Lawton officials begin discussions on South Sheridan Road improvement project

A City Council committee is ready to move forward with plans to improve a deteriorating segment of South Sheridan Road, more than three months after postponing initial action.

But, rather than accepting a recommendation for a design firm on Tuesday, members of the Council Engineering Selection Committee directed City Engineer Joe Painter to get timeline estimates from three of the seven firms who responded to a request for qualifications seeking engineering entities interested in designing improvements to South Sheridan Road between West Lee Boulevard and one-half mile south of Bishop Road. That deteriorating 1.5-mile segment is used by commercial entities in the area and residents, and council members said it was important that work begin soon.

In late December, the three councilmen who serve on the engineering committee recommended the full council delay a recommendation made by city staff to designate Cowan Group Engineering for the design work. They said they wanted city staff to closely follow the council’s engineering and architectural selection process policy that requires such recommendations to go through the committee before going to the council floor (Cowan’s recommendation had not). Painter said then his directive when hired as Lawton City Engineer was to get engineering firms identified for city projects as quickly as possible, the reason that more than one engineering recommendation bypassed the selection committee.

Tuesday, Painter said he and four other members of the Engineer/Public Works departments had evaluated the seven firms and based on a point system, he was recommending Freese and Nichols Infrastructure Consulting & Engineering, Oklahoma City. That firm won 30 points (the highest possible) from three of the five evaluators (the other two gave it 29). Painter said the selection was based, in part, on city staff’s familiarity with the firm, which has done other design work for the City of Lawton, including roads being rebuilt under the Ad Valorem Road Improvement Program.

But, Ward 4 Councilman George Gill, Ward 5 Councilman Allan Hampton and Ward 2 Councilman Kelly Harris wanted to know which design firm could do the analysis and design plans in the shortest amount of time, saying constituents already are asking when the road will be done. When council members asked for a timeline — and who could do it the fastest — Painter cautioned that shouldn’t be a deciding factor.

“You don’t hire professionals that way,” he said, adding that Freese and Nichols had the staff and workload to get on the project quickly.

But, Gill said a lack of timelines for important projects has been a problem in city contracts for a while, so knowing how quickly a firm could complete designs was important. Hampton agreed, saying constituents also want to know how quickly it can be done, in light of the fact the “Top 10 Wins” mill and overlay projects were finished so quickly.

“We’re tired of being in limbo,” Gill said, adding the estimate of a year for designs and a year for construction isn’t satisfactory. “That’s too long.”

Painter and Gill said the timeline can be a negotiated factor when the city and contractor meet to negotiate a contract, with Painter estimating a quicker design completion date probably wouldn’t affect the final cost of design work. Gill suggested the top three contractors met with the engineering committee sometime later this month to discuss their potential timelines, with a recommendation to be made by the committee at that meeting.

Painter said once the design firm is identified, city staff would negotiate a contract, to include analysis, report and recommendations on a course of action to repair the road, followed by construction plans and oversight of the bidding process. That negotiated contract will be brought back to the committee, then the full council for approval.