Council narrows civic‑center procurement options and directs quick interviews for an August decision

Council members on July 9 heard a presentation that framed three delivery options for the town’s Civic Center project and set a timetable to select a consultant for a master‑plan amendment.

Project manager David Kelly summarized the process to date and said staff issued an RFP to five firms; the town received five complete proposals. Owner’s representative Dustin Alamo of Griffin Structures reviewed the tradeoffs among traditional design‑bid‑build, design‑build, and progressive design‑build procurement — highlighting that early contractor integration (progressive design‑build) can improve cost transparency, reduce surprises and produce a guaranteed maximum price (GMP) earlier in design while preserving owner control.

Staff and the council subcommittee (Mayor Julie McMillan and Mayor Pro Tem Robbins) identified three firms as finalists during an internal review (Gensler; Nolan Tam; HED/BRW). Council members debated two competing priorities: speed to meet an aggressive schedule (several council members urged immediate negotiations with Gensler, which had proposed a faster 12‑week schedule) versus standard procurement due diligence (reference checks and interviews to preserve negotiation leverage). The manager and staff recommended interviewing the top 2–3 teams and returning to council with a negotiated agreement on or before the August 4 special meeting.

Public commenters and several council members urged pace to protect near‑term project milestones, especially a paramedic building timeline that underpinned the urgency. Others urged a short period of due diligence so staff can confirm schedule commitments, team composition and contract milestones before the town executes an agreement.

The council directed staff to schedule interviews with top candidates as quickly as possible (including the subcommittee in those interviews) and to aim to bring a negotiated professional‑services agreement to council on or before Aug. 4; the council retained the right to deliberate and vote on the final contract when it returns to the full council. Staff said the RFP emphasized an expeditious approach, but proposals varied on outreach assumptions and timelines, which is why interviews and small scope negotiations were judged valuable.

The next steps are interviews with the highest‑ranked firms, reference checks, and contract negotiations with the top candidate to finalize scope, schedule and price. The council and staff said the goal is to balance expedited scheduling with sufficient contractual protections and enforceable milestones to hold any chosen consultant to promised timelines.