BIDDEFORD — In a narrow vote, the Biddeford City Council granted initial approval to a $425,776 contract with out-of-state consulting firm Desman Design Management for the site evaluation and design of a downtown parking facility on Tuesday.

The council voted 5-4, with Mayor Alan Casavant breaking a tie, to authorize the first reading of the contract with Desman, which has nine offices across the country including one in Boston, for the design of the parking structure.

City Councilors Laura Seaver, Michael Ready, Michael Swanton and John McCurry voted against the contract. Councilor Marc Lessard was excused.

In February, the council voted 8-1 to authorize city staff to negotiate an engineering contract with consulting firm Desman Design Management, which has nine offices across the country including one in Boston, for the site evaluation and design of a downtown parking facility.

City Manager Jim Bennett presented the contract — which calls for the site evaluation, design, preparation of construction documents, permit approvals and construction administration for a downtown parking garage — on Tuesday evening.

According to council documents, following council approval Bennett will also contract with Desman for additional services deemed necessary for construction.

Those services include bid support for $5,000; on-site construction support in the amount of $52,000; $23,400 for geotechnical review; independent testing for $35,000; and site surveys for $10,000.

Under the contract, Desman would be allowed to hire subcontractors for such services if the firm is not able to accomplish them on its own. However, if this does not prove cost-effective for the city, Bennett may solicit such services through competitive bidding instead of contracting with Desman.

This firm does not have the in-house capability to perform some of those services,” Bennett said. “Staff has asked to give permission … to competitively bid that subcontract work.”

Bennett said this is particularly of interest because, since the firm is from out of state, the city may be able to bid local subcontractors for less than Desman might.

City Councilor Michael Ready said he did not agree with the council’s order, saying he thinks all subcontracting work should be bid out rather than chosen by the engineering firm.

“I think it’s important to follow the bidding protocol,” he said. “While I support the company that’s been selected for the services … I’m not in favor of going around the bidding process.”

Councilor Laura Seaver said she did not agree with approving $10,000 for site surveys, saying that work should have already been completed prior to the design stage.

City Engineer Tom Milligan said Tuesday such services were associated costs in addition to design costs, and that work on those items would not exceed the indicated amounts — and might be significantly less, should the work not need be performed, or done at a lower cost.

“Those items were provided in the initial bid. We asked all respondents to provide us those initial costs … but they were not design costs, they were associated costs,” he said. “They were included but technically they are separate items. … all firms that did respond provided similar numbers as far as a complete packages.”

The project cost under the council’s authorization will total $551,176 if all additional tasks are completed, according to council documents.

The council gave approval in November to seek proposals for the design of a downtown parking structure, which city officials stress is necessary for furthering the city’s economic development opportunities.

Four other companies submitted proposals to the city for the design of a downtown parking structure, the others being Oak Point Associates of Biddeford; OES Associates of New York City; Platz Associates of Auburn; and Winton Scott Architects, based in Portland.

A committee of five members, appointed by Mayor Alan Casavant and headed by Milligan, interviewed each firm extensively, finding Desman Design to be the most “qualified and responsive firm.” The committee recommended the company for council approval, according to the Department of Public Works.

City officials plan to take out a revenue bond to fund the project, which would be paid back through user fees to the garage. If necessary, the city plans to draw funds from its tax-increment financing, or TIF, account to fund construction.

There would be no effect on tax rates, city officials said, which was enough to garner a “yes” vote from Councilor Stephen St. Cyr.

“I’m trying to get comfortable with the need for a garage in the first place … but our current and future development is at least partly contingent on our ability to provide parking,” he said. “At least, for the time being, this isn’t impacting the property tax rate, and I will support it.

The council is expected to make a final decision on the design contract at a later date.

— Staff Writer Alan Bennett can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or [email protected].