Pleasant Prairie OKs five‑year marketing contract with A5 Digital Branding amid cost questions

The Pleasant Prairie Village Board approved a five‑year marketing and communications contract with A5 Digital Branding on Feb. 24, authorizing staff to finalize clerical edits to the agreement.

The board voted unanimously to approve the contract after a presentation from village staff and representatives of A5, who described the firm’s proposed services, a staffing and escalation plan for emergency communications and the village’s intent to apply for a Wisconsin Innovation Grant to help offset costs.

Tom, speaking for village staff, told the board the contract would begin April 1 and run for five years (through March 31, 2031). He said the year‑one budget would include a one‑time onboarding fee that staff negotiated into the deal to achieve the blended $175 per hour rate, and explained that the completed contract is required for the village’s grant application. Under the grant rules described to the board, the state may award up to five annual payments and local costs during the grant period must not exceed 115% of prior‑year service costs.

Resident Brett Brandenburg urged trustees to review contract line items closely, arguing the agreement’s term and fees appeared inconsistent with the RFP and noting what he read as an onboarding fee of roughly $79,800 in the materials. "If you really look at it, the contract starts 04/01/2026 ... and goes through 03/31/2030 ... it comes out to a grand total of $1,488,600 versus what they're asking for is $1,773,000 — I'll save you $284,000 tonight," Brandenburg said during public comment. Staff and the A5 representative responded in discussion that the start date and five‑year term were correct and that the onboarding fee included in the negotiated schedule is a larger one‑time figure applied in year one to reconcile budget assumptions.

An A5 representative described the vendor’s approach to service levels, saying response standards would be established with each department head and that the firm maintains primary and backup crisis contacts for immediate incident response. The vendor said a single account lead would coordinate a broader core team of subject‑matter specialists that would be available for projects and events.

Village administrators said performance provisions permit either party to give 90 days’ notice if the arrangement is not meeting expectations, and finance staff requested changing the preferred online payment language to an ACH deposit process before final contract execution.

Trustee Mike moved to approve the negotiated contract with authority for staff to correct clerical errors; the motion was seconded and carried on a voice vote.

Next steps: staff will finalize clerical edits, update payment language to ACH, include the executed contract in the Wisconsin Innovation Grant application and begin transition planning with A5 to implement the services.