ROCK SPRINGS — After numerous, and sometimes heated discussions at Rock Springs City Council meetings about the Request for Proposals (RFP) process used for the Bitter Creek Reclamation project, it appears an agreement has been reached.

The questions started after JFC Engineering and Surveyors, which Rock Springs Mayor Tim Kaumo is the president of, was recommended by the RFP selection committee for the project. Due to all of the questions, the Council decided to review the RFP process.

At a previous meeting, the Council decided to have Mayor Kaumo, Council President Rob Zotti, Councilor Billy Shalata, and Engineering, Public Services and Operations Director Paul Kauchich meet to discuss if and how the RFP process needs to change.

On September 3, the group met and SweetwaterNOW reached out to Councilor Zotti and Mayor Kaumo after that meeting to find out what was discussed and what the RFP process may look like moving forward.

“The meeting was positive with discussion had, which will hopefully alleviate any sense of conflicts in the future,” Kaumo said.

The Concerns Discussed

Zotti says he has tried to be clear what his concerns are in regards to the RFP process. He says Rock Springs has a unique situation because not only is Kaumo the Mayor, but the president of an engineering firm that bids on city projects.

This to me creates a clear conflict of interest because as Mayor, Tim is the direct supervisor and employer of the city staff that will be making the recommendation about what firm to use for projects, like the Bitter Creek renovation.

~Council President Rob Zotti

“I’m not implying that anything wrong was done with the original RFP process for the Bitter Creek project, but the appearance of it all just wasn’t right,” Zotti said.

RFP Change

“So, what I recommended we do moving forward is to work with another entity, like the County, to help us when we have a potential conflict of interest like we did with this project,” Zotti said.

This recommendation is what was discussed at the meeting. Kaumo said in the future, the city will adopt a memorandum of understanding with a couple of outside agencies or municipalities. They would work with city staff and review the RFP’s where a potential conflict could exist.

“We would then offer our services to do the same for others. This discussion with other entities is underway at the current time,” Kaumo said.

Zotti expanded on this, saying city employees would work with the outside agency, such as the county, by answering questions and providing them with information on the project. However, the city employees would not take part in rating the businesses when the RFP selection committee meets.

Zotti believes this change will alleviate a lot of questions the Council has received in regards to the RFP process.

What this does is remove any appearance or question about possible undue influence in the selection process.

~Council President Rob Zotti

“We want this process to be fair and as open as possible so all parties involved (the public, proposing firms, staff, mayor and council) can say without question the right decision was made,” Zotti said.

The Bitter Creek RFP

As for the Bitter Creek Reclamation Projects RFP process, which is what started the whole discussion. It was simply too late to start the process over again since this is the second time RFPs have been submitted for this project.

“As for the current RFP, we were too far along in this one to get the County involved at this time,” Zotti said.

Kaumo said a new selection committee did meet and reviewed the RFP’s submitted for the reclamation project.

Zotti said the committee was made up of two city employees, two Council members and two community members who have experience in the RFP process.

Kaumo said after the new RFP selection committee reviewed and rated the new RFPs and WHS scored the highest and JFC came in second this time.

In a previous meeting, Kaumo said due to the actions of the Council, it’s his opinion JFC’s trade secrets are now available for other companies to steal and use in their own plans. 

Just as expected, the other two firms used information provided by JFC in their proposal and basically doubled their cost. The process was tainted by the City Council and made unfair with the ability of others to view JFC’s proposal, use their information, and resubmit a new RFP.

~ Mayor Tim Kaumo

Despite what’s happened, Kaumo wants the project to keep moving forward.

“My goal is to see the project move forward in hopes of removing many residents and businesses from the floodway/floodplain and removing their associated costs for flood insurance, while making development much more affordable and less restrictive,” Kaumo said.

The Bitter Creek Reclamation contract will be considered at the Council’s next meeting on October 6.