As the Platte County Commission ponders options on how to spend up to $20 million in the latest round of federal COVID aid, an architect review committee has been appointed.
On July 19, the county commission named eight members to what it is calling the Platte County ARPA Architect Review Committee.
Though the name implies the purpose of the committee is to aid in selecting an architect for improvement projects, Ron Schieber, presiding commissioner, told a member of the public that no final decisions on any particular projects have been made.
“This is to get stuff in place so that we can make a decision. This is all about gathering information,” Schieber responded to a question from county resident Sharen Hunt.
A resolution approved by the commission says the purpose of the committee is to “assist the county commission in selecting architects, consultants and other experts pursuant to the American Rescue Plan Act.”
According to the resolution, the committee will:
.Review the proposed requests for qualifications prior to the requests for qualifications being sent to architects, consultants and other experts.
.Review and interview architects, consultants and other experts.
.Recommend architects, consultants and other experts to the county commission.
Those appointed to the committee include Judge Thomas Fincham, Sheriff Mark Owen, Prosecutor Eric Zahnd, Recorder of Deeds Gloria Boyer, Second District Commissioner Joe Vanover, IT Director Ted Smith, Director of Administration Dana Babcock, and Facilities/Parks/Planning Director Daniel Erickson.
Vanover has led the discussion at the county level on potential uses of the federal aid.
“The commission wants to have a committee help select the architects, consultants and experts we will hire for the ARPA projects. We asked several key parties to serve on the committee. The committee will discuss whether we should hire one organization to lead the entire project or hire several organizations for various parts of the project,” Vanover said Monday.
“The committee will review the submitted qualifications and interview them as needed. The committee will make recommendations to the commission. The commission will make the decision of who to hire,” Vanover added.