12-12-2011 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING . December 12, 2011 7:00 o'clock p.m. (I6. ENGINEERING SERVICES RFP, Continued) process would be to select a firm and direct the City Attorney and City Administrator to begin negotiating a contract for possible approval at the January 9h Council meeting. A staff recommendation was provided for council consideration. Loftus noted this is the first opportunity for Council to discuss who should be hired to fill the position. Franchot commented he agrees this was a good process to go through and that the City had a number of good candidates. Franchot stated in his opinion the interviews turned out to be very important and that the issue he had the most difficulty with is that the City currently has personal relationships with some of the candidates. Franchot indicated he attempted to erase those personal relationships from his memory in an attempt to look at the firms impartially. Based on that, Franchot identified three final candidates, Bolton & Menk, StantecBonestroo and WSB, and that in his opinion any one of the three have the technical capacity to serve the City. Franchot stated he personally put Bolton & Menk third because they did not have the institutional history with the City. Franchot indicated he spent some time on the Stantec website and was disappointed to see how little they spoke about municipal engineering and that he has a concern with where the new owner of the company might take them. Franchot stated he was impressed by the energy and innovative spirit of WSB, and that he would • recommend the City go with WSB. Printup concurred it was a good process and that he personally did not have the long -term relationship built up with any of the three candidates. He noted there was adinteresting reaction to his suggestion to have an RFP process which was purely a business- related matter. He found it to be an educational process and learned that engineers are engineers and they will all be great. Printup stated his choice relates to what he thinks would fit Orono best and that in his opinion that Bolton & Menk fit that criteria. Rahn agreed that it was an educational learning process and that the top three candidates would all do a fine job. Originally he liked FOCUS'S business plan, but since the City is in the process of hiring their own engineer, he is not sure the City would realize the full benefit of their plan at the present time. Rahn stated during the interview process he was looking for someone who had more of a philosophical view similar to his and that he connected with Bolton & Menk. Bolton & Menk is a firm that wants to keep things simple and practical. They want to keep the designs methods simple and hopefully not drive costs up with something that isn't practical. They have a proven track record and currently do a substantial amount of work with some of the 14 lakeshore cities. Rahn stated in his view the City of Orono is similar to their other lakeshore clients and that Bolton & Menk would be his choice. Bremer stated in large part she agrees with what has been said, but that in her view it is also important to look at the people they have met. Bremer stated as it relates to the law firm she currently works for, which is a national law firm, she has found that people like the model and platform but that it comes down to the individual professional the City will be working with. Bremer stated this is a similar process in that the City is looking at the differences between three very similar firms. Bremer indicated given her past experience with the City for a number of years, she appreciates the guidance that Bonestroo has given Staff and Council over the years. Bremer stated in this Page 13 of 18