Broward County Commission Regular Meeting
Director's Name: George Tablack
Department: Finance and Administrative Services Division: Purchasing
Information
Requested Action
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MOTION TO APPROVE final ranking of the qualified firms for Request for Proposals (RFP) No. PNC2119168P1, Continuing Engineering Services for Traffic, Roadway, and Civil Projects; the ranked firms are: 1 - Calvin, Giordano & Associates, Inc.; 2 - Metric Engineering Inc.; 3 - BCC Engineering, LLC; 4 - The Corradino Group, Inc.; 5 - Stantec Consulting Services, Inc.; and 6 - Atkins North America, Inc.
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Why Action is Necessary
In accordance with Procurement Code, Section 21.84.h, Selection Committee and Selection/Evaluation Committee Composition, approval of final ranking of qualified firms requires Board approval when an objection or protest has been filed. Additionally, in accordance with Board policy, final ranking will be presented to the Board upon Commissioner’s request during the objection/protest period.
What Action Accomplishes
Approves the Evaluation Committee’s recommendation of the final ranking of qualified firms.
Is this Action Goal Related
No
Previous Action Taken
On May 19, 2020 (Item No. 54), the Board sent back to the Evaluation Committee for further consideration of the Points for Location.
Summary Explanation/Background
THE PURCHASING DIVISION AND THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT/HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION AND ENGINEERING DIVISION RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF THE ABOVE MOTION.
The procurement was solicited to engage up to two qualified firms to provide professional engineering and related services for traffic, roadway, and civil engineering projects, with construction costs estimated at $2 million or less, based on Section 287.055, Florida Statutes, Consultants’ Competitive Negotiations Act limit for continuing contracts for the Broward County Highway Construction and Engineering Division.
On June 11, 2019 (Item No. 74), the Board authorized the County Administrator to approve Request for Proposals (RFP) for advertisement during the 2019 summer recess.
On August 8, 2019, the County Administrator approved RFP No. PNC2119168P1, Continuing Engineering Services for Traffic, Roadway, and Civil Projects. The RFP was advertised and at the time of the opening deadline on September 11, 2019, eight firms submitted proposals.
On November 14, 2019, an Initial Evaluation Committee meeting was held. The Evaluation Committee determined that six out of eight firms were both responsive and responsible to the RFP requirements and voted in favor of them advancing to be numerically scored and ranked by the Evaluation Committee.
On January 9, 2020, a Final Evaluation Committee meeting was held. After presentations, evaluation, scoring and ranking, the Evaluation Committee named Calvin, Giordano & Associates, Inc. (CGA) as the first-ranked firm and Metric Engineering Inc. as the second-ranked firm (Exhibit 1).
The Evaluation Committee’s proposed recommendation of ranking was posted on the Purchasing Division website from January 23 - 27, 2020, which provided an opportunity for any proposer or interested party to present any new or additional information regarding the responsibility of the proposers.
On January 24, 2020, a Commissioner requested the ranking to be presented to the Board of County Commissioners.
On January 27, 2020, the Director of Purchasing received an objection letter from LSN Government Affairs on behalf of BCC Engineering, LLC. The objection letter stated the first-ranked firm, CGA, claimed a local headquarters in Broward County; yet, CGA was acquired by a national firm, SAFEbuilt Inc., in 2018, which is headquartered in Loveland, Colorado (Exhibit 3). Exhibit 4 is the response for CGA regarding the objection.
On April 21, 2020, the Director of Purchasing issued a response to LSN Government Affairs stating that upon review of the solicitation response, supporting documentation, procurement record, correspondence received by parties to the objection, and the proceedings of the Evaluation Committee, no significant new information was found to consider withdrawing location points to CGA or to reconvene the Evaluation Committee. The location points allocation to CGA was conducted appropriately and within the established guidelines, practices and procedures set forth in the Broward County Procurement Code, the County’s local bidder preference ordinance, and existing written guidelines of the Purchasing Division (Exhibit 5).
The Evaluation Committee’s final recommendation of ranking was posted on the Purchasing Division website from April 23 - 29, 2020, which provided an opportunity for any aggrieved proposer to file a formal protest. No formal protest was received.
On May 7, 2020, a “White Paper” was received by a Commissioner from Dodie Keith-Lazowick (Keith Team) (Exhibit 6). The “White Paper” was transmitted to CGA and a response was received (Exhibit 7).
On May 19, 2020 (Item No. 54), the final ranking was presented to the Board for approval. The Board voted to reconvene the Evaluation Committee, per Section 21.84.h of the Procurement Code, to consider new significant information as to whether CGA meets the “nerve center” test in accordance with the U.S. Supreme Court Opinion in Hertz v. Friend, 559 U.S. 77 (2010) (Hertz).
In response to Board direction, the County Attorney’s Office authored questions for CGA to confirm whether CGA’s principal address as listed with Sunbiz is also its “nerve center” location. CGA responded to the questions and subsequent clarification requests (Exhibit 8).
The County Attorney Office’s reviewed the information submitted by CGA and opined that CGA meets the Hertz “nerve center” test for location point purposes since CGA sufficiently demonstrated its officers direct, control, and coordinate its activities from Broward County. The County Attorney’s Office opined that notwithstanding the fact CGA is a wholly owned subsidiary of SAFEbuilt, CGA is entitled to receive location points since its “nerve center” (i.e. the “principal place of business location” stated in its Location Attestation Form) is in Broward County (Exhibit 9). A previous legal opinion is also included in Exhibit 9, dated March 2, 2020. The Director of Purchasing re-reviewed the additional information provided by CGA, the requirements of the solicitation document and all other materials related to the objection. Based on this re-review, the Director of Purchasing affirmed the prior allocation of five points for CGA’s principal place of business (Exhibit 10). All information regarding this matter was distributed to the Evaluation Committee for consideration.
Additional information regarding this matter was submitted by LSN Partners, dated April 2, 2020 and June 2, 2020 (Exhibit 11).
On June 2, 2020, the Evaluation Committee (EC) was reconvened to consider new significant information as to whether Calvin Giordano & Associates, Inc. met the Hertz “nerve center” test for location points purposes. The information was reviewed with the EC and the EC voted, unanimously, to ratify the final ranking list from the Final Evaluation Meeting held on January 9, 2020, in the following order: 1 - Calvin, Giordano & Associates, Inc.; 2 - Metric Engineering, Inc.; 3 - BCC Engineering, LLC; 4 - The Corradino Group, Inc.; 5 - Stantec Consulting Services, Inc.; and 6 - Atkins North America, Inc.
In accordance with Procurement Code, Section 21.84.h, after the Final Recommendation of Ranking is posted, if a protest or objection has been filed, the Director of Purchasing shall present to the Board the ranking/evaluation for approval. The Board, by majority vote, has the option to either (1) approve the Committee's ranking/evaluation recommendation; (2) reject all submittals; or (3) send the ranking/evaluation back to the Committee to consider new significant information and either ratify the ranking/evaluation or reorder the list. The Board, by super majority vote, has the option to rerank/reevaluate the shortlisted firms following presentations to the Board.
Additional supporting documentation provided to the Evaluation Committee regarding this procurement can be found on Broward County’s Purchasing Division website at <http://www.broward.org/Purchasing/Pages/Repository.aspx>.
Source of Additional Information
Brenda J. Billingsley, Director, Purchasing Division, (954) 357-6070
Fiscal Impact
Fiscal Impact/Cost Summary
There is no fiscal impact.