Politics & Government
City to hire in-house general contractor to lead projects, save money
“I’m tired of getting taken advantage of,” said Mayor Mark Johnson explaining his request to the City Council for a new city employee.
Johnson requested City Council approval for a new city role of an in-house general contractor to lead small city construction projects that arise in Lehi throughout the year. The request was spurred by the need for an equipment shed and restroom facility at Family Park.
“We went to RFP (request for proposal) twice. The first time, both bids seemed rather high, so we went out for an RFP a second time. We got two more bids back, and one was $500,000, and the other was $1.2 million for a restroom and a shed,” said Johnson.
“We own the land [at Family Park], and the utilities are there. These costs are more than the cost of some homes. That seemed ridiculous to me, so we investigated hiring our own contractor. We can then start taking care of these small jobs on our own,” added Johnson.
The role of the new employee would be to oversee small one-off projects–not large-scale projects like a police or fire station, said City Administrator Jason Walker. Walker said the person hired would organize and work with all the different departments throughout the city to complete projects without the need to hire outside contractors.
When there are no active projects, the employee would be the city building maintenance lead.
“We feel this person would have plenty to do. It has the potential to save us a lot of money in the long run.” Said Walker.
The City Council expressed support for the new position and will approve the budget amendment and position at the next Council meeting.
The position is expected to have a salary range of $60,000 to $85,000 based on experience, along with full benefits and a city vehicle.
