SPRINGDALE : Official: Best bid for exit not ideal
Posted on Sunday, July 13, 2008
SPRINGDALE — The City Council usually approves engineering contracts based on recommendations from the Department of Planning and Community Development.
But this time around, that might not be the case.
Alderman Eric Ford has questioned the planning department’s suggestion that Garver Engineers, which he says has grown flush on Springdale dollars, be hired to design an exit at Interstate 540 and Don Tyson Parkway.
Instead, Ford said, the council should take a hard look at Crafton Tull Sparks, the firm that finished second on the scorecard during the planning department’s evaluations.
Ford said he was motivated to challenge the recommendation when he read a news article about Garver’s plans to build a $ 10 million, 50, 000-square-foot headquarters in North Little Rock.
Ford said that a lot of the money made designing Springdale roads was pumped south to finance construction of the new Garver building, which includes a gym and bistro.
“It’s unrealistic not to think that,” Ford said.
While Garver has been a big part of Springdale’s road programs this decade, so has Crafton Tull. Since 2000, the city has paid $ 4. 3 million to Garver for professional services, and $ 2. 3 million to Crafton Tull, city records show.
Brock Hoskins, Garver’s chief engineer, said his firm will not sit idle and allow the council to award the contract to another firm when Garver scored the most points during the evaluation.
“We’ve been selected by the same process that’s been used to hire engineers for many projects,” Hoskins said. “We want the job.” Hoskins said he’s a bit surprised that Ford took offense to his firm’s announcement that it’s building a new facility in North Little Rock.
“I don’t understand,” Hoskins said. “You don’t think somebody’s going to use that against you.” Based in Little Rock, Garver has offices in Fayetteville as well as in Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. Rogers-based Crafton Tull also has three other locations in Arkansas, one in Kansas and four in Oklahoma.
Rogers is closer than Little Rock, Ford said, so when compared to Garver, Crafton Tull qualifies as the local firm.
Ford said if more contracts were awarded to companies located here, maybe Springdale, not North Little Rock, would be celebrating the construction of a $ 10 million building for employees with an average salary of $ 65, 000 per year. Referring to the council’s May approval of a resolution asking city residents to spend their economic stimulus package locally, Ford said, “We need to take our own advice.” QUALIFIED FOR THE JOB The ceiling on the latest design contract is $ 3. 7 million and covers all phases of development, from preliminary planning to groundbreaking. Firms vying for the job had to estimate how many work hours would be used, how much design would cost, and show multiple routes for the exit. One question looming for the firm that lands the job is what to do about an old landfill southwest of the proposed intersection.
During an evaluation of the firms’ qualifications, Garver graded a 688, while Crafton Tull scored 582. Third-place Jacobs Carter Burgess, based in Pasadena, Calif., totaled 565.
Matt Crafton, chief operating officer of Crafton Tull, said his firm is anxious to see how the situation unfolds.
“We will stand behind whatever decision the city makes,” Crafton said. “But we certainly want the job and feel we’re more than qualified.” Planning and Community Development Director Patsy Christie said she isn’t sure Ford has a case.
When statements of qualifications from engineering firms were sought, the city advertised in local, state and national publications.
When it came time to select and grade the final three firms, two engineers from the planning department, the public works director and a team from the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department graded the submissions.
“We followed the process the way it’s supposed to be done,” Christie said. “That’s how the process works.” Christie said she doesn’t have a problem with aldermen being more involved in the selection process. But if they want to be involved, they should say so before, not after, the evaluation phase begins.
Christie noted that until recently, the detailed, expensive project queries handed in by the engineering firms were of no interest to aldermen.
“None of them have come to look at the proposals submitted [by the firms ],” she said. “And they’ve been here since May 20.” Now at the end of a $ 105 million bond issue, the City Council routinely approved design contracts for projects. This is not the time for the city to make a mistake or set a bad precedent, Christie said.
“If I were an engineering company, I would be very concerned,” she said. “Nobody likes surprises.” Hoskins was more to the point. “This would be an unprecedented thing that would take all the integrity out of the selection process,” Hoskins said.
LEGAL STANDING Ford, meanwhile, said he’s within his rights to challenge the recommendation. Under Arkansas Code 19-11-803, a governing body can bypass the first recommendation and approve the second if it is proved that the first does not have the “capacity and capability” to complete the job. Ford said Garver is overworked and doesn’t have the manpower to take on an important job like designing an exit off of I-540. In January, the council awarded a $ 4. 6 million contract to Garver to design the widening of Johnson Road south of U. S. 412. That job should keep Garver busy, Ford said. And Arkansas Code 19-11-803 also gives a governing body the chance to scrutinize an engineer based on the “specialized experience and technical competence of the firm with respect to the type of professional services required.” Crafton Tull designed the $ 18 million Rogers exit leading to Pinnacle Hills Promenade, a shopping center.
Ford said design of the exit, which opened in June, proves the second firm is just as qualified as the first to design the Springdale exit.
“How can Crafton Tull be the most qualified firm in that [Rogers ] situation and not in this one ?” Ford asked.
Both firms were prominent in Springdale’s 2003 bond program. Garver designed two legs of the Don Tyson Parkway, part of 48 th Street and a section of Har-Ber Avenue, while Crafton Tull designed all three segments of the central corridor along Huntsville Avenue.
What Christie and Ford agree on is that the recommendation of Garver is just a recommendation. The final say as to what firm is hired rests ultimately with the City Council.
“We shouldn’t rubber-stamp this,” Ford said.
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