The Village Board approved a contract for the second of three years of supplemental engineering assistance at the May 10, 2022 Village Board Meeting. Supplemental engineering assistance was solicited back in 2021, due to the many engineer staff vacancies being experienced in the departments of Engineering and Public Works (EPW), Transportation, and Community Development (CD). A Request for Proposal (RFP) was solicited and Chastain & Associates, LLC (Chastain) was selected to provide engineering support for the three departments.

The Chastain agreement included $125,000 for EPW project support for an anticipated 12 projects. As the year progressed, Chastain’s workload was increased to assist with 21 total projects including significant effort managing the gateway signs program and Motor Fuel Tax (MFT) assistance due to the departure of the Field Services Superintendent. The Department turned to Chastain to run these efforts while recruiting for a new Field Services Superintendent. The Engineering Division also lost one of our Engineering Inspectors during the middle of construction season, which required our new Civil Engineer, Syed Mansoor, to take on much of the street program coordination. Projects that were going to be assigned to Syed, including the design of Gray Farm Marsh Dredging and Storm Sewer projects, had to be assigned to a consultant to ensure our street program could be completed.

Staffing challenges continued with the resignation of our Engineering Technician, who oversees utility company permitting and assists with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and utility mapping. We had previously filled this gap with Alexandra Moss with Chastain, and have reached out again to utilize her services in the interim while we recruit for a new technician.

In all, we are projecting to be approximately $160,000 over budget with the additional project management needs. The cost proposal from Chastain is attached for your information along with Chastain’s amended agreement. We received the Village Manager's approval to spend an additional $50,000 to take us through December. This item is to request the remaining funding needed in the amount of $110,000 to close out the fiscal year.

To accomplish this, we are proposing to utilize the remaining budget from vacant positions. There is $13,154.70 available in salaries and benefits across multiple accounts. A midyear amendment is being processed to move these funds, and an additional $96,845.30, into the professional services account bringing the total to $110,000.