By GARETT VALCOURT
The Holmes County Board of County Commissioners voted to select four engineering firms to provide continuing professional engineering services for the county during a special meeting Tuesday, October 6, following a competitive evaluation and ranking process involving 10 firms.
Following individual evaluations by all five commissioners, the board agreed to move forward with the four highest-scoring firms: Dewberry, DHM Melvin Engineering, Halff and Alday Howell Engineering Inc.
Dewberry emerged as the highest-ranked firm, receiving a combined score of 379 points. DHM Melvin Engineering followed closely with 374 points, while Halff finished third with 362 points. Alday Howell Engineering Inc. secured the fourth and final position with 345 points.
The selection followed a scoring process in which Commissioners E. Stafford, Erickson, W. Stafford, Johnson and Ellenburg independently evaluated each of the 10 engineering firms. Their scores were combined to establish the final rankings.
The competition for the fourth position was particularly close, with Alday Howell Engineering finishing just one point ahead of fifth-place Neel-Schaffer, which received 344 points. Hanson Engineering Services followed in sixth place with 343 points, placing just two points behind the fourth-ranked firm.
The remaining companies included Infrastructure Consulting & Engineering with 320 points, LJA Engineering Services with 317 points, O’Connell & Associates Consulting Engineers LLC with 307 points and SEH with 304 points.
Individual commissioner evaluations varied throughout the scoring process. Dewberry received its highest individual score of 90 points from Commissioner Ellenburg, while Commissioner W. Stafford awarded the firm 88 points.
DHM Melvin Engineering received 86 points from W. Stafford and 80 points from Erickson, contributing to its second-place finish.
Halff received 89 points from W. Stafford and 79 points from Ellenburg, while Alday Howell Engineering received 86 points from W. Stafford and 72 points from E. Stafford.
With the evaluations completed, commissioners voted to utilize the four highest-ranked companies for continuing engineering services, establishing a group of qualified firms available to assist the county with future engineering needs.
Continuing engineering services arrangements allow local governments to obtain professional engineering assistance for qualifying projects without initiating a separate competitive selection process for every individual assignment, subject to applicable state procurement requirements.
The services may include roadway improvements, drainage projects, infrastructure planning, engineering design, construction-related technical assistance and other professional services associated with county operations.
The arrangement could also provide additional flexibility as Holmes County continues addressing infrastructure improvements, maintenance needs and recovery efforts following severe weather events.
Rather than relying on a single engineering company for all qualifying assignments, the county’s decision establishes a four-firm pool from which professional services may be obtained as projects arise, subject to the terms of the county’s agreements.
The board’s vote finalized the selection of Dewberry, DHM Melvin Engineering, Halff and Alday Howell Engineering Inc. as the county’s four continuing engineering services firms, concluding the evaluation process conducted during the special meeting.
The selections establish the firms eligible for consideration under the county’s continuing services arrangements but do not, by themselves, identify specific project assignments or contract expenditures.
