Council approves $40,000 not‑to‑exceed agreement for developer engineering reviews and construction observation

The New Prague City Council approved an agreement with SE (the city engineer firm) for developer‑related engineering services under a not‑to‑exceed fee of $40,000. City staff said the work — which includes civil plan review for private developments and construction observation on public infrastructure tied to private projects — will be billed back to developers.

Scope and rationale: City engineer Chris Kudson told the council that recent private development reviews have taken more staff time and that full construction observation (for the First Street SE project, for example) could use a significant portion of the proposed $40,000 cap. The agreement is meant to avoid multiple requests for supplemental budgets if a single project requires considerable engineering hours.

Council discussion: Members asked whether the agreement creates exclusivity that would preclude other consultants while the $40,000 contract remains open. Staff said the contract covers developer review and construction observation work performed by SE on behalf of the city and that in practice the city already uses multiple firms for different functions (for example, wastewater work handled by another firm). Staff also said they would break work into tasks for tracking and billing back to specific developers.

Outcome: The council moved, seconded and approved the agreement (voice vote recorded in the meeting). Staff said they expect to use roughly half of the amount for ongoing First Street SE construction observation but that usage will vary by project.