Port St. Joe commission presses for public presentations, policy after debate over wastewater engineer rankings

The Port St. Joe City Commission voted April 7 to require public presentations from all four firms that responded to RFQ 2026-01 for wastewater treatment plant improvements and to ask staff and the city attorney to review procurement language for large-dollar engineering selections.

The move followed a prolonged discussion after staff presented a rankings-based recommendation. Commissioners raised concerns that staff and a small selection committee had triaged the field without giving commissioners themselves an opportunity to hear firms’ proposals. Several members also questioned the committee’s scoring, citing surprise that the city’s long-time engineer of record was ranked last.

“This is such a large project…we need experts to come in and present so that we can ask tough questions,” said a commissioner who pressed for in-person interviews. Another commissioner said he was uncomfortable placing the full selection burden on department staff.

Staff told the commission that the RFQ stage evaluates qualifications, with fee negotiations to follow after a firm is selected. Wastewater staff noted the project could convert to an advanced wastewater treatment system, and commissioners repeatedly cited a high-level estimate of an $80 million program as the reason for heightened scrutiny.

After discussion, the commission approved a motion to invite each shortlisted firm to present in a public meeting and to direct staff to research and propose procurement-policy language (for example, a dollar threshold above which commissioners must review or interview finalists). The commission set a tentative date for presentations at its May 5 meeting, allowing roughly 20–30 minutes per firm for presentation and Q&A.

Commissioners emphasized transparency, local economic impact and the need to ensure the city’s engineer of record and other local firms are treated fairly under state procurement rules. “If the one we pick comes back with a price that inflates beyond what we expected, we then have the option of moving to the next firm,” a staff member explained about the post-selection negotiation phase.

Next steps: staff will schedule presentations, circulate the selection committee’s scoring rationale to commissioners for review, and work with the city attorney to draft procurement language or thresholds for future large projects. No final engineering contract was awarded at the meeting.