City of Bellingham Public Works and Natural Resources Committee

Bellingham's Public Works and Natural Resources Committee held an exceptionally brief 4-minute meeting Sunday afternoon to approve a single contract award for roofing services. The committee unanimously approved a three-year, up to $1 million indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract with SRS Roofing Company for ongoing roof repair and maintenance across city facilities. The IDIQ structure represents a shift from the city's previous approach of executing multiple separate contracts for roofing work. This consolidated on-call contract allows the city to issue individual work orders as roofing needs arise, with pricing based on predetermined labor and material markups rather than project-by-project bidding. SRS Roofing submitted the lowest responsive bid at $115,185.75 among three bidders, though this figure represents a hypothetical baseline for comparison rather than a guaranteed contract value. The actual spending will depend entirely on the city's roofing needs over the three-year term, with potential for an optional one-year extension that would not require additional council approval.

**AB 24710 - IDIQ Roofing Services Contract:** APPROVED 3-0 - **Vote:** Unanimous approval (Stone, Anderson, Cotton) - **Staff Recommendation:** Award to SRS Roofing Company as lowest responsive bidder - **Council Action:** Aligned with staff recommendation - **Contract Value:** Up to $1 million over three years (actual spending as-needed basis) - **Winning Bid:** $115,185.75 (hypothetical comparison baseline) - **Term:** Three years with optional one-year administrative extension - **Funding Source:** Facilities Fund (530)

**Carol Rofkar, on the IDIQ contract structure:** "An IDIQ contract is an on-call contract that allows the city to procure work efficiently as needed as needs arise by issuing individual work orders for each discrete project." **Carol Rofkar, on spending projections:** "I would be highly surprised if we went through a million dollars in a year. So we map these out already in a work plan." **Lisa Anderson, seeking clarification on contract mechanics:** "So hypothetically, there could be a rise in the need for roofing work and we could go through that million in one year or there could be nothing spent until year three. I mean there's no rhyme or reason to how that's gonna be allocated over the three years, right?" **Carol Rofkar, confirming the flexible structure:** "Correct. It's on an as needed basis." **Matt Stamps, on extension authority:** "I know that wouldn't come back to council normally I would just be to administrative extension I'll go through full city signatures of the mayor's approval."

## Meeting Overview The Bellingham City Council's Public Works and Natural Resources Committee convened for a brief but purposeful session on November 3, 2025, at 2:00 PM in Council Chambers. Committee Chair Hannah Stone presided over the meeting, joined by committee members Lisa Anderson (Fifth Ward) and Jace Cotton (At-Large). Mayor Kimberley Lund and city staff were also present to support the proceedings. This afternoon session was the final committee meeting of the day, following earlier committee meetings. As Chair Stone noted at the outset, the meeting was "likely to be brief" with just one item on the agenda. The single agenda item — a contract award for roofing repair and maintenance services — represented a shift in how the city would handle ongoing building maintenance, consolidating multiple contractor relationships into a single, comprehensive on-call agreement designed to improve efficiency and cost-effectiveness. The meeting demonstrated the routine but essential work of municipal government: reviewing procurement processes, ensuring fiscal responsibility, and establishing systems that allow city operations to function smoothly behind the scenes. ## IDIQ Roofing Contract Award The committee's sole focus was Agenda Bill 24710, a contract award for indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) roofing repair and maintenance services. This represented more than a simple contract approval — it marked the city's adoption of a more streamlined approach to maintaining its building infrastructure. Chair Stone opened the discussion by explaining the IDIQ concept: "An IDIQ contract is an on-call contract that allows the city to procure work efficiently as needed as needs arise by issuing individual work orders for each discrete project." She detailed how the pricing mechanism would work, with each work order based on labor and material markups provided in the contractor's bid proposal. The bidding process had concluded on October 8, 2025, when the city publicly opened three bids. SRS Roofing Company emerged as the lowest responsible bidder with a bid of $115,185.75. However, as Chair Stone clarified, "The bid amount again is based upon on a hypothetical set of jobs for bid comparison purposes and does not establish a contract maximum." Instead, the contract would run for three years with a not-to-exceed amount of $1 million. Carol Rofkar, Assistant Public Works Director for Internal Services, provided the staff perspective on the selection process. She confirmed that "public works purchasing and legal reviewed the bid from SRS and the supportive documents and we feel comfortable moving forward with this bid." The discussion revealed the practical implications of this procurement approach. When Councilmember Anderson asked whether the $115,000 bid amount was tied to specific projects like upcoming work at the Mount Baker Theatre, Rofkar clarified: "it is not tied into it's a hypothetical example so that we can get an hourly rate and understand how their pricing mechanisms work." This exchange highlighted a key aspect of IDIQ contracts — they provide flexibility for unpredictable maintenance needs while establishing predetermined pricing structures. As Anderson followed up, the three-year term operates "on an as needed basis. So hypothetically, there could be a rise in the need for roofing work and we could go through that million in one year or there could be nothing spent until year three." Rofkar agreed, adding pragmatically, "I would be highly surprised if we went through a million dollars in a year." The committee explored the contract's extension provisions, with Anderson asking about the optional one-year renewal mentioned in the documentation. When she inquired whether there was a specific dollar amount tied to the extension and whether it would require council approval, Senior Assistant City Attorney Matt Stamps clarified the administrative nature of such extensions: "I know that wouldn't come back from to council normally I would just be to administrative extension I'll go through full city signatures of the mayor's approval and I don't believe there would be additional dollars. It just be time." This procedural clarification demonstrated the balance between council oversight and administrative efficiency — while the initial contract required council approval, routine extensions that don't involve additional spending authority could be handled administratively. The background context for this contract award, detailed in the staff memo, revealed the city's evolving approach to building maintenance. Previously, the city had executed multiple contracts with multiple contractors for roofing repairs. Due to the varying types, ages, and manufacturers of roofing systems across city buildings, staff had found it "difficult to keep up with the needed required repairs and maintenance for each system." The IDIQ approach represented a solution: "This request seeks to consolidate this work into a single, comprehensive agreement serving to provide centralized on-call maintenance and repairs at competitive prices." This consolidation would theoretically improve response times, reduce administrative overhead, and provide more predictable cost structures for ongoing maintenance. The bidding results showed a competitive field, with SRS Roofing Company's winning bid of $115,185.75 edging out Axiom-Division 7 Inc. at $117,808.84 and Hytech Roofing at $130,150.63. All three bidders were from the local area — SRS from Bellingham and the other two from nearby Lynden — suggesting a robust local contracting market. An important technical detail emerged from the staff presentation: apprenticeship requirements, which typically apply to large public works contracts, do not apply to IDIQ contracts "unless an individual work order executed under the IDIQ contract exceeds the $1 million threshold requiring apprenticeship utilization." This exception reflected the nature of IDIQ work orders, which typically involve smaller, discrete maintenance tasks rather than major construction projects. The funding source — the city's Facilities Fund (530) — indicated that this contract would be supported by dedicated building maintenance resources rather than general fund dollars. This structural detail matters for municipal budgeting, as it demonstrates the city's systematic approach to maintaining its physical assets. After the discussion concluded, Chair Stone called for a motion. The formal language captured the essence of the procurement: "to move to award the contract for bid number 72b-2025 to SRS Roofing Company." The vote was swift and unanimous — all three committee members voted in favor, with Chair Stone noting "that passes 3-0 and I'll bring forward that recommendation this evening." ## Closing & What's Ahead The meeting's brevity — just over four minutes — reflected both the straightforward nature of the agenda item and the committee's confidence in the staff's procurement process. There were no contentious issues, no public testimony, and no procedural complications. It was municipal government functioning as designed: staff doing the technical work of evaluating bids, committee members asking clarifying questions, and elected officials making decisions based on professional recommendations. Chair Stone's closing was equally efficient: "So that is the end of public works and natural resources this afternoon. We will adjourn and then the council will reconvene this evening at seven o'clock." The afternoon's committee work was complete, but the formal approval process would continue that evening when the full council would consider the committee's recommendation. This contract award, while routine in many respects, represented the kind of infrastructure decision-making that keeps a city functioning. Roofs leak, weather causes damage, and buildings require ongoing maintenance. The IDIQ contract provides a mechanism for the city to respond to these needs efficiently, with predetermined pricing and a vetted contractor ready to mobilize when called upon. The unanimous committee approval suggested the recommendation would likely sail through the evening's full council meeting, transforming this brief afternoon discussion into operational reality for the city's building maintenance program. In the world of municipal government, such quiet efficiency often represents success — systems working as intended, with elected officials exercising appropriate oversight while enabling staff to do their jobs effectively.