BRADENTON BEACH – City commissioners took issue with multiple provisions of a proposed parking lot management contract between the city and Shawn Kaleta-owned Beach to Bay Investments Inc., opting to continue the discussion at a Tuesday, July 16 meeting.
At a March 7 commission meeting, commissioners unanimously approved a bid from Beach to Bay Investments, the sole bidder for RFP 2024-03, to manage the existing parking lot between Church and Highland Avenues by the Public Works Department in a 50/50 split partnership with the city.
City Attorney Ricinda Perry read the terms of the proposed contract to commissioners on June 20 and several of the provisions raised concerns among the commission.
One of the sticking points was a clause that stated in part, “All decisions as to changes, charges and rates, and the timing and modification of same during the term of this Agreement and extensions or renewals of same shall be made by the operator (Beach to Bay) in its sole discretion.”
Commissioner Ralph Cole said that stipulation conflicted with his recollection of the discussion of parking rates at the March meeting and he requested time to review the audio recording.
“I thought we had thoroughly discussed pricing in March,” Cole said.
“I hate to say this to a client, but an open-ended determination of the cost was agreed upon by the city,” Perry said. “Nothing in the RFP said it was capped. We’d have damages if we walked away.”
At the March 7 Commission meeting, the following discussion took place.
Mayor John Chappie said, “We’d like to look at a cap on what we charge per hour.”
Pricing would change during the time of the year, Beach to Bay Investment representative Sam Negrin said.
Commissioner Jan Vosburgh asked what the parking rates would be and Negrin said that was open to discussion with the city.
“That’s something we could certainly put a cap on,” Negrin said. “I don’t know what we’re going to charge there yet. The lot across from Beach House charges $5-$10 an hour, so I think it will be somewhere in that range.”
Cole said he would like to know what the hourly charges are in order to make a determination as to which of three offered partnership plans to accept.
Some of the other issues discussed by commissioners at the June 20 meeting were the costs to the city for termination of the agreement.
“Either party shall have the right to terminate this agreement with or without cause upon providing 30 days’ notice to the other party,” according to the agreement proposal.
Beach to Bay Investments will be improving the city-owned parking lot with paving and striping, landscaping, clearing of the lot, signage and installation of lighting and security cameras.
A discussion ensued as to when the city’s obligation for reimbursement for the improvements would be ended in the event of a termination of the agreement.
“We need to have a good number for the cost of the improvements,” Cole said. “I need to see all the numbers before the contract is signed.”
“We can come up with a number the city is comfortable with,” Negrin said at the meeting. “It can be made more specific.”
Perry said she had an issue with indemnification and insurance.
“They want to cap it at $250,000,” Perry said. “Our agreement with John Horne at AMOB is $1 million per occurrence. I have an issue with indemnification and insurance. That’s very important.”
Perry suggested resuming the contract discussion at a future meeting.
“Let’s carry this on to the next meeting,” Chappie said.
A motion to continue the discussion to the July 16 meeting was made by Commissioner Jan Vosburgh and seconded by Cole. The motion passed unanimously.
