The Sammamish City Council took the next step in constructing a Community & Aquatic Center Tuesday night, selecting Colorado-based Barker Rinker Seacat Architecture to handle the design phase of the project.

The council voted 5-1 to approve the consultant, with only John Curley opposed.

“I think they do a very thorough job of determining what makes a good community center and what doesn’t,” Mayor Tom Odell said. “I believe that they are by far ahead of the No. 2.”

BRS was selected in 2011 as the prime consultant for the Community & Aquatic Center Feasibility Study — a proposal that started out as a $70 million project, before being trimmed to the current $30 project.

Council member Nancy Whitten said the original high cost drew concern from her, but also admitted the council should have set better parameters before BRS started its original design.

City manager Ben Yazici said the city will be keeping a close eye on all aspects of the project to prevent cost overrun.

“They will be proposing a design and schematics and at every phase of this thing we will be making sure it fits the budget,” he said.

A written report from Yazici said it takes a minimum of 12 months to design and permit a building of the Community & Aquatic Center’s magnitude. The city hopes to start construction in the summer of 2014.