Now that city officials have taken the first steps to having a downtown parking garage, a local architect firm was hired earlier this week to begin creating the scope of work statement to describe the requirements contractors will have to meet when bidding on the project.

Howorth & Associates were hired by the Oxford Board of Aldermen Tuesday at the rate of about $1,000 a day with the document expected to be complete within 30 days.

Howorth & Associates Architects will work with the city’s designated representative from Public Works Department the plan that will describe the dual-phase design-build method of construction contracting method. The firm will prepare the required conceptual design drawings and documents to describe the proposed parking garage in order for the city to solicit offers from design-build teams.

As a part of their work, the firm will include a Soils Survey, providing a description of the geotechnical profile of the site, which, in their proposal, Howorth & Associates say will enable the design-build teams to have more accurate provisions for excavation and foundation costs for the garage.

The Soils Survey will cost an additional $9,000.

Specific architectural information in the scope of work statement will include, but not necessarily be limited to: a site plan showing building location, topography, adjacent buildings, and utilities; representative building floor plans with major dimension lines; diagrammatic building sections indicating ramp slopes and clearance requirements; and building elevations indicating material preferences, scale, relationship to context, and other information pertinent to the project, the proposal states.

Howorth & Associates said they anticipate completing the scope of work statement within 30 days. If they do not complete it within that time, their fee will be reduced by $500 a day, unless there is a delay that is not at the fault of the architectural firm.

The aldermen approved Howorth’s proposal in a 6 to 1 vote, with Aldermen Janice Antonow being the dissenting vote, during their regular meeting on Tuesday at City Hall.