Council approves temporary task order with GBA for building inspection coverage, capped at $76,000
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Summary
City staff authorized a task order with George Butler Associates (GBA) to provide interim building inspection services after the city’s sole inspector left; the council approved an expenditure cap of $76,000 and staff embedded an inspector immediately using approval authority to avoid service interruption.
Spring Hill City Council on Thursday approved Task Order GBA-2025-1 with George Butler Associates to provide interim building inspection services on a time-and-expense basis, with fees capped at $76,000 unless returned to the council for additional approval.
Ms. Abel, a staff member presenting the item, said the city’s only full‑time building inspector recently left and the city needed coverage while recruiting a replacement. She said GBA is on the city’s on-call engineering roster and “had somebody that could start right away,” so staff embedded a GBA inspector to avoid service interruption. Ms. Abel told the council the $76,000 cap is an estimate meant to manage costs through January while the hiring process proceeds.
Council members asked whether the position had been posted and were told it had and interviews were underway. Ms. Abel said using an outside firm typically costs more on an hourly basis—she estimated a roughly one‑third increase over full‑time employee wages when accounting for a contractor multiplier and benefits—but is a short‑term solution to maintain inspection services. Lane Massey told the council staff is also exploring an interlocal agreement with Johnson County for additional inspector support.
The council approved the task order and the not‑to‑exceed $76,000 amount; the motion recorded as passing 4-0-0. Staff said any further spending above the cap would return to the council for approval.