Response to CM Baker provided by Shaun Condor, Interim Director of Engineering:
Question: Have any of these firms worked for the City and finished behind schedule or needed to adjust their bid beyond a reasonable amount?
Answer: Most of the Engineering firms, while not all, have worked for the City before. The solicitation and selection of professional Engineering firms is based solely off of qualifications of the firm. Pursuant to Texas Government Code 2254 and the Purchasing Policy, firms are evaluated based on demonstrated competence and qualifications. Professional Engineering services are reimbursed based on negotiated rates for technical design and construction administration. Construction services are generally solicited through a competitive sealed bidding method whereby the lowest responsive responsible bidder is awarded the contract.
Statement: It seems we continuously work with the same firms but that we receive several change orders once they begin construction...The community is concerned that there might be impropriety in our process that allows them to win the bid but then go through change orders that drastically increase our costs. Additionally, it seems several projects are delayed beyond a reasonable timeline and the community wants to know why/if we're rewarding bids to firms that are working on multiple projects at a time and whether that is part of the delay.
Response: Thank you for your feedback. If this is statement is in regard to construction contract; this doesn't apply to this item. Regarding design delays, these are typically associated with lack of funding, utility conflicts or ROW issues. Change orders to construction contracts are a result of change in scope. If the change order increases a contract amount, it’s because additional work was added to the project resulting in additional costs to the contractor. The additional scope means the contractor is warranted to additional time to finish the work. The City has processes in place for reviewing contractor performance and allows the design team to consider this information when making a recommendation to award. If a contractor has performed poorly on previous City projects, that information will be used in the evaluation progress.