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MINUTES OF THE <br /> ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING <br /> Monday,January 9,2017 <br /> 7:00 o'clock p.m. <br /> 4. 2017 ENGINEERING SERVICES RATE SCHEDULE(conNnued) <br /> Walsh stated as it relates to general day-to-day engineering work,there is a rate schedule,but when there <br /> are issues on a particular project and the City receives an opinion from Bolton&Menk,the City may <br /> want to obtain a second opinion on the engineering fee portion. <br /> Martini stated the City has the ability to provide whatever checks and balances they want on that fee. <br /> Martini indicated one of his jobs is to make sure Bolton&Menk is providing fair and competitive fees for <br /> the work being completed and that he does that in a number of different ways. Currently labor costs are <br /> driving the fees and salaries and that the market is very competitive currently. Martini noted the cost of <br /> public employees has driven up private industry costs. <br /> Martini indicated they look at the hours that will be needed for a specific project and then see if it is <br /> proportionate to the amount of money being spent on the project. Martini indicated they work closely <br /> with Staff to make sure they are not including services that City Staff could perform. Martini stated they <br /> ultimately want to give the City an appropriate price up front so Bolton&Menk can continue to be the <br /> consulting city engineer. Martini stated he is certainly aware of the fact that the engineering bill often <br /> times will be the biggest bill from a consulting standpoint and that the fees will add up,which is why they <br /> are very sensitive to making sure fair and competitive prices are being charged. <br /> Walsh stated when he has an engineering project coming up for his business,coming to a good agreement <br /> is required,which is what the fee schedule is all about. Walsh noted Orono uses Bolton&Menk for all of <br /> their consulting engineering and that they are not able to go out and get separate competitive bids for each <br /> specific project. Walsh stated he would like to see it reduced to 2 percent to be more in line with what <br /> Orono's increases have been in employee salaries. <br /> Martini stated simply looking at those four individuals that work primarily with the City is an automatic <br /> 3.5 percent increase in cost. <br /> Walsh stated the range may need to be broken out better. <br /> Martini stated he can provide a list of the employees that the City mainly works with but that they <br /> typically have other staff that will do as much of the work at a lower fee as possible. Martini stated the <br /> Council needs to look at the bigger picture that makes up the fee schedule and that built in the fee <br /> schedule is the fact that the City saves money on not having to go out for proposals on each project. <br /> Martini stated he does not take his relationship with the City for granted and that he is trying to build and <br /> maintain a long-term relationship with the City. Martini noted a number of their proposals are for a not to <br /> exceed amount and that they have had a number of projects in the past that have exceeded the not to <br /> exceed fee but Bolton&Menk continues to work on the project. Martini stated when Bolton&Menk <br /> was initially retained,they committed to making a significant investment in Orono by getting the City's <br /> mapping system up and running. In addition,the first CIP document was prepared by Bolton&Menk at <br /> no cost to the City. Martini stated the CII'is a tool that can be updated periodically. Martini stated he is <br /> grateful for the relationship they have and that Bolton&Menk has tried to make it a fair relationship. <br /> Martini indicated he is happy to provide more information on the engineering fees but that he cannot <br /> commit to the 2 percent at this time. <br /> Page 4 of 17 <br />