The Board of Public Works voted April 21 to recommend Teravencher for real estate services on State Highway 52, East Wausau Avenue (Project ID 69990023), and to award real estate work on Business 51/Grand Avenue (Project ID 69990220) to Right of Way Professionals.
A city staff member said the city issued requests for qualifications on both projects and that six firms responded for East Wausau Avenue while five responded for Grand Avenue. "Teravencher came out on top" for the larger East Wausau Avenue project, the staff member said, citing the firm’s earlier work on Stewart Avenue and naming Kathy Rudolph as the proposed lead for acquisitions. The evaluation panel included T.J. Niksic and Assistant City Planner Carrie Edmonson, the staff member added.
Staff told the board the State Department of Transportation will reimburse the city for consultant and real estate acquisition costs on these connecting-highway projects and that DOT qualifications evaluations do not include price; the city negotiates fees with the selected firm and will move to the next-ranked firm if contract talks fail. Board members discussed whether using a single firm for both projects would aid coordination but accepted staff’s recommendation to split the work based on project size and scoring.
A motion to approve Teravencher for East Wausau Avenue was moved, seconded and approved. The board then moved, seconded and approved Right of Way Professionals for the Grand Avenue real estate services contract.
Next steps: city staff will begin contract negotiations with the selected firms and will return to the board if negotiations require moving to the next-ranked firms.