The Chaska City Council has authorized contract negotiations with CNH Architects for architectural and engineering services and construction management services for the new public safety facility.

CNH has completed fire stations in Burnsville, Plymouth and Mendota Heights, as well as the police station in Apple Valley, and is working on combined city hall/police department projects in Burnsville and Mendota Heights, according to a so-called “request for action” document reviewed by the council March 6.

“We’re a midsize firm, with that we lead projects all the way through, and that’s something that we feel is really important for our approach to a project, rather than passing on the project after the early design to somebody else,” said Quinn Hutson, a principal architect at CNH.

Hutson added that over half the work CNH does is in the municipal sector.

The request for action document, which can be found in that meeting’s agenda packet, also states that the total fee for CNH’s proposal, plus reimbursables, is $2,063,690. The entire budget of the project is $41 million.

“We think it’s going to be a really good fit for how we move forward and actually get this project developed,” City Administrator Matt Podhradsky said at the meeting.

In the first round of interviews, Podhradsky said that employees from building maintenance, police and fire, along with department heads, were involved in giving recommendations on how to whittle the 10 architectural firms that applied down to three.

As for next steps, the upcoming few weeks will consist of contract negotiations, followed by schematic designs March through June, design development June through September, finalizing contract documents October through January 2024 and bidding and contract negotiations February through March 2024, with construction starting in spring 2024 to fall 2025.

“Once the architect is selected, then engagement with the City Council and the community will be defined and added into the timeline, as will the planning review process that is expected with any development,” the action document reads.

Podhradsky noted that outside of engaging with those who live directly around the public safety complex, it will be important to be “designing the space to be able to connect with the community on a real deliberate basis.”