Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/316941
THE DISCUSSION During the staff presentation, Commissioner Nora Patterson asked Robert Fakhri, design technical manager for county capital projects, whether the two-lane section of Bee Ridge could be widened to four lanes in the future "without having to totally re-crown the road." Some adjustment to the sidewalk would be necessary, he replied. Patterson was surprised, she continued, that more care had not been taken in the design to ensure the widening to four lanes could be undertaken without any significant impact. She added that the board originally wanted to make the section from Bent Tree Boulevard to Iona Road four lanes, but it did not have sufficient funding. "We kind of had to live with the funds, with the budget, we had," Fakhri told her. During his remarks, Fakhri also pointed out that the county had to acquire 46 pieces of property for right of way along the project route. Forty-three of those were voluntary acquisitions, he added. Barbetta queried Thai Tran, transportation manager for county capital projects, about the ranking of the firms that had competed for the construction engineering and inspec- tion services contract. "It's too subjective," Barbetta said of the coun- ty's method of choosing firms for professional services contracts. "My theory's always been don't use county employees or maybe use two county employees — the project man- ager and the department head — and then three retired engineers or retired architects who have no horse in the race …" He added, "It's just me. … When you're dealing with professional services, it's very arbitrary and very subjective." Still, he told Tran, "I respect your opinion." "This is the process that we have," Patterson said. "I've complained about it for five years," Barbetta responded. % A graphic shows plans for improvements to the two-lane segment from Bent Tree Boulevard to Iona Road. Image courtesy Sarasota County Sarasota News Leader May 23, 2014 Page 34