January 24, 2023 |
The Town of Saratoga signed service agreements with two local engineering firms.
During January 17th’s town council meeting, Mayor Chuck Davis agreed to retain the services of Engineering Associates and North Fork Engineering. Called a master service agreement, the documents signed by the town lay out the terms and conditions of doing business with the engineering consultants. Former impact joint powers board member, and project manager for Engineering Associates, Craig Kopasz, explained the purpose of the agreement.
Pictured above: File photo of Saratoga Town Hall/Police Department. Photo by Cali O’Hare/Bigfoot 99.
Councilwoman Kathy Beck asked Kopasz to clarify the reason for the master service agreement. The Engineering Associates project manager said the town isn’t beholden to his company. The agreement is simply to retain his firm’s services.
The council agreed to sign a master service agreement with Engineering Associates.
Next up was former councilman, Jon Nelson. He is a project engineer for North Fork Engineering. He is also requesting the town sign a master service agreement. Nelson said his company’s contract is similar to what Kopasz presented.
Nelson said the town had an agreement with North Fork which expired in 2017, while he was on the town council. He said renewing the contract while he was a sitting councilmember would have been a conflict of interest. Nelson said the new contract would be the same as the previous one. It would not lock the town into a relationship with his firm.
Mayor Davis asked for a vote to sign a master service agreement with North Fork Engineering. The motion was made, seconded, and passed.
After the vote, Nelson reminded the council about the type of agreement they have with Lewis and Lewis, the contractor that is behind schedule on the Spring Avenue waterline replacement and street repaving project.
The company, Lewis and Lewis, is incurring financial penalties for each day the work is unfinished, according to the terms of the contract. Nelson told the council his company prefers using similar types of arrangements for their projects.
Nelson said the council has master service agreements with many different consulting firms. He mentioned the engineers of the Spring Ave waterline replacement project and the Never Forget Park.
The town is not obligated to use either Engineering Associates or North Fork Engineering for any projects. The master service agreements signed on January 17th were to speed up the process should the council choose to retain their services in the future. The Saratoga town council will select the company that best suits the requirements any specific job.
