Board approves multi‑year continuing services contracts for sewer lift‑station rehab and underground utilities

The Board of County Commissioners approved two continuing services agreements Sept. 23 that county staff said are intended to ensure rapid response and capacity for ongoing and emergency sewer and underground utility work.

Chief procurement officer Steve Brotherton presented the items. Staff recommended awarding a continuing services agreement for lift‑station rehabilitation with a maximum not‑to‑exceed (NTE) value of $5,000,000 over five years to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, Felix Civil Construction LLC. The board also approved a continuing services agreement for underground utility construction with an NTE value of $12,500,000 over five years and awarded work to a pool of responsive contractors: Jamie Underground, Coastal Land Development of Martin County, Underground Construction Management, Eastern Pipeline Construction, and Felix Civil Construction. Staff said the continuing services approach provides a term contract with task orders for discrete assignments and is commonly used for emergency response and recurring repair work.

Commissioner Capps asked for clarification about the large not‑to‑exceed values; procurement staff explained those figures represent contract caps over the multi‑year term rather than guaranteed spend, and Florida statutory limits require separate formal bidding for task orders that exceed statutory thresholds (the record referenced $300,000 as a work‑order cap under statute for certain agreements). Staff also said the utilities department had added emergency‑response requirements and that the multiple‑vendor pool is intended to provide enough contractor availability for outages and after‑hours breaks.

The board approved both contracts unanimously.