By DAVE SCHULTZ
A decision to simplify city construction standards has led to the hiring of an engineering firm on an as-needed basis — and the cancellation of a contract with a consultant who has worked with the city for more than 40 decades.
The first item on the agenda for Tuesday afternoon’s meeting of the Bluffton Board of Public Works and Safety was an item under old business — a review of city standards.
Last week, the Board of Works had a work session with three workers of the Butler Fairman and Seufert who spelled out, to the best of their understanding, what they city wanted in terms of materials and measurements when it came to roads, piping, and other items of infrastructure. The book came to 227 pages.
Meanwhile, other Indiana communities of similar and even larger size had reduced their list of standards to as few as 12 pages.
That was not acceptable to the Board of Works members. Mayor John Whicker tossed the 227-page document onto an empty chair as if he was throwing it away.
So the board decided Tuesday to go a different way. They hired an engineering firm to rewrite those standards to something more manageable and be available on an as-needed basis to answer questions. That company is Engineering Resources Inc., based in Fort Wayne, which has expertise in many different areas.
To do that, the board terminated the contract of Doug Sundling, who has worked for the city as a consultant for infrastructure and planning since 1980.
Sundling was not present for Tuesday’s meeting, but Whicker said he had been given notice of his contract’s termination. The contract has a 30-day notification clause, meaning he will remain on the job until Oct. 13.
The decision to cut Sundling loose was made “with gratitude” for his service, said Board of Works member Roger Thornton, who made the motion to hire Engineering Resources.
The third member of the Board of Works, Scott Mentzer, said the city needs to keep pace with other communities and that involves streamlining city standards.
“We can’t ask a developer to pour through 200 pages,’ Mentzer said. The city, he said, needs “a spirit of ‘how do we become easier to work with?’
daves@news-banner.com
