Ulster County committee rejects request to hire a second construction manager for Government Operations Center

The Ulster County Public Works and Capital Projects Committee voted down Resolution 214, which would have initiated an RFP to find a second construction manager-as-agent for the Government Operations Center project.

Deputy Executive Laval told the committee that the county currently works with the Palumbo group as construction manager and that the firm has participated in weekly design and schedule meetings for about two years. Laval said introducing a second construction manager once construction has begun "would add complexity and not really value to the project," and cautioned that having competing managers is "generally not seen as a best practice" by national firms and the American Institute of Architects. Laval also noted the county tracks project accounting and schedule visibility through Procore and the county financial system.

Sponsor Legislator Gvaris introduced the resolution as a means for the legislature to exercise independent fiduciary oversight of a large capital project. Supporters on the floor said they wanted to see RFP responses before committing to a hire; opponents, including some who raised the example of past troubled projects such as the county jail, argued a second construction manager could duplicate work and increase adversarial dynamics between managers and the executive team.

Chair Nolan called for an up-or-down vote. The meeting transcript records the chair describing the final result as "failing one to three to one," and notes that Legislator Litz was recorded as abstaining due to employment. The committee did not approve the RFP at this session.

Next steps: the resolution failed at the committee level; any future effort to pursue outside construction-management services would require reintroduction or a different procedural approach and additional briefing to committee members about scope and cost implications.