Facing huge cutbacks, Council approves $687K building standards update

This just flat out astounds me. An expenditure, at this time in this economic climate, that will total almost $700,000, and it's not even reported in the Bulletin. The only Councilors voting against it were Capell and Eager. I asked Clinton about his vote and will update when I receive an answer.

From the summary of yesterday's City Council meeting:

After discussion about the cost and timeliness of this action Council authorized (by vote of 5 to 2 with Councilors Capell and Eager opposed, but noting that they may support the agreement with additional information) a professional services agreement with CH2M Hill for Phase 2 of the new Construction Standards and Specifications in the amount of $387,041. These documents are the foundation for all designing, contracting and construction of public infrastructure. Legal and contracting requirements that protect the City have changed dramatically over the past 10 years. In addition, construction methods and practices continue to improve. New standards and specifications are needed to better meet the needs of the community, properly protect the City, and provide clear and consistent requirements of the development community. The cost of this will be split equally between operational budgets in the Water, Water Reclamation, Stormwater and Street Operations Divisions

Of course, there is no mention of the concomitant additional $300,000 next year.

I was up until 4:30 in the morning a few nights ago, talking with Trudy about "should we stay or should we go?". Luckily the patent licensing fees I have been receiving make moving a possibility.

And after this, it's done. Time to move on...

PS from the Bulletin reporter, Erin Golden: "I didn't write about it because unfortunately, there's only so much that can go in one meeting story. The focus of the evening was the budget discussion..."