BANGOR – City councilors entered negotiations Monday with Strategic Management Group, a Philadelphia firm that specializes in managing and constructing public assembly facilities, such as the Bangor Auditorium and Civic Center and the downtown arena the city hopes soon will succeed it.

They also awarded a contract for the next phase of improvements at Bangor Riverpark on the Penobscot, as the city’s waterfront is now known, and conducted a first reading on the proposed budget for the coming fiscal year.

During the meeting, councilors were introduced to SMG’s senior vice president of development, Joe Briglia, and Harry Cann, executive director of operations.

“It’s emerging [markets] like Bangor that our future really lies in,” Briglia said, before launching into an overview of his company’s history and what it would bring to Bangor.

He noted that while SMG would take on a management role, existing and future facilities would belong to the city.

“We work for you,” he said. “We provide the horsepower. You folks steer the ship.”

A nationally known industry leader with assets totaling $146.5 million, SMG was one of five companies that answered the city’s call for proposals from firms interested in managing the city’s auditorium, civic center and the Bangor State Fair. The deal also would involve managing a new facility to be built downtown.

The management currently operates nearly 160 public assembly venues, including 65 arenas, seven stadiums, 31 performing arts centers, 45 convention centers and 10 other recreational facilities.

Some New England venues SMG manages are the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, N.H., the Tsongas Arena in Lowell, Mass., and the Worcester Centrum and Convention Center in Worcester, Mass. It also is helping to develop several facilities now under construction in the United States and Canada.

SMG has proposed an annual management fee of $75,000 for the first three years, with the condition that increased revenues offset that fee, according to City Manager Edward Barrett. The management fee is among the terms and conditions to be worked out in negotiations.

Also Monday, councilors awarded a nearly $1.9 million contract for improvements on Railroad Street to Sargent & Sargent, which submitted the lower of two bids the city received.

The Railroad Street project is part of the city’s waterfront redevelopment master plan.

City Engineer Jim Ring said the Hampden company has worked for the city before and is “eager to begin.” He noted that work will have to stop for the National Folk Festival, set for Aug. 22-24.

A $1.2 million grant from the federal Economic Development Administration will cover most of the cost. The balance will come from state and local coffers.

The first three project areas, Front Street, Railroad Street and the water’s edge, are fully funded.

The waterfront construction program began last year on Front Street. Changes in store this year include the straightening of Railroad Street to provide for unobstructed views of the Penobscot River from Main Street, new sidewalks, landscaping, storm drain and utility work.

Among the results of this summer’s work, Ring said, will be a “real gateway treatment” for the street, located roughly in the center of the waterfront project area. That treatment, he said, will include sculptures and granite icons set into the sidewalk.

Councilors also conducted a first reading on Bangor’s budget plan for the coming fiscal year, which begins July 1. A second reading and approval will take place later this month.

Proposed is a $68.8 million combined city and school budget that more or less maintains the current level of services.

As things stand, the municipal budget proposal amounts to $34.8 million, up 2.9 percent from this year. The $34 million education budget plan shows a similar increase, up 2.6 percent.