It is recommended that the Mayor and City Commission approve the award of a contract pursuant to Invitation to Bid (ITB) No. 2023-421-DF for the routine and emergency sanitary, sewer, and stormwater system cleaning and closed-circuit television (CCTV) inspection services to Express Drain & Sewer Cleaning, LLC, as the primary vendor, Flotech Environmental, LLC, as the secondary vendor, and National Water Main Cleaning Co, as the tertiary vendor.

This solicitation is currently under the cone of silence.

The Public Works Department requires contractors to provide routine and emergency sanitary, sewer, and stormwater pipe cleaning and closed-circuit television (CCTV) inspection services.

On October 4, 2018, the City executed two (2) three (3) year agreements with National Water Main Cleaning Co. and Flotech Environmental, LLC, with two (2) one (1) year renewal options, for the services. The contracts are currently set to expire on October 5, 2023. Therefore, the ITB was issued to replace these agreements.  

On July 19, 2023, the ITB was issued. Bid notices were issued to approximately 29,000 companies utilizing the City's e-procurement system, with 33 prospective bidders accessing the solicitation. A pre-bid conference to provide information to proposers submitting a response was held on July 25, 2023. One (1) addendum was issued. Responses were due on August 9, 2023. The City received five (5) responses from Envirowaste Services Group, Inc., Express Drain & Sewer Cleaning, LLC, Flotech Environmental, LLC, Jen Power Wash Corp, and National Water Main Cleaning Co.

The solicitation stated that the lowest responsive, responsible Bidder meeting all terms, conditions, and specifications would be recommended for award. The tabulation of bids received is attached as Attachment A. Because of the nature of the work and the need to have bidders readily available, staff recommends awarding to a primary, secondary, and tertiary contractor. Further, because part of the work (Group 2) requires a short response time for emergencies, it is important that the emergency work (Group 2) be awarded to a contractor that is already deployed in the City and is completing routine work. In the past, attempting to award the routine work (Group 1) to one contractor and the emergency work (Group 2) to a different contractor has resulted in a delayed response and contractor performance issues. Therefore, staff recommends awarding as follows:

Primary – Express Drain & Sewer Cleaning, the lowest overall bidder

Secondary – Flotech Environmental, the second lowest overall bidder

Tertiary – National Water Main Cleaning Co., the third lowest overall bidder 

The Procurement and Public Works Departments verified that the primary, secondary, and tertiary firms all meet the requirements of the ITB, including the experience requirements, and that the firms have provided satisfactory services to various South Florida public and private agencies. A brief description of the three lowest responsive and responsible bidders is below.

Express Drain & Sewer Cleaning, LLC (recommended as primary)

Express Drain & Sewer Cleaning LLC (“Express Drain & Sewer Cleaning”) is focused on delivering the highest value for its employees, customers, and community as something it aims to deliver in all interactions. Express Drain & Sewer Cleaning’s customers receive the highest quality work, done with immense care, in order to solve any and all plumbing issues. The dedication to fulfill our customer’s needs and wants has always been imperative to the way we operate. This is why hundreds of restaurants, hotels, shopping centers, and residents of South Florida have relied on Express Drain & Sewer Cleaning’s for all their plumbing needs. This experience with South Florida agencies include City of Parkland, Town of Pembroke Park, and the City of Ft. Lauderdale.

Flotech Environmental, LLC (recommended as secondary)

Flotech Environmental, LLC (“Flotech”) is owned by the people that started it. It has been built from the ground up without investment firms, but instead with real people. Its services include drainage and pipeline, vacuum excavation, sinkhole stabilization, and emergency flood response. Some of its clients include airport and port authorities, condominium associations, contractors, restaurants, hospitals, and government agencies. Flotech has provided services to the City since 2018 and received satisfactory remarks.

National Water Main Cleaning Co. (recommended as tertiary)

National Water Main Cleaning Co (“National Water Main Cleaning”) is a part of the Carylon Corporation, the industry-leading national organization of best-in-class regional operating companies that offer specialized services in sewer system maintenance, water supply maintenance and soil/sludge remediation to maintain critical environmental infrastructure. National Water Main Cleaning has provided services to the City since 2018 and received satisfactory remarks.

According to the 2022 Community Satisfaction Survey conducted by ETC institute (the "Survey"), 87.3% satisfaction was given to the City’s "Emergency and Hurricane preparedness efforts”  among the City's residents top seven (7) services receiving highest ratings. Keeping our sanitary, sewer, and stormwater systems clean and well-maintained are critical to the City’s operations efforts to mitigate hurricane and overall flooding efforts in optimum conditions.  

The bid submitted by Express Drain & Sewer Cleaning, LLC, the lowest bidder, was for a total amount of $2,334,600.00. Staff performed a cost analysis to determine whether the fiscal impact was in the City's best interest. Compared to similar line items from the current contract, Express Drain & Sewer Cleaning, LLC, the lowest responsive bidder, has provided pricing for Group 1 that is, on average, 14% less than the previous contract, while its pricing for Group 2 items is significantly higher than the current contract. However, as previously stated, because the emergency work (Group 2) requires a short response time for emergencies, it is important that it be awarded to a contractor that is already deployed in the City and is completing routine work (Group 1). In the past, attempting to award the routine work (Group 1) to one contractor and the emergency work (Group 2) to a different contractor has resulted in a delayed response times and contractor performance issues. Further, the majority of the work should be performed under routine circumstances for which the City has received a price lower than the current contract.

Flotech Environmental, LLC, the second lowest bidder, and National Water Main Cleaning Co, the third lowest bidder, have all submitted bid pricing higher than the current contract, but are typically only used when the primary contractor cannot perform the work.

All additional future purchases shall be subject to prior commission budgetary approval.

Based on the foregoing, I recommend that the Mayor and City Commission of the City of Miami Beach, Florida, approve the award of a contract pursuant to Invitation to Bid (ITB) No. 2023-421-DF for the routine and emergency sanitary, sewer, and stormwater system cleaning and closed-circuit television (CCTV) services to Express Drain & Sewer Cleaning, LLC, as the primary vendor, Flotech Environmental, LLC, as the secondary vendor, and National Water Main Cleaning Co, as the tertiary vendor.