4J Stadium. June - September 1999

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AUG -26 -1999 08 08 SD4J FACILITIES MANAGMENT 15416873686 P.04/13 Eugene Public School District No. 4j Appeal of Decision Letter August 24, 1999 Page 4 e15 We were also told in our discussions with WI Hirsh that WBGS did not present a schedule in the interview, which was a specific request in the presentation requirements letter Bill sent to both firms B/11199 (copy attached). We also stated to the committee that we have the resources (90 employees in Portland and Las Vegas that include 5 landscape architects - all in Portland, Doug Woumell our Sport Architect, 14 licensed Civil Engineers, and over 40 technical and administrative support staff) to assure that the schedule is met. We also are winding down on the two current Sports/Park Projects that we presented so the timing is good for us to really focus on this project. It is our understanding, based on discussions with Bill Seiler, that they are 'too busy and will have a hard time meeting the project schedule without working a bunch of overtime during the holiday season ". As stated above this is usually very hard to do especially this year with the Miilenium New Year. Fee Based on our understanding as described above, we feel that we are equal If not more qualified than WBGS to complete this project. We attempted in good faith to work with WBGS to team with them to share our expertise on the synthetic turf fields but were.firmly rejected. Our original fee was $552,000 per our proposal. To show our enthusiasm and commitment to this project we proposed a 5% donation of our fee ($27700) to help with the fund raising effort This brought our fee down to 5524,300, which is $164,258 or 24% lower than WBGS's initial fee. There is a significant financial savings with no experience or qualifications lost to the City and the School District if WRG Design were selected to complete this project We understand that WBGS has reduced their fee to around $600,000. Even at this number, there is still a 575,700 or 1S% fee savings, WRG is committed to completing this project for our proposed fee with the donation. Honestly, it will be very difficult to spend a fee of 5600,000 within the short time frame allotted for this project let alone the original amount of $680,568. That is over 10,000 man -hours at an average rate of S55/hour. We would like to also note that if you had selected WRG Design, Inc. initially, there would not have been any time lost In fee negotiation and we would already be working on the project, Kathi, I am not the type of person, nor is WRG Design the type of firm, that cannot take a loss with dignity and respect Appealing a decision like this does not assist in the process or help the project schedule. As a matter of fact this is the first time WRG Design has ever appealed a consultant selection by a jurisdiction. However, in this case, I feel the WRG Design team was unfairly considered based on qualifications and fee and that the true losers in the end will be the public and the most efficient investment of their money. This selection process and investigation into each firm's capabilities and ability to complete this work does not appear to be correct We do, however, understand the impact an appeal could have on the schedule and would request a meeting as soon as possible to resolve these issues and continue on with the project.