The Anna Maria Island Sun Newspaper

Vol. 14 No. 32 - June 4, 2014

FEATURE

Second firm joins pier bid protest

Anna Maria Island Sun News Story

joe hendricks | sun

The far end of the Bradenton Beach City Pier
will remain closed and out of service as the
debate over who will do the work continues.

 

BRADENTON BEACH – Tampa Bay Marine Inc. has joined Pac Comm in protesting the city commission’s decision to award the city pier reconstruction project to Sarasota-based Duncan Seawall & Dock.

Last week, the city received a letter from Tampa Bay Marine General Manager Chris Theriot.

“Article 6.03 states that the bid will be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder. I believe we were the lowest responsible bidder,” his letter states.

Theriot concluded by saying, “I believe that per your bid documents that Tampa Bay Marine should be awarded this contract as the lowest responsible bidder. Please reconsider your decision to award this contract to Duncan because they are not the lowest responsible bidder per the bid documents given to bid your project.”

Tampa Bay Marine did not send a representative to the May 22 commission meeting that resulted in Duncan being selected as the commission’s contractor of choice, and Pac Comm presenting the city with a protest document prepared in advance.

Last week, the city also received a letter from Duncan Seawall Managing Member Steve Liebel. Liebel attended the May 22 commission meeting and spoke on behalf of the company.

In his letter, he wrote, “We were not the low bidder for this project, but we were awarded the contract because of our experience and proven manpower capacity to complete the project on time. We expect to have 29 men on this project during the peak of construction,”

Liebel’s letter contests Pac Comm’s claim that it can do the job in 100 days using an eight-person crew, as opposed to the 175-day timeline projected by Duncan.

The wide variances in job completion estimates factored into the Pier Team advisory board and Building Official Steve Gilbert’s recommendation that the commission select either Duncan or Tampa Bay Marine.

Pac Comm submitted the lowest base bid, $1,041,043, and the lowest bid with additional options, $1,258.543.

Tampa Bay Marine’s base bid was $1,237,487 and $1,494,334 with options.

At $1,309,452, Duncan Seawall submitted the highest base bid of three firms still competing for the contract, and its bid with options was also the highest of the three at $1,746,679.

The bid evaluation document prepared for the city by ZNS ranked Pac Comm the highest, followed by Tampa Bay Marine and Duncan Seawall.

Bids received by Shoreline Foundation and Russell Marine were not given serious consideration at the May meeting.

Mayor Bill Shearon and Commissioners Jack Clarke and Ed Straight voted in favor of Duncan, While Vice Mayor Janie Robertson and Commissioner Jan Vosburgh opposed it.

Staff’s previous interactions with Duncan contributed to commission’s decision to go with Duncan.

The bid protests, and the possibility of issuing a new request for proposal (RFP) for the pier construction project contract, were expected to be discussed at the Wednesday’s Pier Team meeting.

City officials originally expected the pier reconstruction to begin on Monday. Due to the bid protests, the process is now on indefinite hold. If the dispute winds up in court, the reconstruction could be delayed until next year.


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