Good News for a Great City: Mayor’s Committee Selects IBTS

By Dave Freneaux

    Over the next few weeks Mayor Mac Watts will be negotiating a new City Services Contract with IBTS, The Institute for Building Technology and Safety.  The Mayor’s decision to request proposals for a new City Services contract in very competitive economic times will likely result in trimming Central’s 2011/2012 budget by $500,000.  Mayor Watts shared that he will be assembling a small negotiating team to finalize the contract with IBTS over the next several weeks.

    In late 2010 twenty-one citizens from varying fields of experience came together and spent hundreds of hours drafting a new Contract for Central’s City Services.  Nine highly qualified citizens then spent untold hours preparing for and reviewing proposals submitted by four quality companies vying to be awarded Central’s City Services Contract.  Tuesday night all of these efforts came to a focal point when the Selection Committee voted unanimously to recommend to Mayor Watts that IBTS be awarded the contract.  Many following this process probably had chosen a favorite, but the committee was charged with impartially identifying which company provided the best value for the City of Central.  When the scoring was completed, that company was IBTS.

    IBTS is a non-profit organization formed for the purpose of providing services such as these to governmental entities.  If the contract negotiations between Mayor Watts and IBTS go as expected, IBTS will be transitioning in to take over Central’s City Services effective July 1, 2011.  The Mayor states that he will be submitting a budget to the City Council tonight which will include sufficient funding to support this contract.  The City Council will be approving the City’s 2011/2012 budget by the end of June.