A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, ACCEPTING THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE CITY MANAGER, PURSUANT TO REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS (RFQ) NO. 2019-109-ND, FOR TRAFFIC ENGINEERING CONSULTANT SERVICES; AUTHORIZING THE ADMINISTRATION TO ESTABLISH A POOL OF PRE-QUALIFIED CONSULTANTS FOR SPECIFIC TASKS RELATING TO TRAFFIC ENGINEERING SERVICES; FURTHER, AUTHORIZING THE ADMINISTRATION TO ENTER INTO NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE CORRADINO GROUP, INC., THE FIRST RANKED PROPOSER; KIMLEY-HORN AND ASSOCIATES, INC., THE SECOND RANKED PROPOSER; AND HNTB CORPORATION, THE THIRD RANKED PROPOSER; AND FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND CITY CLERK TO EXECUTE AGREEMENTS WITH EACH OF THE FOREGOING PROPOSERS UPON CONCLUSION OF SUCCESSFUL NEGOTIATIONS BY THE ADMINISTRATION.

Many of the projects managed by the Transportation Department require traffic engineering services. Typically, the City has outsourced the required engineering services to qualified firms through a continuing contract established in accordance with Section 287.055, Florida Statutes. In anticipation of the current contract’s expiration of February 2020, the City issued the RFQ seeking to prequalify traffic engineering consulting firms for future work as they need may arise. The RFQ state that the City may award a pool of one (1) or more consultants eligible to be considered for future work. Prequalifying firms now prior to the work actually being identified streamlines the process of deploying a firm once the need arise. The firm is selected in accordance with the referenced statute, which requires the City to determine the best firm for the work and negotiate a consultant service order based on pre-negotiated rates. The described process used by the City is typical of how most cities across the state engage engineering services in accordance with statutory requirements.

On September 11, 2019, the City Commission approved the issuance of Request for Qualifications (RFQ) 2019-109-ND for traffic engineering consultant services. On September 13, 2019, the RFQ was issued. A voluntary pre-proposal conference to provide information to proposers submitting a response was held on September 23, 2019. One addendum was issued to address questions from bidders. The Procurement Department issued bid notices to all firms registered for the discipline with www.bidsync.com website, as well as other known bidders. In total, over 8,000 firms were notified of which 76 accessed the advertised solicitation. RFQ responses were due and received on October 28, 2019. The City received a total of 19 proposals from the firms included in Attachment A.

The Evaluation Committee appointed by the City Manager convened on November 21, 2019, to consider proposals received. The Committee was comprised of Michael Belush, Chief of Planning and Zoning, Planning Department; Josiel Ferrer-Diaz, Assistant Director, Transportation Department; Rogelio Madan, Chief of Community Planning and Sustainability, Planning Department; and Doraida Rodriguez, Traffic Engineer III, Department of Transportation Public Works, Miami-Dade County. The Committee was provided an overview of the project, information relative to the City’s Cone of Silence Ordinance and the Government Sunshine Law. The Committee was also provided with general information on the scope of services and a copy of each proposal. The Committee was instructed to score and rank each proposal pursuant to the evaluation criteria established in the RFQ.

The evaluation process resulted in the proposers being ranked by the Evaluation Committee in the following order (See Attachment A):

1st. The Corradino Group, Inc.

2nd. Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc.

3rd. HNTB Corporation

4th. Caltran Engineering Group, Inc.

4th. McMahon & Associates, Inc.

6th. Florida Transportation Engineering, Inc.

7th. Atkins North America, Inc.

8th. Marlin Engineering, Inc.

9th. Calvin, Giordano & Associates, Inc.

10th. Metric Engineering, Inc.

11th. Stanley Consultants, Inc.

12th. Kittelson & Associates, Inc.

13th. F.R. Aleman and Associates, Inc.

14th. Carnahan, Proctor and Cross, Inc.

15th. Stantec Consulting Services, Inc.

16th. WSP USA, Inc.

17th. A & P Consulting Transportation Engineers Corp.

18th. Choice Engineering Consultants, Inc.

19th. HBC Engineering Company

A summary of the three top-ranked firms, based on the information provided by each firm, follows:

The Corradino Group, Inc.

According to the information provided by the firm, The Corradino Group, Inc. was established in 1970 and is headquartered in South Florida. The Corradino Group, Inc. has provided planning, engineering design, environmental and construction management services to government entities and the private sector for 49 years. Its success is built on delivering a quality product developed through the inclusiveness of the planning process and the effectiveness of communication.

Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc.

According to the information provided by the firm, Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. was founded as a transportation firm in 1967 and is now one of the largest and fastest growing full-service consulting firms in Florida. As a transportation engineering, planning, landscape architecture, surveying, and environmental services firm, Kimley-Horn offers a wide range of consulting services to local, regional, national, and international clients. Its staff will offer the City critical insights into practical program approaches for ongoing traffic engineering services.

HNTB Corporation

According to the information provided by the firm, HNTB Corporation was founded in 1914 and has built a reputation for excellence and innovation. HNTB represents four of the state’s five expressway enterprises serving as a General Engineering Consultant or Project Manager for Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise, Central Florida Expressway Authority, Miami-Dade Expressway Authority and the Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority. They have provided general transportation and traffic engineering services to the City since May of 2018.

While the City is fortunate to have received such a robust response to the RFQ, the amount of work anticipated by the Transportation Department is insufficient to keep all firms busy and interested in City projects. When considering the amount of work anticipated by the Transportation Department, it appears that awarding to three (3) firms would provide a sufficient pool of resources while allowing for each firm to receive enough work to stay interested.

After reviewing all of the submissions and the Evaluation Committee process, I concur with the Evaluation Committee and find The Corradino Group, Inc., Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc., and HNTB Corporation, the three top ranked firms respectively, to be the best qualified firms to establish a pre-qualified pool of consultants for specific tasks relating to traffic engineering services. These firms have strong teams with a wealth of knowledge in the City of Miami Beach and neighboring municipalities. The three (3) teams have direct familiarity with the City’s boards, land-use regulations and/or the City’s vision.  Additionally, some of the prior experience provided by the firms demonstrated their ability to carry out innovative ideas, solutions, and recommendations. Further, each firm has performed well on prior projects with the City.

For the reasons stated herein, I recommend that the Mayor and City Commission approve the Resolution authorizing the Administration to establish a pool of pre-qualified consultants for specific tasks relating to traffic engineering services; authorizing the Administration to enter into negotiations with The Corradino Group, Inc., as the first ranked proposer; Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc., as the second ranked proposer, and HNTB Corporation, as the third ranked proposer; and further authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to execute agreements with each of the foregoing proposers upon conclusion of successful negotiations by the Administration.