Thursday, April 25, 2024
After receiving six proposals by different organizations to help the county develop a local hazard mitigation plan, the Coryell County Commissioners Court chose Natural Resources Solutions of Austin for the job.
The six organizations were scored based on several criteria, including the time frame to develop the plan as well as the cost.
Commissioner Scott Weddle asked what consequences a company might face if it did not meet the time frame proposed for completing the work.
County Attorney Brandon Belt said whoever is chosen by the county (in this case, NRS) will present a contract and the court would decide the penalties for not meeting a timeline.
"Once the court approves a hazard mitigation plan, it goes to the state and then to FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency)," Belt said. "FEMA doesn't have much of a timeline. It could be three weeks, three months, or something else. We're not going to be able to hold any contractor to FEMA's timeline because who knows what they will do."
Weddle said he would have liked more time to look through the proposed contracts. He asked if commissioners could view partial submissions before a decision is made.
"Generally, bids are not opened until the time for bidding closes," Belt said. "Opening them along the way presents if not issues, the appearance of issues."
County Judge Roger Miller said he will work to try to give commissioners more time to consider proposals.
"In the future I will try to have the submissions deadline a week before the court date," Miller said. "Then if exceptional circumstances arise, we'd still have time."
"I was trying to look through all the information to make a smart $70,000 to $100,000 decision," Weddle said.
Other companies that submitted proposals were: Centurion Solutions, Langford Community Services, Grantworks, H2O Partners and IEM.
