Tuesday, October 15, 2024

The council's largest spending approval was $462,458 to NV5, Inc. for Wilmington Avenue Safe Streets construction management, funded through SB1 ($262,458) and MTA Bond ($200,000), passed 5-0 with no discussion; the council also approved $257,977 to Bowman Infrastructure Engineers for road repair construction management (5-0) and $99,935 to Bowman Infrastructure Engineers for Pearl Avenue street improvement design from CDBG funds (5-0), with the latter amount sitting $65 below the $100,000 approval threshold — Bowman is a repeat vendor receiving two separate contracts totaling $357,912 at this single meeting. Legal services retainer agreements for various law firms at a $440 recurring retainer rate were approved 4-0-1 (Darden abstaining); the city attorney stated publicly that he had not approved the item for placement on the agenda and that his authority was bypassed, while the city manager stated the retainers had expired in 2022 and that he acted within his authority, citing a court ruling that the city attorney cannot block agenda items. Nine residents addressed the council during public comment on matters including street maintenance quality, the city's zero credit rating, and election integrity, with one speaker specifically questioning whether items three through five should instead be performed by the city's own charter-mandated city engineer rather than contracted to outside firms. The meeting also included an informational presentation by the Compton Initiative and Bright Lights of Compton volunteer organization; no spending was attached to that item.