Consultants outline new construction-management system as council presses on project oversight

Fza Nichols consultants gave Fayetteville City Council a lengthy review of the city's construction-management practices and proposed a program-management framework intended to increase transparency and accountability. "Our goal is to get this to a point where we step back and the city can take it and run with the program that we've set up," consultant Dan Lantane told the council during the work session.

The consulting team described several deliverables: a master program schedule, standardized invoicing and reporting, a project dashboard (PowerBI) integrating schedule and cost data, a document-control and change-management process, and standard operating procedures for project charters and closeout documents. Blair Hinkle said the dashboard will show schedule, budget and status metrics and can be made available to council members and the public when ready.

Council members pressed consultants and city management about oversight and detection of construction-quality problems, citing litigation and repairs at Fire Station 4. Council Member Jones asked, "At what point would you have saw there was a problem and brought this to our attention?" Consultant Lantane and city manager Mr. Hwitt responded that contract administrators and architects typically flag issues during pay-app reviews and inspections, that contractors are given opportunities to remedy defects, and that escalation may require legal action.

City Manager Mr. Hwitt acknowledged persistent staffing shortages in the construction management division and said external consultants have provided backbone support while the city recruits permanent staff. "We've not been very successful in hiring a director," he said, noting the city is engaging a headhunter to fill key positions.

Council members sought specifics on the role of the new tools in identifying substandard work and on the balance between contractor responsibility and city oversight. The consultants said they perform constructability reviews and monitor consultants' performance and opinion-of-probable-cost estimates. They also described weekly contractor coordination meetings and tighter procurement documentation.

The presentation concluded with council questions about making the dashboard public and how to ensure data accuracy; consultants said they are close to publishing the dashboard but must align finance inputs and verify numbers before release. The council did not take a formal vote on the consultant contract during the work session; the presentation was received and council members asked staff to continue implementation and to return with additional details for oversight and staffing updates.