Poplar Bluff council questions ranking of engineering firms, vote not taken

An effort by the city of Poplar Bluff to secure grant funding for gravel street paving hit a speed bump Monday when city council members chose not to move forward with the selection of an engineering firm for the project.

An engineering study is needed for the Community Development Block Grant application, which is due in May, city planner Matt Winters explained during the regular council meeting.

Three firms responded to a request for qualifications, Mathis and Associates, and Smith & Company, both of Poplar Bluff, and Civil Engineering Associates of Jonesboro, Arkansas.

Ratings of the firms by Winters and street superintendent Jerry Lawson ranked Mathis as their first pick.

Council member Robert Smith made a motion to accept Mathis, but it died for lack of a second.

City manager Mark Massingham said he would speak with Winters on Tuesday regarding the timeline for the grant application and whether the city would still be able to apply for the funds. The matter was to be a voting item March 18.

Rankings of the firms were made based on information companies submitted regarding their ability to complete the project and information from references provided by the companies, Winters said, in response to questions from the council.

Mayor Susan McVey said the difference seemed to occur on the past record of the firm.

“Smith and Company usually scores much higher, that was their concern, why they got such a low score on their performance record,” she said, adding she was asked by members of the public how Winters and Lawson could rank that, since they are relatively new to their positions.

Lawson checked references, Winters said, in addition to the review of the information companies submitted.

Council member Ed DeGaris said he has been involved in past scorings and, “I don’t agree with this one, but that’s my opinion.”

Winters and Massingham warned the council there is a tight timeline for the project because the preliminary engineering report has to be completed and submitted with the grant application.

Winters said he was not sure there would be time to send out a new request for qualifications, a firm to be selected and then for the engineers to complete the work.

“It means we would not be able to do this this year. It sounds like we don’t have time,” said Massingham.

Massingham said after the meeting he would hate for the city to miss this opportunity and he would discuss the matter further with Winters.

“We don’t want to do the wrong thing. If there is no second, we just have to send it back and start the process over,” said McVey.

When firms submit qualifications for a project, they are ranked 1-20 by city personnel on a variety of criteria.

Engineering firms for this project were ranked on six items: specialized experience and technical competence related to construction design and specification preparation; capacity to complete work within 26-month timeframe, starting March 1; past record of performance relating to cost control, quality and ability to meet schedules; proximity and familiarity with area; references from previous clients from the past two years; and documentation compliance.