The Golden Glades canal has experienced widespread erosion. This erosion compromises the structural integrity of facilities and properties that are adjacent to the canal. The Town has identified this project as a critical endeavor to maintain a safe and effective canal system that reduces the amount of debris and vegetation entering the canals. Phase II of the project prioritizes stabilizing the south side of the Golden Glades canal.

The Town issued Request for Proposals (“RFP”) 2019-01 for Canal Bank Stabilization Phase II on November 13, 2018. The RFP 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. Possess a current certified Contractor license issued by the State of Florida or a Miami-Dade County Construction Trades Qualifying Board Certificate of Competency as a General Engineering Contractor or as a Specialty Engineering Contractor;
2. Provide at least three (3) verifiable client references demonstrating the successful completion of at least three (3) projects of similar scope within the last five (5) years, where the value of each project exceeded $750,000; and
3. Proposer must be capable of self-performing seventy-five percent (75%) of the primary physical construction work.

On the date of the proposal deadline, December 21, 2018, we received two (2) proposals from the following proposers:
1. Arbor Tree & Land, Inc. dba ATL Diversified (“ATL”) - $1,052,512.00; and
2. A Green World Construction Co, Inc. (“Green”) - $835,505.69

Procurement performed a due diligence review of the proposals for responsiveness and found only the proposal from ATL was responsive. Green's proposal did not follow the instructions for submitting a response and was also missing several requested documents such as a construction approach, construction schedule, quality control and safety plan, and client references demonstrating completion of at least three (3) similar projects in the last five years. As this information was material to evaluating the proposal and qualifying for award, the proposal was deemed nonresponsive to the solicitation.

The review of ATL's proposal revealed no material defects in the proposal, or issues with the company's background that would indicate ATL was incapable of completing the work. ATL has been in business for 39 years. They have a licensed general contractor on staff that qualifies them to do the work. They have provided three references, which Procurement has verified as accurate, demonstrating they have completed at least three (3) canal stabilization projects in the past five years. ATL has also proposed to complete the work entirely with its own forces. Procurement did not find any issues that would indicate ATL was incapable of performing the work adequately.

Considering the large range between the two proposals, a price analysis was conducted to analyze the bid items in ATL's price proposal. The analysis used bid prices from comparable projects within the area, specifically a canal stabilization project that was recently advertised in Doral, and pricing from the Town's first phase of the canal bank stabilization project. The results of the analysis showed that ATL's pricing for the installation of the geoweb mesh, which is ultimately the material used to stabilize the canal bank, was higher than current market pricing. Town staff contacted ATL to negotiate the contract price in light of this information. After this discussion, ATL agreed to lower their price proposal by $102,228.00 amount for a total price of $950,284.00.

Compared to Phase I, the price for Phase II is higher by $230,736.32. However, Phase II differs in three significant ways: (1) stabilization efforts extend an additional 155 linear feet (“LF”) in Phase II; (2) Phase I required a change order for flowable fill to be installed on the bottom row of geoweb mesh, which is included in Phase II; and (3) Phase II requires a second mobilization that was not required in Phase I due to NW 82nd Avenue crossing the canal. Accounting for these variances between Phase I and Phase II, the difference in cost is approximately $133,685.64, which represents an 18.6% increase.

Based on the above findings, it is recommended that the Town Council authorize the Town Manager to execute a contract with ATL for the Canal Bank Stabilization Phase II project in an amount not to exceed $1,045,000.00.