MOUNT VERNON — Mount Vernon City Council heard from two key partners in the various municipal buildings construction projects on Monday night: Pizzuti Solutions and the Bradley Payne municipal advisors firm.
For background, the phase of the municipal buildings construction project that the Council discussed pertained to the police station, the justice center, the municipal center and the fire station.
Safety-Service Director Tanner Salyers led the discussion and introduced Jim Russell from Pizzuti and Andrew Brossart from Bradley Payne to share more about what they’ve been doing and plan to do with these projects.
“As we move from vision and discussion into implementation, we’re relying on professional partners to ensure that every dollar is spent wisely, every square foot is functional and every step aligns with Council’s expectations and the community’s needs,” Salyers said.
Pizzuti Solutions’ role so far
Salyers noted the City selected Pizzuti Solutions as its owner’s representative for municipal facilities projects, but an official contract has not been squared away.
This meeting was the second reading of legislation that would finalize a contract with Pizzuti. Another meeting for the third reading is tentatively set for Nov. 17.
“[The] owner’s representative serves as the City’s advocate and advisor through complex capital projects. They are not the architect, they are not the builder, but they are the experienced voice at the table, making sure the city’s interest comes first from concept to completion,” Salyers clarified.
Salyers listed a lot of items Russell and his team have worked on so far through their owner’s representative services:
- Pizzuti started on a contract, and when the contract expired, the City did an RFQ (Request for Qualifications).
- “I believe we had nine respondents, and Pizzuti came out on top from a team of judges in the City that looked at those different qualifications.”
- Police station: Russell and his team have helped guide the scope, looked at the site, reviewed early design concepts with BKV, helped select BKV as the design architect and helped select the City’s CMAR (construction manager at risk) last week.
- Justice center: Pizzuti has coordinated discussions “between the court, the clerk’s office, probation, the law director’s office, and again, showing us an opportunity for savings by also working with BKV in that regard to the design firm.”
- Municipal center: The group has advised the City on the Central Ohio Technical College building transition with fit studies and aided in those contract negotiations.
- Fire station: Russell and Co. have helped the City evaluate needs, site options, cost projections and developed an OPR (Owner’s Program of Requirements). The OPR will help the City avoid the roadblocks the police station faced during design, since that project didn’t have an OPR in place.
Russell chimes in
“20 years ago, in response to really trying to assist local government and understanding their projects, we created the Pizzuti Solutions company that I manage and run,” Russell said.
For about a decade, Russell said he worked in the public sector as a city manager and economic development director.
“We want to be able to support local government and take our experience with design, construction, financing, but more importantly, as an owner who signs checks that you’re paying for and really help the public sector deliver their projects a little bit more specifically and as economically as they can be,” Russell said.
Russell then proceeded to go into specific detail about what the City can expect should legislation pass to contract with Pizzuti. Watch Russell’s full address here starting at the 4-minute mark.
Bradley Payne’s part in all this
In simple terms, as a municipal advisor, Brossart presented an affordability outlook and debt capacity analysis for how the City could tackle these municipal building projects financially.
Bonds, bank placements, federal loan programs, state loan programs, capital markets deals and grant programs are all avenues Brossart is looking into in terms of financing these projects.
Additionally, Brossart further explained the rules and procedures of a municipal advisor. The packet of information the Council received from Bradley Payne is below. Watch Brossart’s full address to Council here, starting at the 14-minute mark.
“This partnership [with Pizzuti and Bradley Payne] ensures that we move forward methodically, not just building for today, but planning for the next generation of Mount Vernon, its residents and its needs,” Salyers said.