By Aila Boyd
aboyd@mainstreetnewspapers.com
The Botetourt County Board of Supervisors approved 16 firms for engineering, architectural and surveying professional services on an on-call open-ended contract basis at its July 28 meeting. The need for new contracts was caused by the expiration of the county’s current contracts.
In April, the county solicited proposal from qualified firms. It received 43 submissions, which were evaluated by Susan Tincher, purchasing manager, David Givens, development services manager, and Cody Sexton, assistant to the county administrator. From there, the county officials conducted interviews with eight of the top-ranking firms that the county didn’t already have a relationship with.
Eventually, 16 firms were recommended for contracts in mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP), structural/civic engineering, architecture, surveying, GEO/Env/GIS, and landscape architecture.
The firms include: Hurt & Proffitt, Stantec Consulting Services, Ascent Engineering Group, Clark Nexsten, AECOM, Draper Aden Associates, Mattern & Craig, Civic Consulting Group, Interactive Design Group, Hughes Associates, Architectural Partners, Enteros Design, NXL, EEE Consulting, ECS Mid-Atlantic and Hill Studio.
The county noted that competitive negotiation procedures for professional services as required by the Virginia Public Procurement Act will be followed to enter into one-year term contracts with the firms. The contracts may be renewed, at the discretion of the county, for up to four successive one-year terms.
The contracts only apply to open-end contract services, which are for smaller projects. Larger projects are typically advertised for competitive proposals and are open to any qualified firm, not just those holding open-end contracts with the county.
