Council approves service agreements with out-of-area firms – Sedona Red Rock News

On May 27, the Sedona City Council approved a set of master service agreements for on-call professional engineering services that will allow city staff to enter into certain consulting contracts with firms without having to seek council approval for each contract.
Contracts will be limited to $300,000 per contract and a maximum of $1 million over three years in each of six categories — wastewater, architecture, general engineering, mechanical and electric engineering, structural engineering and quality assurance services.
Wastewater Director Roxanne Holland explained that her department intended to use the MSAs for “smaller design” work on projects, including pipeline design and replacement and drain bed replacement.
Director of Public Works Kurt Harris said the agreements would be used for “smaller projects … things that we need to be on call and more nimble.”
Out-of-Region Firms
City procurement officer Ian Coubrough said that city staff had received 34 submissions in response to a request for proposals issued on Dec. 30, 2024, and selected 23 of those firms with which to enter into MSAs. The agreements will run through fiscal year 2028, which Coubrough said would “allow for a more efficient contracting process.”
“These are our business partners. We need to work with them and work towards each other’s best interests,” Coubrough said.
“How many of these would you consider local?” Councilwoman Kathy Kinsella asked.
“We’re not necessarily recording that information,” Coubrough said, but added that a few of the firms were operating locally. “We didn’t go through a local buying metric or anything like that.”
“That anecdotal information is sufficient for me,” Kinsella said.
Of the 23 firms selected for MSA awards, none are headquartered in the Verde Valley. Awarded firms and their locations were:
- Advanced Structural Engineering, Scottsdale
- Ardurra Group, Miami, Fla.
- Canfield Engineering and Integration, Chandler
- Carollo Engineers, Phoenix
- Childers Architect, Phoenix
- Civiltech Engineering, Itasca, Ill.
- Coe & Van Loo Consultants, Phoenix
- Consor North America, Houston
- Entellus, Phoenix
- Gabor Lorant Architects, Phoenix
- GH2 Architects, Scottsdale
- GLHN Architects and Engineers, Tucson
- Huitt-Zollars, Dallas, Tex.
- J.E. Fuller Hydrology and Geomorphology, Flagstaff and Tempe
- Kimley-Horn and Associates, Phoenix
- LAST Architects, Phoenix
- Ninyo and Moore Geotechnical and Environmental Sciences, Prescott Valley
- Pacific Advanced Civil Engineering, Fountain Valley, Calif.
- Quality Testing LLC, Gilbert
- Quantum Integrated Solutions, Tempe
- Speedie and Associates, Flagstaff
- Van Boerum and Frank Associates, Murray, Utah
- Western Technologies Inc., Flagstaff
Spending Cap
“I’m a fan of efficiency, but I don’t think I’m a fan of loosening the limits that much,” Councilman Pete Furman commented, and asked why staff had suggested a $300,000 limit on the contract value when the city manager’s discretionary spending authority is capped at $100,000.
“Why is it that [Sedona City Manager] Anette [Spickard] can sign off for $150,000 or $300,000 as it relates to this, but every thing else is still a $100,000 max?” Councilman Brian Fultz similarly asked. “I’m not opposed to bumping up the $100,000 necessarily, but I just kind of want us to have a broader policy perspective about why would we treat this different than any other discretion that we give the city manager?”
“Ian is also working on a broader procurement policy update to bring to council in which that question of signature authority and delegation will be addressed,” Spickard said.
“We don’t write blank checks for a million dollars, and that’s what this is,” Fultz said.
“If you wish to amend the motion that’s before you tonight, you can request that any work orders under this contract return to city council for approval in excess of $100,000,” Coubrough said.
“I think it should come back to us,” Kinsella said, suggesting an alternative cap of $150,000.
“They can at least get through not having to go through the RFP and all the rest of the stuff that they did. We’d have some qualified vendors,” Furman said.
“$300,000 these days is pretty small,” Vice Mayor Holli Ploog said. Councilwoman Melissa Dunn agreed.
“I can go along with the $150,000, but I wouldn’t go any higher without there being council oversight,” Fultz said. “My proposal to my colleagues is, let’s have it come in front of us at $150,000. It can come via the consent agenda.”
Furman suggested adding language specifying that “items over the city manager’s signing authority must still come to council. And then, when that floats, whatever the number is going to be the future for the signing authority, this would then float with it as well,” a proposal supported by Mayor Scott Jablow and by Fultz.
After further discussion about how the process would work, council voted unanimously for approval of the agreements “subject to the approval of the city manager’s signing authority.”