Hillsborough County committee recommends $20.4 million Traffic Safety Mobility Works contract after bids exceed estimate by 41.9%

The Hillsborough County Bid Review Committee recommended awarding the Traffic Safety Mobility Works contract (IFB25-00196) to Ajax Paving Industries of Florida LLC after the lowest submitted bid plus allowances totaled $20,393,435.63, about $6,020,636.36 (approximately 41.9%) over the county's construction estimate of $14,372,799.27.

The recommendation followed a presentation by Anna Granman, project manager for Hillsborough County Engineering Operations, who said the committee convened under the county's policy that requires review of capital projects of $50,000 or more when the low bid exceeds the county estimate by 10% or more. "Only 28 pay items exceeded 1% of the total contract cost," Granman said, and "of these, only 9 items were priced more than 30% above internal estimates." She said the analysis compared recent Hillsborough County projects and recent Florida Department of Transportation awards to assess market consistency.

Granman told the committee that higher-priced items "are in line with current market prices" in several tested projects and that "slightly elevated prices reflect risk mitigation for inflation over the 2 year term of this contract." She said bundling smaller projects under a single work order would likely reduce price variance and that Ajax's pricing showed "greater stability and predictability for commonly used items." The county received two bids for the solicitation: Ajax Paving Industries of Florida LLC and David Nelson Construction.

Committee members discussed the contract's cost relative to the county estimate and the evaluation criteria, which included pricing and market comparison, execution feasibility, historical county pricing and recent FDOT-awarded contracts. The analysis identified mobilization and several specialty items as drivers of higher percentages on smaller and medium-sized projects; Granman said variances on larger comparable projects tended to be smaller (about 20% to 34%).

Ethan Curze, the county senior buyer for the project, opened the meeting and confirmed the session was publicly noticed and recorded. After Granman's presentation, the committee moved to a decision point. When asked whether to proceed with Ajax's bid, committee members answered in the affirmative and the chair concluded the Bid Review Committee would move forward with the award recommendation.

The committee's action is a recommendation to proceed with contract award; the transcript does not show a formal, roll-call vote or any required county commission approval steps. The presentation noted that the total cost figure includes nondiscretionary price index (NPI) allowances and that additional budgetary approvals may be required before a final contract is executed.

Officials said the contract would enable timely implementation of traffic-safety improvements and provide flexibility through bundling, but they also flagged cost variances as a reason for the committee review. The committee did not specify subsequent reporting deadlines or additional conditions in the recorded discussion.

The Bid Review Committee meeting for IFB25-00196 then concluded.