On June 7, 2016, the Town Council authorized the purchase of an emergency generator through a National Joint Powers Alliance (“NJPA”) contract with Pantropic Power. Recently, Town staff has issued the PO to Pantropic Power to initiate the fabrication of the generator. The generator was purchased for a total of $72,085. The fabrication process should be complete in three to four months or by March of 2018. However, before the unit can be installed, the Town must construct a room enclosure to house the unit.

The Town issued Invitation to Bid (“ITB”) 2018-05 for the construction of the Enclosure for the Government Center Generator on November 27, 2017. To qualify for award, Prospective Bidders had to (1) possess a minimum of five years of experience constructing similar buildings for municipal or commercial entities; (2) provide verifiable client references demonstrating completion of at least three projects of similar size, scope, and complexity with a project value of over $125,000; (3) possess a current State of Florida Certified General Contractor or Certified Building Contractor license; and (4) be able to utilize the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's E-Verify System.

On the Bid Opening date, December 22, 2017, we received two bids from the following Bidders:

1. Bejar Construction, Inc. (“Bejar”) - $254,882.00

2. Graham Contracting, LLC (“Graham”) - $341,100.00

Bejar was the lowest responsive and responsible Bidder for this ITB. No significant issues were revealed in Procurement's due diligence review, however, Bejar's bid of $254,882 was $44,738 over the estimated cost to construct the Generator Enclosure. Basulto & Associates, Inc. (“Basulto”), the consulting engineering firm, provided an estimate on June 1, 2017, which estimated the total cost of the enclosure to be $210,144. Including the cost of the generator, design, which was $3,750, and a 10% contingency, the total project cost would be $306,993.40. Currently, the Town has $138,750 budgeted in the Capital Projects Fund, therefore, a contract award pursuant to this ITB is not recommended as it would require a budget transfer of $168,243.40.

Instead, Procurement's recommendation is to utilize one of our current contractors, La Perla, to construct the enclosure. La Perla is a licensed General Contractor capable of performing the work and is already contracted with the Town to perform similar services for small scale projects. La Perla has provided the Town with an informal bid for the construction of the enclosure for a total amount of $190,200. La Perla has agreed to construct and oversee subcontractors that will provide the electrical and mechanical trade work that is required for the Generator Enclosure. This brings the total cost of the enclosure to $190,200, which is $19,944 under the engineer's estimate. Including the cost of the generator, design, and a 10% contingency, the total project cost would be $285,835, which would require a budget transfer of $147,085. Awarding a contract to La Perla for the construction of the Generator Enclosure is the recommended approach as it saves the Town approximately $20,000.

Based on the above stated reasons, it is recommended that the Town Council authorize a waiver of the competitive solicitation process and to authorize the Town Manager to execute a contract with La Perla in an amount not to exceed $210,000.00 for the construction of the Generator Enclosure.