Two local firms included among the original design finalists for a planned cultural arts center are protesting the city staff’s recommended contractor for the project.
The design contract for the center, which would be built on a site across from the civic center at Oglethorpe Avenue and Montgomery Street, is scheduled to go before the city council today for approval.
In letters submitted to Mayor Edna Jackson and aldermen Wednesday, architect Paul Hansen, principal of Hansen Architects, and Barbara Cogdell, principal of Cogdell and Mendrala Architects, requested that consideration be postponed due to questions about how the top firm was chosen.
Hansen said Wednesday the city’s scoring process for the project is flawed and he is not afraid to publicly voice his concerns.
“I think we asked some legitimate questions,” he said. “I don’t think this is just sour grapes.”
Jackson could not be reached for comment in time for publication.
An evaluation committee gave Savannah-based Gunn Meyerhoff Shay a score of 89 out of 100, after grading proposals on qualifications, experience, minority and women participation, methodology, references and fees.
The ranking put the firm three points above Hansen and two points above Cogdell. Those two firms had been included in an original short list of three companies selected for interviews in late April.
The list was expanded to include nine other firms, including Gunn Meyerhoff Shay, one week later.
City Manager Stephanie Cutter declined to comment Wednesday on the concerns in the letters, according to city spokesman Bret Bell.
“This is a matter for City Council to discuss,” Bell said in an email.
Previously, Cutter said she had always intended for all of the qualified firms to be interviewed and attributed the initial short list to a staff error.
Following the publication of the expanded list, two of the 12 qualified firms chose to withdraw from consideration. The city declined to provide the names of the firms that withdrew or the other firms’ scores.
City code governing proposal requests prohibits the disclosure of such information until after the contract is awarded to make sure no firms obtain an unfair advantage, Bell said.
In his letter, Hansen questioned how Gunn Meyerhoff Shay could earn a perfect score under the category of “understanding project requirements” when the firm did not make the original short list.
In addition, Hansen said, his firm should have received more points than the recommended firm in the fee category because his company’s “best and final offer” came in at $35,000 less.
Both firms were given 17 points in the fee category.
Cogdell and Mendrala’s fee proposal was the lowest of the three firms. Coming in $600,000 less than the others at $1,325,000, the company earned the full 25 points.
Gunn Meyerhoff Shay proposed a fee of $1,985,000; Hansen’s was $1,950,000.
“We felt confident in what we submitted,” Cogdell said. “We were being aggressive and wanted the job.”
Gunn Meyerhoff Shay achieved the highest scores among the three firms for its understanding of project requirements, team management and presentation quality.
The firm also pledged a minority and woman-owned business participation level of almost 21 percent — two times the city’s 10 percent goal — but below the pledge of Cogdell, a woman-owned business, of 44 percent.
Hansen pledged a participation rate of 13.5 percent. All three firms received the maximum 10 points in the category.
Gunn Meyerhoff Shay President Patrick Shay, a former Chatham County commissioner, said he was not surprised the company is being recommended for the job after not making the initial short list.
His firm assembled a well qualified team after a vigorous vetting process, Shay said.
“I think we are the best qualified,” he said.