County to close $2M Chelsea greenbelt purchase; staff recommends Wyke Law Firm as program manager with West Branch as subconsultant

Eric Larson updated the committee on the greenbelt program, telling members the $2,000,000 Chelsea purchase will close next week on the 7th and that county and partner closing steps are on schedule. "Everything's on schedule for that," Larson said, adding the county reviewed the closing packet and will sign the grant agreement this week.

Larson described the RFQ process for a program manager: two firms responded, identified in the transcript as Wyke/Wike/White Law Firm and West Branch. He said staff recommends selecting Wyke and retaining West Branch as a short-term subconsultant so the county obtains both full-service capacity and the trainer-model expertise West Branch offered. "So we're recommending Wyke, but Wyke is going to retain West Branch as a sub consultant in the short term to help them and us both with the setup of our program," Larson said.

Larson said the SOQ process means fees were not opened during evaluation; he expects to have a draft contract and fee schedule when the recommendation goes to county council, which staff will ask to hear on Aug. 17. A motion to recommend the selection was made, seconded and carried; staff will forward the recommendation to county council for approval and present contract numbers with the recommendation.