South Fork dredging selection committee picks two firms for interviews

By Sean Tubbs
Charlottesville Tomorrow
Friday, July 10, 2009

Nebraska-based HDR Engineering  and Pennsylvania-based F.X. Browne  have been named as finalists in a process to hire a firm to conduct a feasibility study related to dredging sediment from the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir to restore water supply storage capacity. Members of the committee are now formulating questions to submit to representatives of the two companies before they are invited to Charlottesville to give both a public presentation as well as a closed session interview.

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The members of the committee are:

• Tom Frederick, Executive Director of the RWSA
• Mark Graham, Director of Community Development for Albemarle County
• Gary Fern, Executive Director of the Albemarle County Service Authority
• Rebecca Quinn, a water resources engineer and Charlottesville’s citizen representative
• Chuck Kent, Capital Projects Engineer for the RWSA
• Lauren Hildebrand, Director of Utilities for the City of Charlottesville
• Marty Quinn, Utilities Engineer for the City of Charlottesville
• Judy Mueller, Public Works Director for the City of Charlottesville
• Russell Perry, Architect with the Smith Group and Charlottesville citizen representative

Members of the committee deliberated for two hours at their first meeting

Mueller was absent from this first meeting. Perry participated via teleconference. Kurt Krueger, attorney for the RWSA, sat at the table as the committee’s counsel but did not have a vote.

Tom Frederick, Executive Director of the RWSA, began the meeting by passing out a list of questions by which the committee might begin its discussion. Eight proposals were received by the RWSA, and Frederick said the committee had to decide for itself the best way to screen the candidates.  The group decided not to have a chair and opted to use summary minutes.

Forty minutes into the meeting, each participant was asked to name their top three firms.

Gary Fern: HDR Engineering , F. X. Browne, Dalton, Olmstead and Fugelvand
Mark Graham: HDR Engineering, F.X. Browne, Gahagan and Bryant Associates
Rebecca Quinn: HDR Engineering, Anchor QEA, F.X. Browne
Chuck Kent: HDR Engineering, Anchor QEA, F.X. Browne
Lauren Hildebrand: HDR Engineering , F. X. Browne, Dalton, Olmstead and Fugelvand
Tom Frederick: F.X. Browne, Dalton, Olmstead & Fugelvand, HDR Engineering
Marty Quinn: HDR Engineering, Anchor QEA
Russ Perry: HDR Engineering, F.X. Browne and Anchor QEA

The committee quickly reached consensus that HDR Engineering and F.X. Browne would be interviewed. They spent the rest of the meeting determining what the interview process will be like for the applicants. Would the questions be provided in advance? Would the questions be made in public, during a closed meeting, or a mixture of the two?

The committee eventually decided to have each firm give a public presentation followed by an interview during closed session. The closed session would give each firm the opportunity to respond candidly without giving proprietary information to the other firm.

Committee members are now writing detailed questions for each applicant. Those questions will be edited by Frederick before being sent to each firm. Committee members will also be able to ask any other question during the closed session portion of the interviews. 

Applicant interviews are tentatively scheduled for either July 30, 2009 or August 3, 2009.

TIMELINE FOR PODCAST:

• 01:00 – Tom Frederick, Executive Director of the RWSA, begins the meeting
• 03:00 – Committee discusses whether or not to have detailed or summary minutes
• 04:00 – City representative Rebecca Quinn asks for members to introduce themselves 
• 07:30 – Frederick asks committee members what qualities they wanted in selecting a consultant
• 08:30 – Frederick asks what additional information committee needs to make a decision
• 16:10 – Frederick asks what process should be for each candidate firm to be interviewed
• 20:20 – Kurt Krueger explains how Virginia Freedom of Information Act governs closed meetings for the committee
• 25:30 – Frederick asks how to handle the possibility of needing to go into closed session to handle firms’ concerns about sharing proprietary information in an open session
• 36:00 – Frederick volunteers to collect and organize committee members’ questions for interview
• 36:05 – Frederick asks how the committee will select a finalist
• 40:00 – Frederick asks what the committee expects out of the first meeting
• 43:00 – Gary Fern lists his top three choices for the short-list
• 43:35 – Mark Graham lists his top three choices for the short-list
• 43:45 – Rebecca Quinn lists her top three choices for the short-list
• 44:05 – Chuck Kent lists his top three choices for the short-list
• 44:30 – Lauren Hildebrand lists her top three choices for the short-list
• 44:50 – Marty Quinn lists his top three choices for the short-list
• 45:10 – Russ Perry lists his top three choices for the short-list
• 46:30 – Kent makes the case for Anchor QEA
• 48:00 – Discussion returns to how applicants will be interviewed
• 58:40 – Quinn asks if the committee should formulate questions tonight
• 1:32:10 – Perry suggests hybrid approach to open v. closed session question
• 1:44:10 – Frederick reviews the consensus reached at the meeting