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. 2018-097-KB FOR CITYWIDE GEOTECHNICAL AND LABORATORY TESTING SERVICES ON AN AS-NEEDED BASIS; AUTHORIZING THE ADMINISTRATION TO ENTER INTO NEGOTIATIONS WITH RADISE INTERNATIONAL, LC, AS THE TOP RANKED PROPOSER; PROFESSIONAL SERVICE INDUSTRIES, INC., AS THE SECOND RANKED PROPOSER; GFA INTERNATIONAL, INC., AS THE THIRD RANKED PROPOSER; UNIVERSAL ENGINEERING SCIENCES, INC., AS THE FOURTH RANKED PROPOSER; TERRACON CONSULTANTS, INC., AS THE FIFTH RANKED PROPOSER; NUTTING ENGINEERS OF FLORIDA, INC. AND WOOD ENVIRONMENT & INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS, INC., AS THE SIXTH RANKED PROPOSERS; WINGERTER LABORATORIES, AS THE EIGHTH RANKED PROPOSER; AND TIERRA SOUTH FLORIDA, INC. AS THE NINTH RANKED PROPOSERS; 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.

Adopt the Resolution.

The City requires the services of consulting firms to perform citywide geotechnical and soil testing services for the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) and Public Works Departments. For five (5) years, the City has contracted with several consulting firms to provide these services.

In order to consider a replacement contract, the City is seeking proposals from qualified firm(s) to perform citywide geotechnical and soil testing services. Geotechnical, soil testing and/or lab testing services are required for proper pre-planning of construction projects for the City. Many of the City’s CIP and Public Works projects will require, during one time or another, a geotechnical, soils or lab testing report to validate either the City’s Engineer’s or any Architect’s or Engineer of Records recommendations as to any site, building or any other project’s unknown characteristics.  Through the issuance of this RFQ the City will be able to adequately plan and incorporate geotechnical and soil testing services as part of the pre-construction preparatory work, which is a phase of every City construction project.  In addition, the Geotechnical firm(s) would provide personnel that are qualified, trained and thoroughly familiar with the City’s rules, policies, and procedures in inspection, sampling testing, and reporting various areas and stages of construction. The ability to have a list of Geotechnical firms to be contacted on an as needed basis would enable the City to utilize these services when the need arises.

RFQ PROCESS

On April 11, 2018, the City Commission approved to issue the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) NO. 2018-097-KB, for citywide geotechnical and laboratory testing services on an as-needed basis.  On April 12, 2018, the RFQ was issued. The Procurement Department issued solicitation notices to 683 firms utilizing www.publicpurchase.com.  62 prospective proposers accessed the advertised solicitation. A voluntary pre-proposal conference to provide information to the proposers submitting a response was held on April 25, 2018. RFQ responses were due and received on July 30, 2018. The City received proposals from the following nine (9) firms:

• GFA International, Inc.
• Nutting Engineers of Florida, Inc.
• Professional Service Industries, Inc.
• RADISE International, LC
• Terracon Consultants, Inc.
• Tierra South Florida, Inc.
• Universal Engineering Sciences, Inc
• Wingerter Laboratories
• Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions, Inc.

On August 14, 2018 the City Manager appointed the Evaluation Committee via LTC # 454-2018. The Evaluation Committee convened on August 23, 2018 and September 10, 2018 to consider proposals received. The second meeting was held since one firm inadvertently failed receive the notification of the evaluation committee.  The committee was comprised of Pilar Caurin, Capital Projects Coordinator, Capital Improvement Projects Office, City of Miami Beach; Eugene Egemba, Engineer, Public Works, City of Miami Beach; Pedro Fuentes, Engineer, Public Works, City of Miami Beach; Jose Perez, Capital Project Coordinator, Capital Improvement Projects Office, City of Miami Beach; Jorge Rodriguez, Capital Project Coordinator, Capital Improvement Projects Office, City of Miami Beach

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, a copy of each proposal, and a presentation by each proposing firm.  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 ranking of proposers as indicated in Attachment A, in the following order:

1. RADISE International, LC
2. Professional Service Industries, Inc.
3. GFA International, Inc.
4. Universal Engineering Sciences, Inc
5. Terracon Consultants, Inc.
6. Nutting Engineers of Florida, Inc.
7. Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions, Inc.
8. Wingerter Laboratories
9. Tierra South Florida, Inc.

Due to the number of responses, a summary of each top-ranked firm or the firm's proposal is available upon request.

I have reviewed the submittals and the results of the evaluation process. I have also considered the needs of the City that include a wide variety of geotechnical services, especially in consideration of potential GO bond projects. All of the nine (9) proposals received are from very well qualified firms. Each one of these firms has its own unique experiences from which the City may benefit depending on the project being considered. This especially important since the purpose of the RFQ is to proactively establish contracts for future services that are not yet identified. For this reason, I believe it is important to have a wide range of service providers that the City can quickly access to address any project or emergency needs that may arise. For this reason, I believe it is the City's best interest to establish contracts with all the firms so that future needs for services can be quickly addressed.

Therefore, I recommend that the Mayor and City Commission approve the Resolution authorizing the Administration to enter into negotiations with RADISE International, LC, as the top ranked proposer; Professional Service Industries, Inc., as the second ranked proposer; GFA International, Inc., as the third ranked proposer; Universal Engineering Sciences, Inc, as the fourth ranked proposer; Terracon Consultants, Inc., as the fifth ranked proposer; Nutting Engineers of Florida, Inc. and Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions, Inc, as the sixth ranked proposers; Wingerter Laboratories, as the eighth ranked proposer; and Tierra South Florida, Inc. as the ninth ranked proposers; and further authorize the Mayor and City Clerk to execute agreements with each of the foregoing proposers upon conclusion of successful negotiations by the Administration.

The cost of the related services, determined upon successful negotiations, are subject to funds availability approved through the City’s budgeting process.  Grant funding will not be utilized for this project.