STATEMENT OF ISSUE:

In April 2006, the City, County and Sheriff Campbell agreed to the creation of a joint dispatch operation for public safety agencies, which included the Leon County Sheriff, Leon County Emergency Medical Services, Tallahassee Police Department, and the Tallahassee Fire Department. On December 13, 2006, the Leon County and City of Tallahassee Memorandum of Agreement was executed formalizing the creation of the Public Safety Communication Board (PSCB) to move forward with the joint communications system.

The Board of County Commissioners on January 15, 2009, and the City Commission on January 28, 2009, approved the issuance of a Request for Proposal (RFP) for architectural engineering design services for the Public Safety Complex using Leon County’s Purchasing Division and procedures.

This agenda seeks City Commission approval of the Public Safety Communication Board’s recommendation of Clemons Rutherford & Associates/Morris Allen Joint Venture (CRA/Morris Allen JV), of Tallahassee, Florida, to provide architectural and engineering design services for the Public Safety Complex.

RECOMMENDED ACTION

Option 1 – Approve the Public Safety Communication Board’s recommendation of CRA/Morris Allen JV to provide architectural and engineering design services for the Public Safety Complex and direct staff to proceed with contract negotiations.

FISCAL IMPACT:

Upon approval of this item, a tri-party agreement with the City of Tallahassee, Leon County and selected service provider will be negotiated and brought back to the commission under separate agenda item. At that time that funding will be required.

Gabriel P. Menendez, Director, Public Works Department

Anita R. Favors Thompson, City Manager

For further Information, please contact: Gabriel P. Menendez, Director, Public Works Department (850) 891-8197.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL/ISSUE ANALYSIS
HISTORY/FACTS & ISSUES

In April 2006, the City, County and Sheriff Campbell agreed to the creation of a joint dispatch operation for public safety agencies, which included the Leon County Sheriff, Leon County Emergency Medical Services, Tallahassee Police Department, and the Tallahassee Fire Department.

The City of Tallahassee Commission, along with the Leon County Board of County Commissioners and the Leon County Sheriff authorized the creation of the Public Safety Communication Board (PSCB) as the oversight body for public safety communications. The PSCB replaces the Management Oversight Committee, established by the July 23, 1999 agreement regarding the 800 MHz system. On December 13, 2006, the Memorandum of Agreement formalizing the creation of the PSCB and authorization to move forward with the joint dispatch systems was executed. It is the goal of the PSCB to improve services to the public by more efficient handling of both emergency and non-emergency calls and more effective deployment of resources.

On May 9, 2008, the PSCB recommended issuance of a Request for Proposal (RFP) for Program Management services related to the management of the design and construction activities of the joint dispatch facility and recommended the functional relocation of the Leon County Emergency Medical Services and the Tallahassee Fire Department Administrative offices within this facility.

The City Commission on May 28, 2008, and the Board of County Commissioners on June 10, 2008, approved the issuance of an RFP for Program Management services related to the management of the design and construction activities of the combined facility.

On June 18, 2008, the City Commission approved a Joint Project Agreement with the Florida Department of Transportation to site, construct and manage a Regional Transportation Management Center and its associated telecommunication infrastructure, Freeway Management System, Intelligent Transportation System Infrastructure and License Plate Reader project.

On June 26, 2008, the PSCB recommended that the Design Architect and the Construction Manager At-Risk be hired at the earliest possible date, and that the City and County Commissions approve an issuance of a RFP for architectural and engineering design services and construction manager at-risk services.

The Board of County Commissioners on December 9, 2008, and the City Commission on December 10, 2008, approved the Memorandum of Agreement for the City of Tallahassee and Leon County to share equally in all costs associated with the design and construction of the

Public Safety Facility, consisting of the Tallahassee-Leon County Public Safety Communication Center, City Regional Transportation Management Center, City Fire Administration Headquarters, County Emergency Management Services Headquarters, and the County Emergency Operations Center, now being referred to collectively as the Public Safety Complex.

The Board of County Commissioners on December 9, 2008, and the City Commission on December 10, 2008, approved the selection of URS Corporation as the Program Manager for the Public Safety Complex. The URS contract was executed and a notice to proceed was issued on March 2, 2009.

The Board of County Commissioners on January 15, 2009, and the City Commission on January 28, 2009, approved the issuance of an RFP for Architectural Engineering Design Services for the Public Safety Complex.

Subsequent to the Commission’s approval of this item, and upon completion of contract negotiations, staff will include in the architectural and engineering services award agenda item the request for funds to support the tri-party agreement between the City of Tallahassee, Leon County and the selected architectural firm.

Analysis:
The County’s Procurement System was used to process the RFP. This RFP was advertised locally and 1,322 vendors were notified through the automated procurement system. RFP packages were requested by 125 vendors, which resulted in thirteen (13) proposals of which one was disqualified.

The thirteen (13) firms that submitted proposals in response to this RFP were as follows: ARC 3 Architects; Architects Design Group; BFBA/Spectra; CRA/Morris Allen JV; DAG/Roads Britto; Dod Stone; EMO/Public safety; HOK; JAH Architects; Johnson Peterson Architects; JRA Architects; Rolland, Dellvalle & Bradley, and Strollo Architects. However, the submittal by Strollo Architects was later deemed to be non-responsive to RFP requirements.

A Selection Committee, comprised of the following members was appointed by the City Manager and County Administrator: Alan Rosenzweig, Assistant County Administrator (Chairman); Gabe Menendez, City of Tallahassee Public Works Director; Raoul Lavin, City of Tallahassee Director of Management and Budget; Tom Brantley, Leon County Director of Facilities Management; Carl Morgan, County Construction Manager; Jonathan Lich, Assistant City Engineer; and Major Scott Bakotic, Sheriff’s Office. An initial meeting was held on March 3, 2009. After individual reviews of the RFP responses, the committee reconvened on March 18, 2009, to rank the responses to this RFP. This meeting resulted in a preliminary scoring and ranking of the candidates as follows:

The Selection Committee approved a short-list, consisting of the five (5) top-ranked firms, and their interviews were conducted on April 8, 2009. These interviews were used to evaluate each respondent’s understanding of the project, and their specific methods and approach to be used in its management. This process resulted in the following scoring and rankings:

The Selection Committee has unanimously agreed to recommend CRA/Morris Allen JV as the provider for architectural and engineering services for the Tallahassee-Leon County Public Safety Complex. Furthermore, this recommendation was presented to and approved by the PSCB on April 22, 2009. If approved, this contract will be a tri-party agreement between the County, City, and CRA/Morris Allen JV.

The selected firm for this project will be required to provide professional architectural and engineering design, specialty systems design, construction services, systems commissioning, construction start-up, final close-out, and occupancy coordination.

A contract price has not yet been negotiated with the firm.

The County’s Minority, Women and Small Business Enterprise (MWSBE) office established an aspirational target of 18% Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) and 9% Women Business Enterprise (WBE) for this RFP. CRA/Morris Allen JV met the MBE and WBE aspirational targets, resulting in the firm receiving ten (10) points in the evaluation process.

CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS

Not applicable as Leon County’s Procurement System was used in making this selection.

OPTIONS

1. Approve the Public Safety Communication Board and its Selection Committee’s recommendation of CRA/Morris Allen JV to provide architectural and engineering design services for the Public Safety Complex and direct staff to proceed with contract negotiations.

Pros:
1. Approval of the consultant ranking is required to advance the development of the Joint Safety Complex.
2. There will be no fiscal impact associated with approving this item until the Commission approves the contract at a later date.
3. Continues and advances the design of the Public Safety Complex.
4. Advances the process of hiring the architect for the facility.
5. Advances the efforts to accommodate the Regional Transportation Management Center, thus enabling the City to be reimbursed associated costs by the Department of Transportation.
Cons:
1. Funds for this project could be used for other projects in the future.

2. Do not approve the Public Safety Communication Board and its Selection Committee’s recommendation of CRA/Morris Allen JV to provide architectural and engineering design services for the Public Safety Complex and direct staff to proceed with alternate direction.

Pros:
1. There would be no fiscal impact to the City.
Cons:
1. Jeopardizes using the selected site for a centralized Public Safety Complex.
2. County can move forward with relocating Sheriff, EMS, and other County facilities on the site thus squelching the Public Safety Complex use of the site.
3. May require finding an alternate site for the Regional Transportation Management Center.
4. May delay the completion schedule of the Public Safety Complex.

ATTACHMENTS

None