurement methods, cites plan to add procurement lead

Finance Director Adam Nobatney told the Roswell committee on Feb. 10 that the city uses a mix of competitive and noncompetitive procurement methods to balance price, expertise and time sensitivity.

“We do public procurement to ensure that there is competitiveness, transparency and openness,” Nobatney said, outlining invitations to bid, requests for qualifications, requests for proposals, on‑call contracts, sole‑source and emergency procurements, and opportunities to piggyback on statewide cooperative contracts such as Gordian and Sourcewell.

Nobatney said the city’s purchasing policy is governed by a city ordinance supplemented by finance‑department procedures and applicable state law, and that decision factors include estimated dollar value, complexity, vendor availability and time sensitivity. He described invitations to bid as typical for routine construction work, RFQs for prequalifying professional firms, and RFPs when qualitative factors—innovation or services—matter more than price.

Council members pressed staff on whether outdated procurement software and high barriers to entry were limiting vendor participation. Council Member Christine Hall cited a past project in which she said the city paid $300,000 for a service that an originator of the software would have provided for about $100,000; Nobatney acknowledged software and interoperability issues can reduce competition and urged broader outreach.

“We want to broaden our ability to attract vendors and companies to be interested in the city of Roswell,” Nobatney said, adding that staff is close to hiring a strategic procurement director to provide additional leadership and vendor outreach.

City staff encouraged prospective vendors to contact procurement staff and to use the city web portal for opportunities.