Posted on May 20, 2021
The Captiva Erosion Prevention District’s commission decided on the contractor, bank for the municipal bond loan and bond counsel for the beach renourishment project at its recent meeting.
On May 10, the commissioners voted 4-0 to accept the recommendation of both its staff and consultants to award the bid for the upcoming project to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock. APTIM Coastal Planning & Engineering and Coastal Protection Engineering — a subcontractor for APTIM — had previously provided the CEPD with a bid recommendation letter, which staff concurred with.
Vice Chair John Silvia had an excused absence from the meeting.
Three firms had submitted a total of four bids — one provided two — for the project.
Based on putting down 600,000 cubic yards of sand as suggested by APTIM, Great Lakes quoted $15,625,485; Weeks Marine submitted one for $15,764,750 and one for $18,238,750, based on either a June or December start date; and Manson Construction submitted the highest bid at $25,629,575.
To allow for flexibility, staff also obtained quotes for 450,000 and 750,000 cy of sand.
Based on its bid, Great Lakes is expected to start on July 24, with equipment mobilization before.
Also at the meeting, staff presented the commission with municipal bond loan options.
“We do have two proposals,” Executive Director Jennifer Nelson said.
She explained that the proposals from Synovus Bank and Fifth Third Bank are similar in their terms and that both are fully amortized over eight years. However, Synovus offered a 2.1 percent fixed interest rate, while Fifth Third offered a 2.6 percent one. Based on that, staff recommended Synovus.
A motion to approve Synovus for the loan, contingent on bond counsel review, passed 4-0.
Also during the meeting, staff presented two options for bond counsel.
Nelson explained that Mark E. Raymond submitted a proposal for $17,500, plus out-of-pocket travel expenses, with the fee to include one trip to the district. Structured differently, Bryant Miller Olive submitted a proposal for a $1.25 fee per $1,000 of principal amount, with a minimum fee of $17,500.
Citing his work on the last two projects, staff recommended staying with Raymond.
A motion to approve Raymond as the bond counsel passed 4-0.
IN OTHER NEWS
– The commission voted 4-0 to approve an amendment to the CEPD’s agreement with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to increase the state’s cost share for the beach renourishment project to $6,054,450 — from approximately 17 percent or 18 percent, to a new percent of 21.07.
– The commission vote 4-0 to direct staff to install better signs at the parking meters at the Alison Hagerup Beach Park lot in an effort to reduce users from being charged double when they try to pay.
– Nelson reported that a second part-time attendant has been hired for the parking lot.
– In the month of April, a total of 2,666 parking tickets were sold, with $82,930 in meter revenue collected. During the same month last year, a total of 29 tickets were sold, with $375 collected.
