KANSAS CITY, Missouri (September 8, 2017) — The Burns & McDonnell KCI HOMETOWN Team is pushing back on the City’s disqualification of its proposal to design, build and privately-finance a new single-terminal at KCI airport. According to a memo released by the City’s Selection Committee on Wednesday, committee members disqualified the KCI HOMETOWN Team claiming its financial proposal is inconsistent with the City’s Master Bond Ordinance (MBO). Burns & McDonnell disputes that claim. 

“Our review of the City’s recently released selection criteria memo only raises more questions,” says Mike Brown, vice president, Burns & McDonnell. “Yesterday was the first time we had any indication that the City did not even consider our qualifications due to recommendations from the City’s outside legal and financial consultants. We are baffled by this erroneous technical argument.”

Brown says throughout the proposal, interview and follow-on questions, the KCI HOMETOWN Team clearly stated the proposal met the City’s requirements, and throughout the process reiterated the team would work collaboratively with the City to develop a financing structure that was acceptable to the City and met the requirements of the City’s MBO. The team also provided the City with a written legal opinion from one of the nation’s most respected Bond Counsel law firms confirming that its proposal was compliant with the City’s MBO. Gilmore & Bell provided its opinion confirming the KCI HOMETOWN Team’s compliance with the MBO.

“This is a prime example as to why we believe the City, led by the City Council, must thoroughly review this process and make sure all proposers are properly considered,” says Brown. “This is the time to ensure this process is fair on behalf of the Citizens of Kansas City and thousands of employees represented by the KCI HOMETOWN Team.”

About Burns & McDonnell

Burns & McDonnell is a Kansas City-based firm that’s been committed to the people and growth of our hometown since we were founded in 1898. The 3,000 employee-owners based in Kansas City actively volunteer within the community and have donated millions of dollars to causes that support our great city from United Way to Science City. We are made up of more than 5,700 engineers, architects, construction professionals, scientists, consultants and entrepreneurs with offices across the country and throughout the world. We strive to create amazing success for our clients and amazing careers for our employee-owners. Burns & McDonnell is 100 percent employee-owned and is proud to be No. 16 on Fortune’s 2017 list of 100 Best Companies to Work For.