A go-to person

COEUR d'ALENE - Future large-scale projects in the Lake City will have one captain steering the ship.

The Coeur d'Alene City Council has directed city staff to craft a new policy requiring a third-party manager for city projects that are large-scale, high-cost and have unique scopes of focus.

Councilwoman Kiki Miller proposed the directive through a motion that passed unanimously during last week's regular meeting of the city council.

"It's something that the city has discussed a number of times. But they haven't made the move to that arena and I think it's time," Miller said. "When you have a scope of work that entails multiple departments and construction above and below ground, having one go-to person for the community, the contractor and the staff just makes sense."

She added that the worst-case scenario of the policy is that it would be budget neutral, "as the costs for engineers or planners would be reduced by the amount of work that the third-party manager is doing."

The best-case scenario, according to Miller, is that the third-party manager is able to identify "potential hiccups" in contractual obligations while construction is underway, rather than discovering them after the project is deemed complete.

Prior to making the motion, Miller said, she spoke at length with City Administrator Jim Hammond about adopting the policy. The long-time public servant told The Press Tuesday that he has been involved in projects with and without a third-party manager.

"What I found is when you have a project manager, you've got somebody that is knowledgeable of the trade and contract administration who doesn't have a vested interest other than assuring the best interest of their client," Hammond said. "By having somebody in that position, they more than pay for themselves."

Hammond added that not every major project will need to have a third-party manager attached to it. For example, the city is in the early stages of a project that will expand Government Way - a routine process he said is understood by city employees.

However with any future complex and costly endeavors such as the McEuen project - one Hammond said could have benefited from the new policy - the city will use an independent manager to help ensure their success.

"It's not only a matter of getting the best job at the best price, but also getting it done on time," Hammond said. "They can hold everybody's feet to the fire - whether it's the contractor, or the engineer or anybody in the project."