Increase continuing contract thresholds for consultants
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Uh so the next issue that we have, uh I'm gonna have uh Adolfo Gonzalez come up and talk to us about Contract amounts and continuation of contracts. Doesn't it affect several departments in our organization.
Good afternoon commissioners. Adolfo Gonzalez, your Utilities Engineering and Contract Management Director. We have a request to amend uh the consultants competitive negotiations act. Under that act, uh public agencies such as Pasco County secures professional services related to engineering, architecture, landscape architecture, and survey services. One of the types of contracts that we secure through that service are continuing services contract. Those contracts allows the board to select a list of qualified
consultants that then we could issue task orders to do all sorts of design and studies under that contract. The typical time that it takes to go from scope definition to uh having the board accept the list of qualified consultants is about six to eight months. But once that solicitation process is over, we then can issue task orders and uh define a scope and have it uh either executed by the county administrator depending on the on the purchasing threshold or by the board. uh and
save anywhere from f uh four to six months off of the typical solicitation schedule. Uh under the current statute A continuing service contract can be used for design services so long as the estimated cost of construction is less than four million dollars. Or if an individual study is less than ha uh five hundred thousand dollars. And those thresholds are burned into the statute. So what's happen uh by the way, those uh Those thresholds were last increased by the legislature in twenty twenty. Uh
since twenty twenty we've seen substantial increases in the cost of construction, mostly because of supply chain issues, the global pandemic, uh an inadequate lack of workforce to help us get our projects moving along quicker. Uh but since those thresholds are burned in, as the construction uh cost of construction goes up, we're limited as to the number of task scores we can then use Because it's tied to that four million dollar threshold. And then that means we had to go out to solicitation again and we're back to a much longer process
to start a project and then deliver it for the citizens of Pasco County. What we're asking you to do is to ask the state legislature to increase those thresholds from four million dollars for construction cost and five hundred thousand dollars for a study to ten million dollars and one million dollars. Now, this amendment would benefit all public agencies within the state of Florida, not just Pasco County. It does benefit all your operating departments that manage professional services related to engineering, architecture,
landscape architecture, or surveying, because it allows us then to issue these task orders under your approval for higher value construction dollar amounts.
I I I'm
And and then then the costs are so much higher when we have to do it again. So it's like you never get to play catching it.
It's common sense. Going back to the top issue next to the session, inflation, this is the type of thing that's gonna be understood. Um it makes
a lot
of sense.
And then I'm gonna tell you it might even go higher than that, especially on the construction side. Just one example of a grant that we we involved with. Remember Randy R Representative Fine talking about Indian River? Right. Talking about all the treatment out there, the Baffel Box, et cetera. Found out that we've actually had companies in Tampa doing it for 30 years. Right. We've done we haven't done any ourselves, but even St. Pete's done it, Molesmar's done it, and even Tarput Springs. And we put a I was working with the estuary program trying to get them to expand their area
so that we didn't just have the uh Hillsborough River running through Pasco that we could actually pick up and do along the coast these same baffle boxes to go help the Gulf. We actually did a joint venture with them. We picked up nine point five million. Well above this number.
Mm-hmm.
The m the amount of money that the estuary just got was a million dollars to go set up and do the estuary study. You know, for for for for the for the for the whole area, for the for the whole region. That's like perfect numbers he's talking about right there. But I'm thinking even that ten million number number might might might might might be better to go higher, especially with the
it continues to raise under consumer price index in the future? Well it's
not even for
that
though, Show. Yes, we've included that in here.
Right, but I'm
saying
that
but part of the thing is there's so much money out there federally and state that's out there that these numbers are gonna be higher for most a lot of the projects, so why not give ourselves a cushion to go even higher than that? I would even say go to twenty twenty million.
Now, Commissioner, during the 2020 legislative session, the original ask was for a $5 million threshold, and the appropriations committee reduced it down to $4 million. The original ask also included an escalation clause of kind of indexing, and the government oversight committee eliminated that portion from the finally approved bill. I don't know why, but those were two. things that were amended or changed last time when this bill was finally adopted by by the state.
Well I I appreciate it because that helps us with some information kind of going into that. And um but I I I think it's throw it at the wall and I think this is a a reasonable request. And I mean if you do hire, you can I mean I kinda understand why he did the he did a he did double the amount, five hundred thousand to a million and and a little bit over double on
on the ten million. Um There'll be a balancing act with it. I I will tell you that typically I'd I'd asked if you could find out if FICE or some of the consulting engineering companies were were in favor of it. For years the numbers in the C CNA stayed right stagnant and they were they were like that since I got into consulting, right? And those numbers had stayed until twenty twenty, which was a release. But now, of course, the inflation, you look at those numbers, four million dollars, that used to be the cost of a fire station. Now we've got fire stations that are upwards of six, seven, eight, ten million
dollars. And so now to say that we've got to go add another year to the procurement process and go through just to even build a fire station. For those of us in growth counties, I think that it's there's a sense of urgency there. But I do think you could get other municipalities behind this, possibly the consulting engineers could be behind it. It's double-edged because if they don't have um continuing services contracts, then they're kind of cut out of it. So there's there's probably a a sweet spot there. But but what Adolfo is bringing up is is very real. The numbers that were pitched in 2020 aren't the
same as they are in 2023. Right. So um we may want to consider enlisting other support especially from those other agencies. and and organizations.
Something that comes to mind is what about like a wastewater treatment plant? What's that gonna cost?
Oh
that's you're you're in there.
I mean it's something something something to look at. Maybe that's even a clause to throw in there.
I did have a quick conversation this morning with the executive director of the Florida Engineering Society. He was not aware of any uh public agency requesting this, but he was going to poll his membership to see if there was any other interests who are the state forward.
Yeah.
That's
good. Stacy see how much easier his was.
Thank
you.
Any other questions? No. Thanks. Thank you. Okay. Um the next issue that we have, uh we're gonna bring up uh Marki uh Marcy Esperg to talk about the ship program.