Sandy Springs City Council approved June 15 its 2011 services agreement with CH2M Hill, a private contractor that has provided the city with staff in departments such as community development, public works, parks and recreation, transportation and communications since Jan. 1, 2006. It’s the final contract with CH2M Hill before the city rebids its services contract.
The nearly $24.2 million 2011 contract, which takes effect July 1, is reduced from last year’s budget of about $26.1 million.
“This represents an 8.5 percent cut,” Mayor Eva Galambos said. “It helps our budget for the upcoming year.”
City Manager John McDonough said the new service agreement eliminates 18 full-time positions.
The contract says CH2M Hill will no longer provide people to work as IT technicians or Geographical Information System analysts for the police department. Two people had filled those positions, according to information given to the council in March.
The six-year services contract between the city and CH2M terminates Dec. 11, 2011. But in recent discussions, city officials have discussed ending CH2M Hill’s contract six months early to align the new contract with the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2011. Council approved May 18 a resolution that sets a goal for the new contract to be effective July 1, 2011.
City officials presently are drafting a request for proposal and should by Nov. 1 send out the documents to prospective contractors. Proposals would be due back Jan. 1, 2011, and two months would be spent selecting the best contractor.
To aid the process of drafting a request for proposal, the city is looking to hire an outside consulting firm, Assistant City Manager Noah Reiter said recently.
— Amy Wenk