Monterey To Negotiate Contract With Possible Engineering Consultant

Monterey Aldermen approved city officials Monday night to begin negotiating a contract with a potential consultant for infrastructure projects.

Cultural Administrator Rafferty Cleary said the projects are part of a T-DOT Tap grant. Cleary said the negotiation process is a requirement of the grant that must be followed per T-DOT’s rules, stopping the city from automatically using its usual engineers.

“For a project of this magnitude we couldn’t just say, ‘Hey Jerry and Warren & Tuggle, do our engineering for us,'” Cleary said. “We actually had to go through a selection process to – and a scoring process to select those engineers, and so we’re just following TDOT’s rules here. That’s why we’re doing it.”

Cleary said the projects involved in the grant include extending a walking trail towards Woodcliff Road, addressing drainage and putting new sidewalks around Whitaker Park, and adding sidewalks on Crossville Street that would connect Burks Elementary School to a public housing area.

The board considered several possible consultants during its Monday meeting. Negotiations will begin with Warren & Tuggle, a civil engineering firm the city uses frequently. Cleary said if negotiations with that candidate are unsuccessful the city would work with the applicant with the next highest score.

“We’ll get negotiate a contract and get it to how the board of aldermen wants it, then that contract goes to TDOT and we just continue the steps to, hopefully in more than a year sometime get it to a construction phase,” Cleary said.

Cleary said the projects funded by the grant are still very early on in the process.

“This is just one small piece of the puzzle,” Cleary said. “I’m happy to almost be through it.”

In other business, the city approved a plan to apply for a $200,000 transportation planning grant from TDOT.