By FRANCISCO E. JIMENEZ
Staff Writer
reporter@sbnewspaper.com
The City of San Benito is requesting qualifications from engineering firms… again.
The City Commission approved the reconsideration of proposals submitted by engineering firms, which will now require all applicants to be registered with the Texas Department of Rural Affairs (TDRA), formally OCRA (Office of Community and Rural Affairs).
“It’s the same group, but they require if we’re going to work on any projects that are funded through the Recovery Act or stimulus money that they handle, they want the engineering firms to be registered with them,” said City Manager Manuel Lara.
“Just to be on the safe side, as far as legal, we’re going to open it up again because the company that was hired apparently didn’t have the certification,” said Mayor Joe H. Hernandez. “What we did in order to be fair to each and every one of them, we opened it up again going out for RFQs and giving everyone the same opportunities.”
According to Lara, everyone who applied when the city initially asked for the RFQs (Requests for Qualifications) will be required to resubmit their applications, and the city will not accept any RFQs that were submitted prior.
“Being that we’re in the middle of hurricane season, we might as well make sure that we hire a firm that’s already registered through them that’s willing to work with the city on emergency funding in case we have some projects that need to be done,” said Lara. “It’s just an opportunity for us to have somebody who is already pre-registered, because there are a lot of engineering firms that do not like to work and go through all of the red tape that the state requires.”
Lara said that the state requires everything to be filed electronically through a contractor.
“All your drawings have to be electronically filed for the review. Sometimes the engineering payments do not come from the city, they come from the state. It’s best for us to have a company that’s qualified and already registered who’s aware of the policy and procedures that are required,” said Lara. “A lot of engineering companies in the Valley are not registered because it’s a lot of extra work. They prefer to work with cities just on CO’s (certificates of obligation) or bonds or municipal funded projects and not state funded projects.”
To see this story in print, pick up a copy of the June 29 edition of the San Benito News. Or view our E-Edition by clicking here.
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