[July 26, 2009] Robins mayor, council spar over engineering Tweet ROBINS, Jul 26, 2009 (The Gazette - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The mayor and city council in Robins are at odds again after the council voted 5-0 to give Snyder & Associates the contract to design the east portion of Main Street. Snyder & Associates has served as Robins' city engineer for almost two decades, and Mayor Ian Cullis has argued for months that it's not fair for the firm to get contracts without bids. He vetoed the council's decision. Many small Iowa cities handle engineering services the way Robins does. They hire a firm to serve as city engineer, and if the firm is large enough, it gets contracts to design and oversee most road, bridge and sewer projects. Cullis argues, however, that there's been so much growth in Robins in recent years that a lot of money is at stake, and the city's awarding of engineering services contracts needs to be made more transparent. Over the last five years, Robins has paid Snyder about $280,000 per year. Fiscal year 2010 probably will be even more lucrative for Snyder, because Robins has major projects ahead to expand the intersection of County Home Road and North Center Point Road, widen a bridge on Main Street and put sidewalks, curbs and gutters on Main Street in the east part of town. Cullis notes that the City Council said it would start requiring engineers to present qualifications before awarding contracts in 2010. Therefore, it should do the same with the East Main Street project, since the job will be completed in 2010, he said. The council will decide at its Aug. 3 meeting whether to override Cullis' veto. Council Member Marilyn Cook said the council needs a vote of three-fourths of members -- four members -- to override a veto. -- Contact the writer: (319) 3988273 or [email protected] To see more of The Gazette, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.gazetteonline.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]