Requests for proposals to be returned by end of December
By Kellen Olshefski
Editor
City of Elkhorn officials sent out request for proposals to potential consultants Nov. 20, moving the planning process for a new swimming facility along.
According to City Administrator Sam Tapson, the RFPs were distributed and have been placed in the hands of six potential consultants, providing up until Dec. 20 for the consultants to return them.
From there, Tapson said, there will be some screening of the consultants who respond.
Tapson said what the city is attempting to look at is a qualification-based selection system to determine a consultant for the new pool.
He said this means the city would create a matrix, looking at experience, responsiveness to the proposal, as well as other things.
Tapson suggested a staff committee go through the proposals, score them based on the matrix, and send it off to the City Council to make a decision.
“This is our scoring, you can select from that however you want,” he said of the council.
In this model, Tapson said, the cost of the pool would not necessarily be a factor the city would consider.
“You look for the best consultant to meet your needs and then you negotiate scope and pricing,” he said.
Though Tapson said it is a bit foreign at times, it’s a fairly standard approach to selecting a consultant for projects.
Tapson said the concept of a citizen-based steering committee would come into play once a consultant had been selected.
Tapson said the general thought is that a steering committee wouldn’t be needed until a consultant was selected, as they wouldn’t have much of a purpose.
“Once that consultant is selected, they’re going to work with them on the design features, amenities, so on so forth,” he said.
The council discussed the possibility of a citizen-based committee at its Nov. 18 meeting.
The general consensus was that the committee would work with a consultant on design, features and other aspects of the process, reporting to the council on the process and making recommendations.
