In a 5-2 vote, Cibolo City Council approved four master service agreements to consultants on May 27 for on-call economic development services. Council members Joel Hicks and Norma Sanchez-Stephens were the dissenting votes.
The total combined annual expenditure for services is not to exceed $75,000, paid for out of Type B sales tax funds under the CEDC budget, Economic Development Manager Clancy Hardin said.
Explained
Economic development services can range from business retention and expansion, business recruitment, attendance at networking events and updating plans for city economic centers according to agenda documents.
With council’s approval, CEDC’s Board of Directors can now engage with four different consultants via individual work orders: The Silvas Group, Smith Engineering and Associates, TXP and HdL Companies.
Mayor Mark Allen said consultant services were important to the CEDC so it can compete for economic development opportunities.
“We’re in competition with all the other cities throughout the state of Texas, so if we limit our [CEDC] and take away their ability to best position Cibolo ... then I think we’re just sitting still or even worse, moving backwards ... we need to give them the tools and the freedom to make decisions,” Allen said.
Council member Katie Cunningham said she was hesitant to approve the agreements without knowing what hourly rates are for specific services, since that is how the $75,000 budget would be paid out.
Currently, TXP is the only consultant to divulge a typical hourly rate for services, coming in at roughly $250 per hour Hardin said.
“Some consultants, in my experience, have a different hourly rate for different services ... that’s something that should be in the contract so we don’t get surprised,” Cunningham said.
Hicks’ dissenting vote came from not seeing specific rates.
City Manager Wayne Reed said service agreements are similar to city on-call engineering service providers, in that there is no guarantee of an assigned project or any payment.
What’s next
Each agreement has a five-year term, with funding subject to annual CEDC and city budget availability, according to agenda documents. Reed said the rates for a work order may inflate throughout the years of the agreements.
