By CARA LORELLO
Staff Reporter
The city of Medical Lake will save some of the costs of advertising when it comes time to bid public works projects with values of $200,000 or less with the mayor and City Council's approval of a shared small works roster agency contract with non profit group, Municipal Research Services Center (MRSC), on Aug. 19.
The new contract allows the city to bid up to five capital projects annually for a $100 fee to use MRSC's shared small works roster system, which will manage the necessary advertising and legal requirements associated with maintaining a shared small works roster system.
It's a good investment for the price, City Administrator Doug Ross said, because it keeps current contractors working with the city.
“Where this works is we've got contractors here who do good work,” Ross said. “ We can keep hiring these contractors without going through the public bid process.”
Based in Seattle, MRSC is a non-profit, independent organization created to continue programs established under the Bureau of Governmental Research at the University of Washington. MRSC provides comprehensive research and services to Washington's 281 cities and towns and 39 counties.
Its small works roster system was established in early 2008. Roster manager Ellen Hutchinson of MRSC said the database system currently works with 86 state agencies, which include cities, fire departments, and school districts. The system currently manages about 947 contractors and 455 consultant groups in the state.
Hutchinson said most cities manage their own type of roster system, but small sized agencies can have a tough time covering advertisement costs for their projects because they're working with limited resources. Sign-ups with the roster are free, though, any extra marketing advantages do require fees.
“It's a very helpful tool, especially for small cities,” Hutchinson said. Businesses signing with the roster must carry a state business license, and can range from independent to national companies.
For contractors, services typically include “plumbing or roofing,” with consultant groups offering “architectural planning or survey work,” Hutchinson explained.
MRSC founded its shared roster system when it took over managing a small works roster operated originally in Lynnwood, which had grown to the point the city couldn't manage the number of agencies it signed within its budget. The roster had already established a base in the Puget Sound area, but now the group is focusing its outreach on other parts of the state, Hutchinson said.
“It's a slow process but it is growing,” she added of how the program is gaining a following beyond the west side.
A volunteer board of directors drawn from local government and the community-at-large governs the organization. Its programs are cooperatively funded out of a small portion of the cities' distributions of the state Liquor Board's profits and the counties' distribution of the liquor excise tax.
MRSC works in cooperation with a number of advocacy organizations for state cities and counties, including the Association of Washington Cities, and Washington Association of County Officials.
Information on the MRSC small works roster can be found at http://www.mrscrosters.org. For more on other services available through the MRSC nonprofit organization, visit http://www.mrsc.org.
Cara Lorello can be reached at [email protected]
Reader Comments(0)