Council approves $176,000 contract with Civic Solutions to advance economic strategic-plan deliverables amid procurement questions

The City of Prescott approved an amendment to its economic development contract with Civic Solutions at the Jan. 13 meeting, increasing the contract from an original $76,000 to a total of $176,000 to allow the consultant to convene industry "sector groups," complete deliverables and produce guidance on business incentives.

John Heine, Economic Development Initiatives Director, told council the work is split into two parts: the original strategic-plan contract and a follow-on scope for convening sector groups (aviation, healthcare, advanced manufacturing) and producing deliverables the city expects to transition to in-house staff. He said delays in hiring an economic development manager prolonged the consultant’s role, prompting the extension to allow a smooth handoff.

Council questions and procurement concerns: Council members pressed whether the expanded $100,000 in amendments had been competitively procured or should have been rebid. Heine said the city followed its procurement process and treated the amendments as extensions of the original contract; legal counsel noted the amended total remained below the threshold that would require rebidding. Councilmember Patrick Grady and others called the increase "a large jump" and urged careful scoping for future procurements.

Vote and context: The council moved to approve City Contract No. 2024200 with Civic Solutions for work supporting the economic development strategic plan; the motion passed (transcript recorded the vote as "passes. Six one"). The contract extension was justified to complete three months of handoff, convene a final sector meeting and deliver a white paper on incentive best practices; staff said city staff will assume ongoing work after the handoff.

Next steps: Staff will accept deliverables from Civic Solutions and integrate them into the economic development manager’s workload; council members asked staff to circulate the city purchasing manual and to consider clearer scopes up front to avoid large incremental amendments.