Memorandum

City of Lawrence

City Manager’s Office

 

To:

Dave Corliss

City Manager

From:

Debbie Van Saun

Asst. City Manager

cc:

Chuck Soules, Public Works Director

Dave Wagner, Utilities Director

Ernie Shaw, Interim Parks & Recreation Director

Date:

March 13, 2007

Re:

In-house engineering efforts

 

Commissioner Schauner requested information regarding staff’s efforts to increase internal engineering efforts for projects that would benefit from that approach, given the experience, technical knowledge, and availability of appropriate staff.  To that end, we have looked at those departments with staffing capable of doing some portion of the design and/or inspection work in-house.  A summary of efforts over the last two years follows.

 

Public Works Department

The attached file contains spreadsheets for two years (2005 and 2006) and represents the projects that were completed with City staff rather than contracting with outside consultants.  The projects are divided into categories that define the typical level of effort needed, with the majority of effort coming in the area of project inspection:

 

 

Utilities Department

There are a variety of projects completed each year by this department that due to staff availability and level of expertise, for which we are able to provide in-house design, construction management, and inspection services.  Here are a few examples of the types of projects this department completes in-house:

 

Parks & Recreation Department

Although many of the projects completed by this department are repair and maintenance of existing facilities, there are some opportunities for utilizing in-house design and project management (including inspection).  Examples include the development of the park and trail system across from Langston Hughes Elementary School, the design of the fairway drainage on holes #1 & #15 at Eagle Bend Golf Course, development of the master plan for South Park, the cardio room in the Community Building, Stone Gate Park development, lighting system upgrade in buildings and outdoor facilities, a new storage facility at the Nature Center, walking bridge design, trail design, disc golf course design, landscape design, park drainage design, design of court upgrades, playground design, shop renovations, and water treatment systems upgrade in pools.

 

Efforts continue in these and other departments, as appropriate, to utilize City staff to complete components of projects that will benefit from quality control efforts and the technical knowledge of the existing systems.  Staff availability and current work loads are often the determining factors as to whether projects can be completed in-house.

 

Commissioner Schauner also asked to see a list of engineering contracts for the Public Works Department.  Attached is a list of those contracts for the past three years.