Park City Municipal has been without a city engineer since September 2018. With all the development projects in town, the City is looking to continue a contract with an engineering firm to fill the need.
The Park City Council will consider approving a professional services agreement between the City and T-O Engineers. The agreement is for an amount up to $200,000, with the possibility of lasting through April 2020, or until the City hires an engineer. The City had already been contracting with a consultant from T-O Engineering, but that agreement expired in April.
The city engineer’s duties include signing plats; reviewing technical documents related to development proposals; and making determinations for code exceptions.
After the job was vacated last year, the City used professional recruitment services to try to fill the position. City Manager Diane Foster says the City made an offer after the last recruitment efforts, but the candidate decided to stay in his current position.
"We’re having a hard time as well as every other community in Utah," Foster said. "Building and engineering are two areas that are really hard to hire."
Although the City has managed for half a year without an engineer, Foster says it still needs one.
"It's very important—it's a critical department for us," Foster said. "From everything from managing flooding, and there's there's so much involved in the building world that the engineering department does. Roads, you know, you name it."
Recruitment for a full-time, permanent employee will begin again in the summer.