The Town Council has approved a contract for general construction services that applies to 15 different companies under a job order contracting program.

According to staff the job order contracting allows the town to have pre-approved contractors it can call on to handle jobs that need attention on short notice. There are 15 contractors on this job order master agreement.

The Town of Fountain Hills is a small organization with no dedicated procurement department or staff, Town Manager Grady Miller told the council. He said the job order process allows the town to save time and money in activating a contractor for certain jobs. Compensation is not to exceed $125,000 in a 12-month period for each contact.

Community Services Director Rachael Goodwin organized the process for the town. Her department oversees parks and the Community Center, which may need work that benefits from the streamlined process.

The list of 15 contractors is pre-vetted with legal, insurance and clearances in place so when work comes up the town can go to one of the contractors as soon as the town is ready for the work.

“Many of these are standard maintenance items, and must be in the budget,” Goodwin said. “If there is no funding in the budget the work cannot be done.”

She also emphasized that the $125,000 total for each contract does not mean that much will be spent, or that all contactors will get work.

“Some years we will have little or no work for these vendors,” Goodwin said.

She said the program allows for cost savings with pre-approval and staff time.

The process is not new or unique, according to Goodwin. She notes that ADOT and other state agencies, as well as many other municipalities, use the job order agreements.

She also noted that the process for contacting and vetting the contractors was the same RFP and RFQ process used for acquiring any professional services.

The town manager’s expenditure authority goes up to $50,000 so any work that exceeds that amount would go before the council for approval.

The 15 contractors have been identified to address projects in six areas. There are at least two contractors for each of the project categories.

Utility work contractors include Utility Construction Company and RED-HAWK SOLUTIONS.

Storm clean-up includes T&T Construction and Carume Contracting (both local contractors).

General project contractors are Johnson Carlier, GCON INC and Core Construction.

Playground contractors are Caliente Constructions and JP and Sons Contracting.

Paving and concrete work includes Vincon, LAN-CON and Stormwater Plans dba SWP Contacting and Paving.

Facilities contractors include FCI Constructors, Hardison/Downey Construction and Builders Guild, Inc. Construction Professionals.

The council vote to approve the agreement was a unanimous 6-0. Councilman Alan Magazine had left the meeting prior to this discussion.