Fort Myers Beach interviews sole bidder for Bay Oaks pool rehab funded by HUD disaster grant

Fort Myers Beach’s selection advisory committee on Sept. 22 interviewed the only firm to respond to RFQ 25-10-AD — Arch Aquatics/International Aquatic Consulting — to provide engineering and architectural services to rehabilitate the Bay Oaks Community Pool, which was severely damaged by Hurricane Ian.

"This project is funded in part or in whole by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD," contract and procurement specialist Deb Glavin told the public meeting, identifying the funding as a Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) award the town received for the project.

The project aims to rebuild the central portion of the community recreational facility to meet modern flood-elevation, accessibility and public‑health standards while limiting the pool’s footprint in the park. Representatives for the bidder described experience with municipal pools and post‑disaster work and said the team can move as quickly as the town requires.

Tripp Knox, representing International Aquatic Consulting/Arch Aquatics, described his background in the industry: "I've been in the aquatic business for over 55 years," he said, noting long experience in design and construction. Architect William C. Taglin said he would be the licensed Florida professional whose stamp would appear on the drawings. "That will be me," Taglin said when asked which company would hold the Florida license.

Committee members pressed the firm on a number of compliance and documentation issues. Glavin said the selection staff found the bidder’s corporate listing inactive on Sunbiz, Florida’s business-entity registry, and asked the team to correct the record and confirm insurance and registration before the town advances the procurement. The bidders said some of their references and past projects are listed under other historic business names — International Aquatic Design and Pool People Commercial — and that they would update Sunbiz and provide clear paperwork for the town to review.

On technical scope, the bidders and town staff agreed that much of the site will require exploratory testing before final design decisions. The team reported visible structural and equipment problems: many deck drains appear clogged with sand and much concrete decking likely must be replaced; mechanical and electrical systems exposed to stormwater are probably not salvageable; a filter tank area shows a sinkhole that has settled about 4 to 6 inches; and one piece of pool equipment on site was estimated by the bidder to be worth about $67,000 and is currently exposed to the elements.

The bidders said early work would focus on testing to determine what is reusable and what must be replaced, and on coordinating with local building officials and public-health authorities. They noted the project will have to comply with the town’s flood-elevation and coastal construction rules and with Department of Health and HUD/CDBG-DR requirements. The team emphasized that whether the pool area can be repaired or must be treated as a substantial reconstruction will depend on the results of forensic testing and the application of the 50% rule used for repair-versus-rebuild decisions in code and grant compliance reviews.

The firm estimated a preliminary schedule of about four months for initial designs and drawings and roughly a year for the full design, permitting and bidding cycle, subject to scope and permitting requirements. The proposal said structural, civil and engineering work would be led by the licensed professionals on the team: William C. Taglin for architectural design and product stamping and engineer David Savage for engineering and site/civil seals.

During the public interview, Glavin read the committee’s scoring of the firm from the RFQ evaluation categories and confirmed, for the record, that the evaluators were not swayed by price in their rankings. The committee described the next steps in the procurement process: if the selection committee moves forward, the town will hold public negotiations with the firm, then present negotiated terms to the Town Council for approval and the town manager for signature; because the project uses CDBG-DR funds there are additional federal reporting and compliance steps the town and contractor must meet.

No contract award was made at the meeting. The committee asked the bidder to correct the Sunbiz registration, provide complete proof of insurance and to supply project-specific references tied to the work listed in the RFQ package before any negotiations proceed.

If the firm clears the administrative and licensing matters and the town proceeds, the bidders said they will coordinate required surveys, soil borings, testing and meetings with town staff and grant administrators as part of the design and compliance process.