In February 2017, the Town of Miami Lakes received approval for Local Agency Program (“LAP”) recertification, allowing the Town to perform all associated activities of the Federal-Aid Highway Program (“FHWA”), including, but not limited to, Title VI compliance, ADA compliance, grant management and fiscal accountability, procurement of professional service and construction administration in adherence to all federal and state requirements. This certification provides the Town access to federal monies through the LAP to fund local roadway improvement projects. The Town anticipates several current and future LAP projects that will require FDOT-approved construction engineering and inspection consultants to provide construction administration in accordance with LAP regulatory requirements; however, pursuant to the LAP certification requirements the Town is required to outsource construction engineering services and local agency resident compliance.

The Services to be provided under this contract will meet the State requirement and consist of project specific construction engineering and inspection services for the Town on an as needed basis for current and future projects, especially those projects utilizing federal funds. Pursuant to Florida Statutes 287.055, the Consultants' Competitive Negotiation Act (“CCNA”), projects issued under the awarded contract are limited to those in which the construction cost is under $2 million.

The Town issued Request for Qualifications (“RFQ”) 2018-09 for Miscellaneous Construction Engineering & Inspection Services on November 15, 2017. The RFQ was advertised in the Miami Daily Business Review, posted to DemandStar, Public Purchase, and posted in the Government Center Lobby.

To qualify for award, prospective Proposers were required to:

1. Be a State of Florida licensed Engineering firm or be a licensed Engineering firm in any other State provided the firm possesses a Certificate of Authorization to offer Engineering services in the State of Florida;

2. Is FDOT prequalified for the following work types:

a. 10.1 – Roadway Construction Engineering Inspection,

b. 10.3 – Construction Materials Inspection,

c. 10.4 – Minor Bridge and Miscellaneous Structures, and

d. 9.3 – Highway Materials Testing;

3. Possesses a minimum of seven (7) years' experience in performing similar work; and

4. Has a Resident Compliance Specialist on staff to assist on LAP projects; and

5. Has provided CEI Services on at least five (5) LAP projects in the past seven (7) years.

On the date of the proposal deadline, December 15, 2017, we received six (6) proposals from the following Proposers:

1. R.J. Behar & Company, Inc. (“RJB”)

2. WSP USA, Inc. (“WSP”)

3. AE Engineering, Inc. (“AE”)

4. Creative Engineering Group, Inc. (“CEG”)

5. Calvin, Giordano & Associates, Inc. (“CGA”)

6. New Millennium Engineering, Inc. (“Millennium”)

Procurement performed a due diligence review of the proposals for responsiveness and found three of the six proposals were non-responsive. Those proposals, submitted by AE, CEG, and Millennium, were deemed non-responsive for defects in the proposal such as missing elements, or for failing to meet the minimum qualification requirements. All three proposals did not include the requisite number of references for completed LAP projects to qualify for award.

The review of remaining proposals did not reveal any material defects in the proposals, nor in the Proposers' qualifications. Each Proposer has been in business for more than seven years, they are appropriately licensed to do the work, were prequalified in the correct work types, had resident compliance specialists on staff, and provided references for at least five (5) LAP projects. Procurement did not find any issues that would indicate any of the remaining Proposers were incapable of performing the Work.

An Evaluation Committee was appointed, comprised of the following members:

1. Carmen Olazabal, Consultant, 4CityConsulting, Inc.

2. Tony Lopez, Chief of Operations, Town of Miami Lakes

3. Carlos Acosta, Public Works Director, Town of Miami Lakes

4. Vanessa Delgado, Public Works Manager, Town of Miami Lakes

The Evaluation Committee was provided the responsive proposals and met on January 6, 2018, to evaluate and rank the proposals. At the conclusion of this meeting, the Evaluation Committee moved to establish the following ranking:

1. RJB – 410 points

2. CGA – 353 points

3. WSP – 342 points

RJB, the highest-ranked Proposer, is a small business enterprise with approximately 36 employees. The firm has been in business for over 17 years and has had little employee turnover in that time. RJB has completed over 40 federally funded projects administrated by the FHWA, including LAP and Federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act projects. Each of the proposed members of RJB's team are certified under FDOT's Construction Training Qualification Program and are familiar with all of the required contract provisions for Federal-Aid construction contracts, including all monitoring and reporting requirements, contract and project billing documentation, and ensuring accurate and timely LAP reimbursement through FDOT.

The Evaluation Committee noted that RJB's proposal demonstrated a strong understanding of local Miami-Dade CIP projects and provided the most tailored approach specific to the Town's future plans. RJB's proposal also included a strong team of key personnel. Each member of the team possessed strong qualifications, many having over 20 years of experience, and had worked together on several past projects, demonstrating unique team cohesion.

Based on the Evaluation Committee's established ranking, it is recommended that the Town Council authorize the Town Manager award a contract to R.J. Behar & Company, Inc. for Miscellaneous Construction Engineering & Inspection Services in an amount not to exceed budgeted funds. In the event an agreement cannot be reached with the top-ranked Proposer, it is further recommended that the Town Manager terminate negotiations, and instead, proceed with negotiations with each of the next highest-ranked Proposers in order until an agreement can be reached.