City-parish administrators have been meeting with Metro Council members in recent days to help them better understand why Stantec, one of the program management firms overseeing the more than $1 billion MovEBR road improvements program, needs an additional $780,000 for program management software.
But one week after several council members raised the issue about the need for the hefty supplemental appropriation, questions remain.
“Is this the best we can do?” says council member Donna Collins-Lewis. “If it is, so be it but it seems like a lot of money to me for one company.”
The issue surfaced at the Feb. 26 Metro Council meeting, when council members were asked to approve $779,880 for Stantec—a supplemental appropriation in addition to the company’s $2.7 million contract with the city-parish—for program management software.
Stantec is one of two program managers retained by the city-parish in 2019 to oversee some 70 capacity and enhancement projects under MovEBR. The Stantec team, comprising five engineering and consulting firms, is charged with managing $350 million worth of enhancement projects like the installation of sidewalks, bike paths and landscaping.
Why, several council members reportedly asked, was the nearly $780,000 not factored into Stantec’s original price? Why would a program management firm not already have the appropriate software or, at least, the expertise to know how much it might cost so it could factor that into its proposal?
City-parish Director of Transportation and Drainage Fred Raiford, the parish point person on MovEBR, was out of town for last week’s council meeting so he could not answer questions.
In the days since, however, he’s been meeting with council members and providing additional details.
According to Raiford, the $779,880 breaks down as follows: $187,600 will go to purchase three software programs needed to track the projects—eBuilder ($121,480), SharePoint ($60,000), and Oracle P6 ($6,120). The remaining $592,280 will go to Stantec to install and manage the software.
When asked why a program management firm is getting so much additional money to manage and install program management software, Raiford says it was not included in the initial scope of work because the city-parish didn’t know what kind of software it needed when it issued its request for proposals last year.
“We didn’t include it because we didn’t know what we wanted or needed,” Raiford says. “We didn’t understand how we were going to get our projects out, how to control it and how to be visible to the public.”
He says it was important to get both program management teams—Stantec and CSRS, which is overseeing the capacity projects on the MovEBR list—on board so both could have input into what type of management and tracking software would be best for the program.
He also says Stantec will save the city-parish nearly $240,000 off market price by purchasing the software itself using a preferred contractor discount.
But Collins-Lewis says she isn’t satisfied with the explanation so far and is pushing to put the software package out to bid.
“My thing is, if it’s that much money we should put it out to bid or at least ask for solicitations from other companies,” she says. “If that’s the best price that’s what it is but I can’t see supporting it without finding out and or soliciting from other companies.”
Raiford acknowledges the concerns but says going out to bid will take several additional months.
Council member Dwight Hudson, who also raised questions at the meeting, indicated he is not satisfied either but says he still needs more details from Raiford.
“We’ve had preliminary talks and I look forward to following up with him next week,” Hudson says.
A third council member, who was critical of the appropriation, Scott Hudson, did not return a call seeking comment.
Stantec officials could not be reached for comment.
Raiford plans to continue meeting with council members before their next meeting, March 11, when the appropriation will again come up for approval.
