Minutes - Council Work Session - 10/23/2012

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City Administrator Ulrich stated if the Council wants to keep the project on track as scheduled, staff can obtain a quote within the next week and a special meeting can be called for next Tuesday. Councilmember Backous asked City Attorney Goodrich when he had advised Development Manager Lazan of the requirement for a second quote. City Attorney Goodrich stated he got an e -mail last week. Councilmember Backous noted this issue is already a week down the road and the Development Manager is overruling the opinion of the legal counsel. Development Manager Lazan clarified he did not overrule the opinion of legal counsel and had reached out to two other contractors to get quotes but they were not interested. He noted there are practical problems with putting another engineer within this contractor's project. Councilmember Strommen stated she does not think this is a policy decision the Council can make tonight and she is not supportive of scheduling another special meeting if staff could have obtained the required second quote within the last week. She stated this situation is frustrating because if staff had obtained that second quote this past week, the Council could have taken action tonight. Councilmember Wise asked if SuperAmerica can take on this work as part of its project. He noted if SuperAmerica can take the lead on this project, it would be a simple solution. Development Manager Lazan advised that has always been an option but his suggestion presented itself as a way to install the deepest utilities quicker and still meet the schedule. Councilmember Wise noted that is the option that had been discussed when Wiser Choice Liquor was going to lead the project. Councilmember Tossey asked whether there was a legal problem with SuperAmerica doing the work. City Attorney Goodrich stated there is not and that option has been approved with other developers. The developer would take on the project, guarantee it, and the City would accept the project at a later date. However, that is an HRA decision. Development Manager Lazan agreed that is an option and his suggestion is for a parallel option to install the deepest utilities but if the Council is not comfortable with it, then it does not need to move forward. Councilmember Strommen clarified it is not an issue of what the Council is comfortable with, legal counsel had advised it is not legal. City Council Work Session / October 23, 2012 Page 10 of 11