Consulting firm Freese and Nichols Inc. will lead efforts to create a new Cedar Park comprehensive plan, City Council decided Sept. 27.

The Fort Worth-based firm was recommended by a consultant selection subcommittee and unanimously approved by council over six other entries submitted for consideration. The search process took into account proximity to Cedar Park, experience, qualifications and approach, according to council documents.

The three top-scoring finalists came before the subcommittee with presentations, Planning Director Rawls Howard said, before members approved Freese and Nichols, which scored highest in the city's evaluation test.

"As a planner, this is what we live for," he said. "We are really excited."

Moving forward, Howard said he will meet with members of Freese and Nichols in the next week before the firm's project manager comes before City Council at a future meeting.

Mayor Matt Powell and Councilman Mitch Fuller, who both served on the selection subcommittee, cited Freese and Nichols' past experience drafting plans for cities large and small, including Frisco's comprehensive plan and Irving's transportation plan, among other projects, as reasons for their support.

"This is something I've talked about doing for a long time," Powell said. "It will become the philosophical road map for the city for most likely the next decade."

With an office in Austin, Freese and Nichols already has an institutional knowledge of the area, Fuller said, one reason he sided with the firm.

"They're very close to us, and I think that's important because we can easily reach out to them," Fuller said, noting that Freese and Nichols had a handful of employees participate in its final presentation to the subcommittee. Those same members will be available during the next year in case city staff or elected officials have any questions, he said.

The consultants for the 1998 and 2006 comprehensive plans, PageSoutherlandPage and Lockwood, Andrews & Newman Inc., did not submit applications to the city.