One firm responds to city’s call for 200-acre master planner

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City seeking master planner for 200 acres

Kansas City-based Cook, Flatt & Strobel Engineers Inc. was the sole respondent to the city of Springfield’s recent request for qualifications that went out to 14 firms.

Cook, Flatt & Strobel, which operates a Springfield office in Chesterfield Village, applied for the job of consultant for a master plan and market analysis for a city-owned 200-acre tract of land, said Assistant Environmental Services Director Ron Petering. The deadline for the RFQ letter — issued by Environmental Services Director Errin Kemper — was Friday.

City Manager Jason Gage spoke about the project this morning as Springfield Business Journal’s first guest of the year for the monthly 12 People You Need to Know live interview series.

On acreage northwest of the James River Freeway and West Bypass interchange, the city is considering public and private development, with potential uses so far identified as space for Environmental Services’ trucks and offices, as well as an animal shelter, SBJ exclusively reported last week.

Gage said the project is in its early stages to determine the best use of the property for municipal needs over the next “20, 30, 40, maybe 50 years.”

“That’s pretty far out,” he said. “Right now, that’s a pretty boring topic, unfortunately.”

Gage said while he expected more responses to the RFQ, he wasn’t “totally surprised” that only one firm responded, given the scope of the project.

“We’re in a very strong economy, and those firms are really, really busy,” he said. “A lot of times when a company is busy, they’ll pass on the small stuff. I would imagine that’s probably the biggest factor.”

The city now will examine Cook, Flatt & Strobel’s portfolio to determine if the firm is the right fit for the consulting role. He said the city also may consider reissuing the RFQ.

“If they have the level of experience and the references for prior projects and we know they can do what we need them to do, then it’s about negotiating the right financial deal to get them under contract and start moving on it,” Gage said. “If we’re not sure about that, we could always take another look if we needed to.”

Cook, Flatt & Strobel’s local projects include the Branson Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce & Convention and Visitors Bureau’s new headquarters under construction and the Branson redevelopment plan for the Highway 76 strip, according to SBJ archives.

The other firms the city issued the RFQ to were:
    •    Anderson Engineering Inc.;
    •    Barlett & West;
    •    Butler, Rosenbury & Partners Inc.;
    •    CJW & Associates;
    •    Crawford, Murphy & Tilly Inc;
    •    Great River Engineering Inc.;
    •    Gredell Engineering Resources;
    •    Heithaus Engineering & Associates Inc.;
    •    Lee Engineering and Associates Inc.;
    •    Olsson Inc.;
    •    Trekk Design Group LLC;
    •    Wilson Surveying Co. Inc.; and
    •    Woolpert Inc.

—Reporter Mike Cullinan contributed.