Council wants more discussion on water contract

Photo used under a Creative Commons license courtesy Jenn Durfey

A controversial $12 million, no-bid Water Services Department contract was put on hold Wednesday by the city council finance committee.

The full council will hear the case for the contract at a business session on August 15, said Jan Marcason, chair of the Finance, Governance & Ethics Committee.

“We want a fuller discussion about this ordinance and the contract and the reasons why sole sourcing is recommended,” she said.

According to the ordinance, the water department is recommending West Monroe Partners, LLC, because of expertise in a wide range of activities.

“…this is a multi-faceted project, encompassing software upgrades and implementations, utility metering and billing process review, customer service training, change management and development of contact center and billing metrics …,” it states, and the firm has the expertise and experts to handle it all.

West Monroe started in Chicago in 2002 and has expanded to become an international consulting firm with 300 experts in a wide range of fields, according to Wikipedia.

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