Who ya gonna call?
The Town of Camp Verde is setting up a speed dial of sorts to turn to when it comes to finding the right people for a variety of engineering and professional jobs.
The list covers nine specific areas: Surveying services, work with wastewater systems, construction inspection, traffic engineering, structural engineering, along with architectural, environmental, biological and archaeological services.
Town Manager Russ Martin said the idea was to quickly get a specific kind of engineer when needed, a firm that is interested in working in this part of the state.
That would save time in figuring who is available and what they can do.
“We are working to build a bank of engineers so that it was easier for staff, for when they had a particular type of engineer they were looking at to go quickly to get a response for those who are interested in coming up here,” Martin said.
The list of on-call firms could potentially shave a couple of weeks off the time it takes to get something done, Martin said.
“Most engineering firms are qualified, but not all of them are going to come up here,” Martin said. “This just eliminates step one so we can get to step two more quickly.”
The town reviewed applications from 37 firms interested in getting on the list, according to a report from the town’s public works department.
The applications were reviewed by three members of the town’s staff.
The Town Council approved agreements with 22 firms at its Oct. 28 meeting.
Many of the firms have signed agreements with the town for multiple types of engineering services.
Martin said that this doesn’t mean that the engineering firms on the list would be used exclusively.
“This is just kind of a short list we can run to,” Martin said.
Councilman Bradford Gordon said that his understanding was that this list would be used for quick contracts that basically fall within the town budget.
“If it’s a large project, it probably has different rules,” Gordon said.
When an on-call engineer is used, the cost of the project would be negotiated.
Municipal projects with a cost exceeding $50,000 would have to be approved by the Town Council, as the town’s financial guidelines require.
Martin said he would also be reviewing insurance requirements for the contracted firms.
Under the terms of this arrangement, the engineering firms would be on the list for three years, with an option to renew for an additional three years.
