The Oxford Planning Commission, working under a crunched schedule, began reviewing the proposals submitted for the new Oxford City Hall/police station at their May 13 meeting in hopes of presenting a short list to the City Council by within the next week.
Six architectural firms responded out of 40 requests for proposals sent by the city: Armentrout Roebuck Matheny Consulting Group, Inc. of Athens, Carter Watkins Associates, Inc. of Monroe, Design Associates Architects, Inc. of Oxford, Gardner Spencer Smith Tench & Jarbeau, P.C. of Atlanta, Millard, Inc. Architects of Roswell and Precision Planning, Inc. of Lawrenceville.
The Commission began by scoring each of the proposals on completeness, staff qualifications, related previous experience, design/management approach and intangibles, even though commission member Forrest McCanless was not present and member Jim Patrick hadn't been able to review the proposals.
Commission member Vivian Harris and Commission Secretary Erik Oliver expressed support for the proposal from Carter Watkins.
Harris brought up the Monroe city hall as a previous example of their work. Oliver said he liked the fact it was a small, young group that seemed enthusiastic and had the requisite skills.
Member Jim Patrick said the firm seemed to be proud of reducing the number of work order changes by emphasizing prior planning and details.
Commission Chair David Eady said he felt Carter Watkins did not seem as up to date on green building practices as the other firms.
"Sustainable design is not an add-on thing," Eady said.
Oliver disagreed, pointing out all the firms had some sort of green-design capabilities, whether on staff or contracted out.
Also discussed was the possible use of inmate labor by one of the firms, Armentrout Roebuck Matheny, and the cost savings, logistics and the ethics of using such labor.
Commission members agreed that they wanted to bring some of the firms in for further questioning.
Currently, the city plans to select an architectural firm by June 2.
