Printed From Acorn-Online.com
For planning and engineering positions
May 8, 2008
Board is unsure about consultants
After initially interviewing possible replacements for the town’s current planning and engineering consultants, then deciding just last week to keep them, Town Board members may be poised to change their minds again.
After saying they had received a number of e-mails and phone calls on the subject, board members appeared to back away Monday night from taking planners’ earlier recommendations to re-hire the town’s current planning and engineering consultants.
The group seemed to alter course somewhat, saying it wanted to discuss the recommendations in more detail and do additional analysis of the cost factors involved.
At last week’s Town Board work session, Planning Board members Maureen Maguire and Richard Ellrodt advised retaining the two incumbent firms, planning consultant Matthew D. Rudikoff & Associates and engineering consultant Altermatt Engineering LLC. The planners said their recommendations were based on a combination of the incumbents’ low cost and long experience.
The two firms are among a total of eight vying for the two consulting spots.
“This shouldn’t be all about the cost,” Town Board member Al Perruzza said at Monday night’s regular meeting. “We need to know more about the evaluation process and we also have some questions about capability and capacity. We are, of course, taking the Planning Board’s recommendations into consideration but have not yet made a final decision or taken a vote.”
Last week, Town Board members appeared satisfied with the prospect of retaining the two firms after questioning Ms. Maguire and Mr. Ellrodt about the reasons behind their recommendations. They said the recommendations were very important because planners were the ones who had to work directly with the consultants.
At the time, planners emphasized that Rudikoff and Altermatt were their choices by a wide margin, with Ms. Maguire saying there was no second choice and “it wasn’t close.”
Change in approach
But this past Monday seemed to bring a change in the Town Board’s tone and approach.
“We definitely haven’t decided and will have to discuss this some more,” said Town Board member Peter DeLucia. “We have to make sure we are comparing apples to apples when it comes to analyzing the cost factor. There are different ways of looking at this. A lot of people have asked us about this and the answer is, we did not make a decision as yet.”
Town Board member Bruce Pavalow said the planners’ recommendations would still carry a lot of weight with him. “We should listen to them,” he said. “Who would know better than our boards?”
Town Board members agreed to discuss the selection of the two consultants again at next week’s work session and make a final decision by the beginning of June.
The group is also reviewing other town consulting positions, including four consulting attorneys, an outside accountant and the salaried town attorney, with the stated goal of “streamlining and consolidating” services.
Satisfaction survey proposed
In a related matter, Mr. DeLucia proposed creating an anonymous “Customer Satisfaction Survey” to be filled out by residents dealing with town boards and their consultants during the application and review process.
“This will enable the Town Board to know what’s gone right and what’s gone wrong,” said Mr. DeLucia. “We will start with planning and zoning, and ask them to work with us on developing a form for applicants that come before them.”
The May 5 Town Board meeting was chaired by Deputy Town Supervisor Joann Vasi in the absence of Town Supervisor Edward Brancati, who was away on vacation.
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