Broward County Commission Regular Meeting
Director's Name: Stephen Farmer (Acting Director)
Department: Finance and Administrative Services Division: Purchasing
Information
Requested Action
title
MOTION TO AWARD AND APPROVE Agreement for fixed contract to low bidder, Lead Engineering Contractors, LLC, for Pine Island Road Capacity Expansion: SW 36 Street to Nova Drive, Bid No. TRN2131938C1, for the Highway Construction and Engineering Division, in the amount of $34,953,406, including a total allowance of $75,000. (Commission District 5)
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Why Action is Necessary
In accordance with the Broward County Procurement Code, Section 21.47, Award and Execution Authority, Board approval is required for awards with a value of more than $500,000, inclusive of the value of any renewals or extensions provided for in the contract, that include a rejection of apparent low bidder.
What Action Accomplishes
Provides for the furnishing of all labor, materials, equipment, services and incidentals required for the Pine Island Road Capacity Expansion Project.
Goal Related Icon(s)
☒County Commission
☐Go Green
☒MAP Broward
Previous Action Taken
None.
Summary Explanation/Background
THE PURCHASING DIVISION AND THE PUBLIC WORKS AND ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT/HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION AND ENGINEERING DIVISION RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF THE ABOVE MOTION.
This item supports the Board’s Connected Community Goal, “Cooperatively delivering an efficient and accessible regional intermodal transportation network.”
The Office of Economic and Small Business Development (OESBD) established a County Business Enterprise (CBE) contract goal of 30%. Lead Engineering Contractors, LLC (Lead Engineering) committed to 8.30% CBE participation, and provided documentation detailing its good faith efforts to meet the CBE Program requirements, which have been reviewed and approved by OESBD (Exhibit 3).
This Agreement provides for all labor, materials, equipment, services, and incidentals for the Pine Island Road Capacity Expansion Project from south of SW 36 Street to Nova Drive (SW 24 Street). The Project improvements include reconstruction of Pine Island Road from four to six lanes for approximately one mile with a shared use path/sidewalk, drainage, lighting, signalization, landscaping and irrigation.
This procurement carries a 100% performance and payment guaranty. The vendor has provided a bid guaranty obligating the vendor to provide requisite performance and payment guaranty, upon notice of award.
The Agreement includes allowances in the amount of $75,000. Expenditures under the allowances must be approved by the Contract Administrator and will be reimbursed at the vendor’s actual cost without mark-up (Exhibit 2).
The initial bid submitted by Lead Engineering for $48,652,613 was 39% higher than the engineer’s estimate of $35,000,000. To ensure due diligence in evaluating the cost variance, two meetings were held, on July 1, 2026, and July 16, 2026, with Lead Engineering and staff from the Highway Construction and Engineering Division (HCED) and the Purchasing Division to explore potential cost saving measures.
Following these meetings, HCED acknowledged that adjustments of the project scope may be necessary to align costs with the approved budget. On July 29, 2026, the County negotiated with the vendor in accordance with Broward County Procurement Code, Section 21.50, which allows for the negotiation of an adjustment of the scope or requirements of an Invitation to Bid (ITB) in order to bring the contract price within the amount of available funds, if all prices offered by vendors for the ITB exceed available funds.
On August 4, 2026, Lead Engineering submitted proposed scope adjustments that preserved key design components, while requiring minimal redesign and avoiding conflicts with existing utilities, drainage systems, or Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) standards. The adjustments reduce the median width and narrow the shared use path adjacent to northbound travel lanes to a six-foot sidewalk. These roadway geometric adjustments allow for the removal of approximately 70% of the sheet pile wall along the canal, which accounts for the majority of the project’s resulting price reduction (Exhibit 5). Lead Engineering revised bid pricing from $48,652,613 to $34,953,406; a modification related reduction of $13,699,207 (Exhibit 6).
The Highway Construction and Engineering Division has reviewed the bid and scope adjustments submitted by Lead Engineering and concurs with the recommendation for award (Exhibit 4).
No County vendor performance evaluations have been completed for Lead Engineering.
The bid was advertised on May 1, 2026 and opened on June 12, 2026; three bids were received with six declinations (Exhibit 2).
The Recommendation for Award was posted on the Purchasing Division website. There was no protest filed against this procurement.
The amounts referenced in this agenda item were rounded to the nearest whole dollar. Vendor payments will be based on the actual total bid amount. The bid tabulation reflects the actual amount of the award.
The proposed Agreement is Exhibit 1.
Source of Additional Information
Robert E. Gleason, Director, Purchasing Division, 954-357-6070
Fiscal Impact
Fiscal Impact/Cost Summary
The agreement funding source is the Transportation Surtax Fund in the amount of $34,953,406.
Requisition No. HCN0001103