Even though it admits to making mistakes in the past, a
Houston company could get a second chance to work on the Beaumont Independent
School District bond proposal.
The district's building and grounds
committee has recommended Parson's of Houston to oversee the spending of $390
million should voters approve the bond next month.
Despite the company
publicly acknowledging several errors in the past when determining the cost of
the bond projects, a five member committee says Parsons is a good company that
will do a good job.
Parson's, which merged with 3DI, was one of six
companies that submitted bids to the district to become the bond project
manager.
A committee interviewed and ranked the companies, and Parsons
came in second.
However, when it came time to negotiate a fee for
overseeing the bond projects, the top ranked company, which was not identified,
would not budge from its demand of more than $13.5 million dollars.
Parsons agreed to take a flat fee of $9 million. However, CABC member,
Bennie Hickman says having a flat fee contract on such a large project could
lead to a request for more money from the company in the future if the scope of
work isn't precise.
Committee members say the process was based strictly
on qualifications and fees, and they believe they made the right decision even
though Parsons has made mistakes in the past... mistakes some committee members
say the CABC was to blame for as well.
Hickman said, “Let's face it,
they were errors that were in the public and they're going to be a lot of. On
the other hand, they know that and they're gonna be, I think they're going to be
pretty sure they don't repeat those same errors."
This Thursday the full
board of trustees will vote on whether to accept the recommendation that
Parson's be selected as the project manager of the bond.