A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, ACCEPTING THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE CITY MANAGER TO REJECT ALL BIDS RECEIVED, PURSUANT TO INVITATION TO BID 2018-029-ZD, FOR WATERWAY MAINTENANCE SERVICES; FURTHER, AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP), FOR WATERWAY MAINTENANCE SERVICES; AND FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE EXTENSION OF A MONTH-TO-MONTH AGREEMENT AND THE ADDITION OF A ONE (1) DAY OF SERVICE AT A FIXED MONTHLY PRICE OF $4,833.32 WITH ADVENTURE ENVIRONMENTAL, INC., THE INCUMBENT VENDOR, FOR A TERM NOT TO EXCEED ONE (1) YEAR, FOR THE CONTINUATION OF CURRENT SERVICES, OR UNTIL SUCH TIME AS A NEW AGREEMENT IS EXECUTED, WHICHEVER OCCURS FIRST.

Miami Beach is surrounded by over 60 miles of waterways that provide environmental, economic and recreational benefits and are one of the City’s most valuable resources. These waterways, which include Biscayne Bay, Indian Creek and Collins Canal, are highly visible from abutting residential, commercial and recreational properties, as well as roadways. The cleanliness of the waterways is vital to improving water quality, protecting aquatic habitat, and maintaining quality of life. As such, the City requires waterway maintenance services for the removal of submerged, floating and shoreline debris to maintain a certain level of cleanliness.

On November 14, 2014, the Mayor and City Commission approved the award of Invitation to Bid No. 61-11/12, for Waterway Resource Maintenance (the “Agreement"), to Adventure Environmental, Inc. ("Contractor"). Subsequently to the award, the Environment and Sustainability Department determined that it was necessary to add an additional service day to assure that the services under the Agreement were meeting the expectations of the City. The additional service day was added in accordance with the contract provisions.

Prior to expiration of Agreement, the Administration released Invitation to Bid (ITB) 2018-029-ZD, with a bid opening date of February 5, 2018 to establish a replacement contract. The Procurement Department issued bid notices to 325 companies utilizing www.publicpurchase.com website. Fifty (50) prospective bidders accessed the advertised solicitation. The notices resulted in the receipt of two (2) responses from: Adventure Environmental, Inc., and Neat Sand, Inc. See Attachment A for tabulation.

The bid submittal from Adventure Environmental, Inc., the contractor currently servicing the City’s waterways, was deemed non-responsive for failure to submit Appendix A fully completed and executed as required in the ITB. Therefore, the bid from Adventure Environmental cannot be considered.

In attempting to review the bid submitted by Neat Sands, staff has been unable to evaluate the factors outlined in Section 2-369 of the City Code that must be considered prior to the award of a contract as the bidder has not previously completed any work in the United States and has no local references, has no equipment available for evaluation, and does not appear to have prior experience with removal of debris, including heavy debris, from waterways similar to those within scope of the ITB.

I have reviewed the bids received and concur with the determination that the bid received from Adventure Environmental cannot be considered because it is non-responsive to the requirements of the ITB. The sole bid that can be considered is the bid received from Neat Sand, Inc. (“Neat Sand”). In considering the bid, Section 2-369 of the City of Miami Beach City Code requires that the following be considered:

1. The ability, capacity and skill of the bidder to perform the contract.
2. Whether the bidder can perform the contract within the time specified, without delay or interference.
3. The character, integrity, reputation, judgment, experience and efficiency of the bidder.
4. The quality of performance of previous contracts.
5. The previous and existing compliance by the bidder with laws and ordinances relating to the contract.

Based on the aforementioned requirements of the City Code, I have reviewed the bid submitted by Neat Sand and find as follows. First, I am concerned that it is not possible to determine that this bidder is able to meet the requirements of the ITB as Neat Sand has never performed work in the United States. All references submitted by Neat Sand indicate that it has primarily done shoreline clean-up in Spain. The current contract and replacement contract involve the cleanup and maintenance of the City’s waterways, not shorelines. The clean up of shorelines requires different procedures as compared to the clean up of waterways as the type, size and removal methodology of debris varies widely from waterway to shoreline. Primarily, waterway clean up may include the removal of a significant amount of landscape and heavy debris that may not be as abundant in shoreline clean up.

Second, the equipment necessary to perform these services is very specialized. Staff has attempted to confirm that Neat Sand has the necessary equipment; but, has been unable to do so. Neat Sand has advised staff that it currently does not have any such equipment locally. Neat Sand alleges that the equipment is available for transfer from current operations in Spain. Even if the City were to rely on the equipment Neat Sand alleges to have available in Spain, based on its bid submittal, it does not appear that Neat Sand's existing equipment is designed to remove large or submerged debris. Staff’s market research has confirmed that the proposed vessels listed on the bid submittal from Neat Sand are primarily for the cleaning of shallow waters of floating objects. Additionally, based on the information available on the manufacturers’ website, there is no indication that these vessels have the capabilities to remove large submerged debris from the City’s waterways, as required by the ITB.

The City’s waterways connect multiple neighborhoods and are highly visible. Additionally, the waterways provide important navigational, recreational, aesthetic and environmental value to the community that can be impacted by the presence of small, large and submerged debris. Because our waterways are interconnected with Biscayne Bay, the City cannot always control how much debris enters our system or where the wind and tides accumulate that debris. The waterway maintenance services contract performs a critical function of managing that debris through regular removal and maintenance activities. It is imperative that the entity performing these services demonstrates they have the equipment and experience necessary to continue this function seamlessly upon award. Based on the foregoing, I recommend that the bid received from Neat Sand be rejected because the bidder has not demonstrated that it has neither the experience nor the equipment to satisfactorily perform the work as required in the ITB.

Further, I recommend that the Mayor and City Commission authorize the issuance of subsequent RFP for acquiring the necessary maintenance services to our City’s waterways. Once finalized, the RFP will be forwarded to the City Commission via a Letter to Commission (LTC).

Finally, I recommend that the Mayor and City Commission authorize the extension of the current agreement and include an additional one (1) day of service at a fixed monthly price of $4,833.32 with Adventure Environmental, Inc., the incumbent vendor, for a term not to exceed one (1) year or until such time as a new contract can be awarded.

Therefore, I recommend that the Mayor and City Commission of the City of Miami Beach, Florida, approve the Resolution accepting the recommendation of the City Manager to reject all bids received pursuant to Invitation to Bid No. 2018-029-ZD for Waterway Maintenance Services; authorize the issuance of a Request for Proposals (RFP) for Waterway Maintenance Services; further, authorize the extension of the current agreement and include an additional one (1) day of service at a fixed monthly price of $4,833.32 with Adventure Environmental, Inc., the incumbent vendor, for a term not to exceed one (1) year or until such time as a new contract can be awarded, whichever occurs first.