Title
MOTION TO AWARD IFB # PSPW-24-03 "CENTRAL CAMPUS CHARTER STAIRWAY REPLACEMENTS" TO THE MOST RESPONSIVE/RESPONSIBLE BIDDER, BEJAR CONSTRUCTION, INC., IN THE AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $575,548.20, WHICH INCLUDES THE COST TO PROVIDE A PAYMENT AND PERFORMANCE BOND IN THE AMOUNT OF $8,650, AND AN OWNER'S CONTINGENCY IN THE AMOUNT OF $51,536.20.
Summary Explanation and Background
PROCUREMENT PROCESS TAKEN:
- Chapter 35 of the City’s Code of Ordinances is titled “PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES, PUBLIC FUNDS.”
- Section 35.15 defines an Invitation for Bid as “A written solicitation for competitive sealed bids with the title, date and hour of the public bid opening designated therein and specifically defining the commodities or services for which bids are sought. The invitation for bid shall be used when the city is capable of specifically defining the scope of work for which a service is required or when the city is capable of establishing 15 precise specifications defining the actual commodities required. The invitation for bid shall include instructions to bidders, plans, drawings and specifications, if any, bid form and other required forms and documents to be submitted with the bid.”
- Section 35.18 of the City's Code of Ordinances is titled "COMPETITIVE BIDDING OR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS REQUIRED; EXCEPTIONS.”
- Section 35.18(A) states, "A purchase of or contracts for commodities or services that is estimated by the Chief Procurement Officer to cost more than $25,000 shall be based on sealed competitive solicitations as determined by the Chief Procurement Officer, except as specifically provided herein."
- Section 35.19 of the City's Code of Ordinances is titled "SEALED COMPETITIVE BIDDING PROCEDURE."
- Section 35.19(A) states "All sealed competitive solicitations as defined in § 35.18 shall be presented to the City Commission for their consideration prior to advertisement."
- Section 35.19(G) states "Contracts shall be awarded to the lowest responsive, responsible bidder, which provides the best value to the city. In determining the “lowest responsive, responsible bidder,” the Chief Procurement Officer shall consider:"
(1) The prices contained in the bid;
(2) The ability, capacity and skill of the bidder to perform the contract or provide the service required;
(3) Whether the bidder can perform the contract or provide the service promptly or within the time specified, without delay or interference;
(4) The character, integrity, reputation, judgment, experience and efficiency of the bidder;
(5) The quality of performance of previous contracts of services, including, but not limited to, city contracts;
(6) The previous and existing compliance by the bidder with laws and ordinances relating to the contract or service;
(7) The sufficiency of the financial resources and ability of the bidder to perform the contract or provide the service;
(8) The quality, availability and adaptability of the commodities or services to the particular use required;
(9) The ability of the bidder to provide future maintenance and service for the use of the subject of the contract;
(10) The number and scope of conditions attached to the bid;
(11) The overall cost to the city;
(12) Whether the bidder is involved in any pending litigation with the city; and/or
(13) The best interests of the city.
- Section 35.21 of the City's Code of Ordinances is titled "AWARD OF CONTRACT."
- Section 35.21(A) of the City's Code of Ordinances is titled "City Commission approval.”
- Section 35.21(A)(1) states, "An initial purchase of, or contract for, commodities or services, in excess of $25,000, shall require the approval of the City Commission, regardless of whether the competitive bidding or competitive proposal procedures were followed."
- Section 35.38 of the City's Code of Ordinances is titled "Bid Protest Procedures.”
- Section 35.38(E) states “The complete written protest must be filed with the Purchasing Manager within ten calendar days of the issuance of the notice of bid action.”
- Section 35.38(E)(7) states “A bid protest bond in the form of a certified check, cashier’s check, or money order made payable to the City of Pembroke Pines in an amount equal to 5% of the protester’s bid or $5,000, whichever is less. If the protest is upheld by the city, the bond will be refunded to the protester. If the protest is denied, the entire bond amount shall be forfeited to the city.
- Section 35.38(F) states “ Upon receipt of a timely filled and complete formal written protest, the Purchasing Manager shall stay the award of the purchase order or contract until the protest is resolved, unless the Purchasing Manager determines in writing that compelling circumstances exist which require that the award be processed without further delay, in order to protect the city’s interest or for the purpose of avoiding an immediate and serious danger to the public health, safety or welfare.”
- Section 35.38(G) states “After receipt of the timely filed and complete written protest, and upon the protester’s request, the Purchasing Manager shall meet with the protester to discuss the allegations and to attempt to resolve the matter. The Purchasing Manager shall issue his or her decision on the protest within 14 calendar days of the meeting, or if no meeting is requested, within 14 days of receipt of the timely filed and complete written protest. Such decision shall be e-mailed to the protester on the date of issuance unless otherwise directed by the protester.”
SUMMARY EXPLANATION AND BACKGROUND:
1. On February 21, 2024, the City Commission authorized the advertisement of IFB # PSPW-24-03 "Central Campus Charter Stairway Replacements", which was advertised on February 29, 2024.
2. As stated in Section 1.2 "Purpose," of the bid package, "The City of Pembroke Pines is seeking proposals from qualified firms, hereinafter referred to as the Contractor, to complete the replacement of existing metal stairways with new concrete stairways located at the City of Pembroke Pines Central Campus Charter School, in accordance with the terms, conditions, and specifications contained in this solicitation.”
3. On April 2, 2024, the City opened six (6) proposals from the following vendors, listed below in ascending order:
|
|
Base |
Payment & |
Total Cost |
|
|
Project |
Performance |
With |
|
Vendor |
Cost |
Bonds |
Bonds |
|
WSN Construction LLC |
$455,800.00 |
$14,200.00 |
$470,000.00 |
|
Bejar Construction, Inc. |
$515,362.00 |
$8,650.00 |
$524,012.00 |
|
TECHGROUPONE, Inc |
$580,651.74 |
$14,516.30 |
$595,168.04 |
|
Conengineers Builders LLC |
$636,964.07 |
$5,172.35 |
$642,136.42 |
|
Perez-Borroto Construction LLC |
$641,978.00 |
$12,839.58 |
$654,817.58 |
|
dba TrueBuild Group |
|
|
|
|
Panizza Construction Services Corp |
$669,526.16 |
$17,150.46 |
$686,676.62 |
4. On April 17, 2024, the Public Services Department and the Procurement Department held a pre-award meeting via a phone call with the lowest bidder, WSN Construction, LLC, to discuss their bid submittal. As a result of this meeting, the Public Services Department identified a number of concerns with awarding WSN Construction, LLC for this project.
5. Two days prior to the pre-award meeting, and as discussed in the pre-award meeting, WSN Construction, LLC advised that they would be changing their Project Manager, which they had originally intended to utilize for this project to a new Project Manager. The change of project managers before a project commences raises concerns about the company's ability to maintain consistency in its project management approach, potentially impacting timelines and deliverables for an important project that has a tight deadline that can impact the Charter Schools ability to re-open and function at the end of summer.
6. Section 1.4 “Project Cost Estimate & Timeline,” of the bid package, outlines the strict timeline constraint for the completion of the stairwells during the school’s two-month summer break.
The Public Services Department strategically schedules numerous construction projects at the City's various Charter Schools over Summer Break to ensure minimal disruption to the education of charter school students and faculty. This deliberate timing allows for the completion of essential infrastructure enhancements without interfering with the academic calendar. Completing construction work during the summer break is paramount for several reasons. Firstly, it minimizes disruptions to the daily operations of the charter school, providing students and faculty with an uninterrupted learning environment. Additionally, it ensures the safety of all individuals on campus by avoiding construction-related hazards during regular school hours. Delays in project completion could potentially jeopardize the school's ability to open on schedule, impacting educational continuity and causing undue stress for students, parents, and faculty members.
Even though the summer break period is always a tight timeline to complete these projects, this summer break will be even tighter as the School Board of Broward County passed a motion to start the School Year earlier, on August 12th, which results in eleven less days of summer break when compared to last year. For this summer break, the last day of school for students and teachers is June 11, 2024 and teachers will return on August 5, 2024 and students will be returning on August 12, 2024. As a result, demolition/construction work in Central Campus shall begin on June 12, 2024, and the Contractor must achieve substantial completion no later than the first day of School on August 12, 2024.
For this reason, the Public Services Department does not deem it appropriate to award a vendor who will have to deploy a traveling team for this project. WSN Construction, LLC's does not have a local crew that will work on this project and they are proposing to have a crew that will be traveling from North Florida and temporarily lodging in South Florida during the week and then heading back home to North Florida every weekend, which may pose logistical issues and hinder the ability for Central Campus to open in time with the Broward County Public Schools 2024-2025 School Year Calendar, which could disrupt the City’s Charter Schools and the student body.
7. Section 1.3.2 “General Requirements,” of the bid package, states “The minimum experience required as a licensed General Contractor is five (5) years for these projects. Contractor shall provide proof of previous experience demonstrating aptitude and ability with the complexity of these projects.”
As stated in WSN’s bid submittal, the company has been in business since 2020, and the effective date of their registration with the State of Florida is June 15, 2020, which is less than four years of experience as a firm/Contractor.
WSN Construction, LLC. indicated that it plans to use Luis E. Roca’s Certified General Contractor (CGC) License qualify them for this project, however per the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation website, Mr. Roca has only been qualifying WSN for Construction Business effective from February 23, 2024, which only two days after the City Commission approved for this project to be advertised and is also only approximately two months ago.
WSN Construction, LLC. expressed that “Luis E Roca has been licensed since 1977 and is grandfathered in within the state.”
The Procurement Department advised WSN Construction, LLC. that as stated in the Section 1.2 of the bid package that the “qualified firm” is referred to as the “Contractor” and the firm would need to provide proof of previous experience demonstrating aptitude and ability with the complexity of these projects with their staff, not just utilizing the previous experience of Mr. Roca as their qualifying CGC that has only been qualifying them since February 23, 2024.
However, WSN Construction, LLC. has not provided sufficient proof to the City as of yet.
8. Section 1.5.2(4) “References Form,” of the bid package, states that bidders shall “provide specific examples of similar contracts delivered by the proposed team members. Provide details on related projects (preferably where the team was the same). A minimum of 3 references should be from the last five years and should be capable of explaining and confirming your firm’s capacity to successfully complete the scope of work outlined herein. As part of the proposal evaluation process, the City may conduct an investigation of references, including a record check or consumer affairs complaints. Proposers’ submission of a proposal constitutes acknowledgment of the process and consent to investigate. The City is the sole judge in determining Proposers qualifications.”
WSN Construction, LLC. listed the following references in their bid submittal:
|
Name of Firm |
Nature of the firm’s responsibility on the project |
|
D.R. Horton Homes |
Shell Contractor |
|
Talquin Electric Cooperative Inc. |
Construction and maintenance of infrastructure facilities |
|
Rafuls & Associates |
General Contractor |
|
Arbor Construction |
Infrastructure/Site Work |
|
Old Field Plantation LLC |
Infrastructure/Site Work |
The Procurement Department e-mailed all of the listed references and asked for them to complete a “Reference Check Form,” however the City only received a written response from Old Field Plantation LLC. and D.R. Horton Homes which completed the requested Reference Check Form, however the completed forms do not go into details of what projects and services WSN provided to the firms.
Furthermore, the Procurement Department, with the Public Services Department, called all five of the listed references and was only able to get in contact with the following references:
- Talquin Electric Cooperative Inc. - The reference explained that WSN Construction, LLC. is their general servicing contractor and they are in the second year of their agreement and they do mostly water main repairs, service taps, meter installations, and they have done some concrete work such as driveway removals and sidewalks.
- Rafuls & Associates - The reference explained that they are currently building a generator facility room and WSN Construction, LLC. is currently being used as a sub-contractor on that project to lay the concrete slab of the generator facility room. In addition, they stated that they originally met WSN Construction, LLC. while they were building a lift station for the City of Doral. The Procurement Department and Public Services Department reached out to the City of Doral, and they stated that they didn’t recognize the vendor’s name and said that they may have been a sub-contractor on a project, however they did not have a record of their work.
None of the references indicated that WSN Construction has performed any vertical construction similar to the City’s stairway project.
In addition, WSN Construction, LLC.’s bid submittal listed their company’s website as wsnconstructionllc.com <https://wsnconstructionllc.com>, which states “Everything from the Ground Down Prep your building site right with WSN Construction” and lists their services as “Land Clearing, Preliminary Sitework, Underground Utilities, Metal Fabrication, and Asphalt & Concrete.” The Asphalt & Concrete section of their website also references that they “install concrete and asphalt to define the space, facilitate pedestrian and vehicle movement, and offer drainage solutions” and “can create a wide array of concrete surfaces for everything from private and commercial driveways to curbs, gutters, and sidewalks.”
Concerned that WSN Construction, LLC. was primarily a sitework contractor that may not be able to complete the stairway project, the Public Services Department requested for the Procurement Department to reach out to WSN to get additional information on their references and details about other projects in which they may have performed vertical construction more in line with the stairway project that they were bidding on.
WSN responded stating that “Regarding the experience, I believe we provided you with enough references that contain much more complicated structural jobs than the scope of work at hand for this project.”
As a result, the Procurement Department followed up with WSN stating that “As per our previous email, we are asking to please elaborate on the nature of the firm's responsibility on the projects listed as references, as what was provided does not provide sufficient details, or appear to reference similar vertical work as the scope for this project.”
WSN followed up by providing general comments regarding their past work experience and referred to additional projects such as a bridge work project for FDOT, however they did not provide any additional reference contact information and stated that “[…] WSN bid on this job because we are expanding our footprint in the local public sector in South Florida given our current presence in the private sector already. Our CGC Qualifier is based out of South Florida therefore it made sense for us to apply to the municipalities and begin to bid in that region.”
As of the drafting of this agenda item, the City has not been able to speak to WSN’s other references and WSN still has not provided any additional contact for references in which the City can contact to confirm their previous experience so that they City can verify if they have performed similar work in the past, and as a result the Public Services Department has deemed that the references provided by WSN Construction, LLC are not similar to the scope of work listed in the IFB.
9. As a result of the past experience with other low-priced vendors, such as Kalex Construction & Development Inc., failing to perform and complete projects in tight timelines, the Public Services Department is more vigilant in the vetting process of new vendors to ensure that they have the necessary experience and qualifications to ensure that the City does not end up in a similar situation in which a low-vendor is awarded based on price and then fails to perform in the required time frame, resulting in impacts to the City, Charter School Students, faculty and parents, along with resulting in increased cost to bring other vendors in to complete the projects that were left incomplete by the low-priced vendor.
10. After careful consideration, the Public Services Department decided not to award the lowest priced bidder, WSN, due to concerns about changing project managers, logistical issues with a traveling team versus having local staffing, and insufficient proof of experience and references relating to the project's scope. Instead, they recommended Bejar Construction, LLC, the second lowest priced bidder, which has proven experience and successful completion of similar projects including the concrete stairway project for the Academic Village Charter School Campus that was completed during the previous summer break in preparation for the 2023-2024 school year and has proved to be able to handle this complex scope of work under a short time constraint and avoid disruptions to the City’s Charter Schools and the student body.
11. The Public Services Department and the Procurement Department reviewed the bid submitted by Bejar Construction, Inc. and has deemed them to be the most responsive/responsible bidder.
12. In addition, Bejar Construction, Inc. has completed the Equal Benefits Certification Form and has stated that the "Contractor currently complies with the requirements of this section."
13. The Public Services Department has included an owner’s contingency in the amount of $51,536.20 for any unforeseen expenses related to this project.
14. On April 22, 2024, the Procurement Department notified WSN that they will be moving forward with another vendor and issued a Notice of Intent to Award Bejar Construction, LLC. on the City’s e-procurement platform, Bonfire, which also notifies all of the members of the public that have submitted bids for the project and have engaged with the item on the Bonfire e-Procurement platform.
15. Administration presented an agenda item to the award IFB # PSPW-24-03 "Central Campus Charter Stairway Replacements” to Bejar Construction, LLC at the May 1, 2024 Commission meeting, however the item was pulled by Administration as WSN submitted a bid protest.
16. As a result of the Bid Protest, and as requested by WSN, on May 1, 2024 the Procurement Director scheduled and confirmed a Bid Protest Meeting with WSN for Monday, May 6, 2024.
17. However, on May 2, 2024, WSN contacted the Procurement Director and advised that after they spoke with their own key staff members, they have decided to retract their bid protest and subsequently confirmed that they are withdrawing the protest and formally terminating the protest proceedings.
18. The award of this project was already delayed due to WSN’s bid protest and subsequent withdrawal of said protest. Given the project’s stringent timeline, it is imperative to award this project as soon as possible to give the awarded vendor ample time to complete any necessary preparatory work. Preparatory work includes procuring supplies, scheduling staff, and completing essential steps in the permit process in order to start construction on time. This not only facilitates adherence to the stringent completion deadline but also mitigates the risk of potential delays caused by logistical or administrative challenges.
19. As a result, Administration is requesting Commission to award IFB # PSPW-24-03 "Central Campus Charter Stairway Replacements” to the most responsive/responsible bidder, Bejar Construction, LLC, in the amount not to exceed $575,548.20, which includes the cost to provide a Payment and Performance Bond in the amount of $8,650, and an owner's contingency in the amount of $51,536.20.
Financial Impact
FINANCIAL IMPACT DETAIL:
a) Initial Cost: Amount not to exceed $575,548.20, which includes the cost to provide a Payment and Performance Bond in the amount of $8,650, and an owner's contingency in the amount of $51,536.20.
b) Amount budgeted for this item in Account No: Funds are available in Account # 001-519-6001-546155-0000-000-0000 (R&M - Land Bldg - SCH Major Proj)
c) Source of funding for difference, if not fully budgeted: Not Applicable.
d) 5 year projection of the operational cost of the project: Not Applicable.
e) Detail of additional staff requirements: Not Applicable.
FEASIBILITY REVIEW:
A feasibility review is required for the award, renewal and/or expiration of all function sourcing contracts. This analysis is to determine the financial effectiveness of function sourcing services.
a) Was a Feasibility Review/Cost Analysis of Out-Sourcing vs. In-House Labor Conducted for this service? Not Applicable.
b) If Yes, what is the total cost or total savings of utilizing Out-Sourcing vs. In-House Labor for this service? Not Applicable.