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Board of Commissioners - Public Works - To Authorize the County Manager, or Her Designee, to Execute a Professional Services Contract with McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture for the Programming of the Public Safety Campus
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STAFF CONTACT
Dan Ziehm, PE - Public Works Director - 704-862-6795
BUDGET IMPACT
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No additional County funds.
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BUDGET ORDINANCE IMPACT
N/A
BACKGROUND
Gaston County previously contracted with an outside firm to complete a Facility Master Plan which included a comprehensive County-wide facility needs assessment. The document serves as a strategic guide to better integrate, support, and transition current program and service facilities for future needs. The study findings indicated that staff and citizen demand and industry standards had outgrown several County facilities and/or resulted in substandard conditions to meet current community needs. Gaston County recently acquired land centrally located in the County to accommodate a combined Public Safety Campus. The first step of the design process includes Programming, which will assist in updating and refining the needs previously identified in the Facility Master Plan. The Programming phase will further evaluate current and projected future needs for the agencies to be housed on the Public Safety Campus. Information gained through Programming will provide detailed data for future facility design.
North Carolina General Statute (NCGS) §143-64.31 requires the initial solicitation and evaluation of firms to perform architectural, engineering, surveying, construction management-at-risk services, and design-build services (collectively “design services”) to be based on qualifications and without regard to fee. NCGS §143-64.32 authorizes units of local government to exempt contracts for design services from the qualifications-based selection requirements of NCGS §143-64.31 if the estimated fee is less than $50,000. However, the design fees for this project will exceed the $50,000 cap for exemption, thereby requiring the architect to be selected through the qualifications-based process.
Public Works staff developed a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) packet for the Public Safety Campus - Programming project in accordance with the statutory requirements and publicly advertised the RFQ beginning on March 12, 2024. Statements of Qualification (SOQ) submittals were received on March 26, 2024. The nine (9) firms submitting SOQ’s were:
• ADW Architects
• C Design, Inc.
• Creech and Associates, PLLC
• Gensler Architecture, Design & Planning, P.C.
• K2M Design, Inc.
• McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture
• Morris Berg Architects, Inc.
• Schrader Group Architecture, LLC
• Stewart Cooper Newell Architects
Following the submittal review of SOQ’s submitted by the nine firms, the four top scoring firms were invited to give in-person presentations to the selection panel. Upon completion of the in-person interviews, McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture was deemed to be the best qualified for the corresponding project.
Approval of this Board Action by the Gaston County Board of Commissioners officially selects McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture for Programming for the project listed above. Further, approval of this Board Action authorizes the County Attorney to negotiate and draft the necessary contract documents for the work and authorizes the County Manager, or her designee, to execute said contracts.
POLICY IMPACT
N/A
ATTACHMENTS
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