After Evelyn presented this proposal, Wells considered it for a moment, nodded, and jotted it down in his notebook.
This concession softened Paxton's posture slightly. He took the initiative to speak. "We can see Pennsylvania's sincerity regarding the pricing."
Evelyn ignored the emotional undercurrent of his words and asked directly, "Since the pricing framework is accepted, what adjustments need to be made to the operation and maintenance contract terms?"
Paxton and Margaret exchanged a glance. Margaret pulled out an internally prepared term comparison chart and began listing their proposed revisions item by item. "There are only two core revisions.
"First, a clause linking the base operation and maintenance fee rate to inflation must be added. It should be adjusted according to the inflation rate every three years to prevent the actual purchasing power of the fee from shrinking drastically twenty years from now.
