Mayor Mike Wiggins announced at the June 7, 4:30 p.m press conference at the EOC that the City has hired Hatch Mott MacDonald to monitor BP’s Bayou Chico boom containment operation. The contract was signed yesterday, under City Manager Al Coby’s spending authority without bid.—–11 days after the Pensacola City Council last met.
Mayor Wiggins said that Hatch Mott will be paid with city funds, but the City is negotiating with BP for reimbursement. He said that no decision has been made about the surety bond or cash escrow that BP could be required to pay if the City Council passed an emergency resolution. Wiggins said he has no plans to call a special meeting of the City Council before June 21….but would do so if conditions warrant it.
Today Mayor Wiggins will be participating in a flyover to see the sheen from the air. I assume he will tell the council about it two weeks from now.