The committee voted unanimously to approve Briggs as the project’s third‑party construction material testing agent, with the firm to contract directly with the city.

The vote authorizes a direct city contract for materials testing services and directs staff to open an initial purchase order under the project’s testing services line. The project team said they plan to start with an initial purchase order of about $300,000 against a testing-services budget line the team has carried at $400,000.

City staff said Briggs scored highest in the committee’s qualifications-based evaluation, performed well on unit pricing, and committed to rapid same‑day or next‑day turnaround for time‑sensitive tests. Brian (staff member) told the committee testing will be performed on a per‑test basis as pours and other activities occur: “we do this mostly on qualifications. Some on price, we make them give us a single unit rate for each price, and we look at those prices to establish who has better pricing or not.”

Dr. Kelly raised concerns about concrete quality on other recent projects and asked that testing plans specifically monitor concrete consistency and composition; Brian said the request would be shared with Briggs, the structural engineer, the contractor (Consigli), and the architect.

The motion to approve Briggs passed on a roll call with all members present voting yes. The committee intends to track testing costs against the $400,000 testing-services budget and adjust the open purchase order if required as the concrete and steel phases proceed.

Background: The committee uses a mandatory independent testing agent to perform on‑site and laboratory tests (concrete cylinder breaks, soil compaction, weld inspections, membrane tests, etc.). Because the number of tests is driven by the construction schedule and field events, the procurement was based primarily on qualifications and unit pricing rather than a fixed, lump‑sum bid.

What’s next: Staff said they will issue a direct contract to Briggs, open an initial purchase order and monitor expenditures monthly against the testing budget. The committee also asked staff to incorporate specific concrete‑quality checks into the testing scope following Dr. Kelly’s request.