CBI chosen to create Saratoga master plan

At the July 1 Town of Saratoga Master Plan meeting, a top consultant was chosen for the bid to create a Town Master Plan for Saratoga.

Community Builders Incorporated (CBI), a company out of Douglas, Wyo. was chosen out of five other contenders for the bid to create this plan.

The choice was made using a Consultant Evaluation Ranking system provided by the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT). They will be providing funding for the plan and wanted to ensure that the town went through a comprehensive, explainable method when determining the consultant.

There were seven evaluation factors that each member of the committee used to determine the final choice. The rankings were measured on a 1-5 scale — 1 being poor and 5 being superior. Each choice had a different weight in importance that was chosen by the group.

Evaluation factors were work-related experience (3), personnel qualifications (3), previous experience and references (3), knowledge of project (2), product delivery requirements (2), current workload of firm (2), locations (2) and RFQ match (1).

Overall, the committee was pleased with the selection and found that CBI will be a great choice for the region.

According to Stacy Crimmins, Chief Executive Officer of the Platte Valley Visitors Council, CBI has many admirable qualities that she personally knows about as she has previously worked with them on a prior plan.

Ed Glode, Mayor of Saratoga, did call the references that he could get in contact with for each company that bid for this plan. When it came to CBI, he was happy with the responses received.

“They did a good job with their references and I talked to a lot of people that they worked with … Most of these guys said they did a good job when there was a confrontation with an objective opinion and taking some of that heat off the town itself,” Glode said.

Although the decision has been made, it is not set in stone, as a contract with CBI needs to be finalized. In addition, if unable to reach an agreeable contract with CBI, the town is allowed to go down the list to their second choice; which was Landmark Design based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

According to Kevin McCoy, planning and policy analyst from WYDOT, if the town does proceed with moving to their second choice, they eliminate the ability to go back to their first choice.