Hillsborough County outlines requirements, MBE goal and timelines at joint pre-bid conference for three fire stations

Hillsborough County Procurement Services held a joint pre-bid conference for three fire-station solicitations — IFB 25000070 (Sun City Fire Station No. 47), IFB 2520071 (Fire Station No. 21) and IFB 25000072 (Progress Village South Fire Station No. 48) — during which staff reviewed submission rules, a 17% DMWBE/MBE participation goal, site-visit information and contract allowances.

The conference, opened by Sybil Tucker, procurement buyer for the Sun City Fire Station project, emphasized that “only a written addendum may change the bid document,” and reminded bidders that the county’s cone-of-silence policy is in effect for all three solicitations. Tucker directed bidders to submit questions and all procurement communications through the Bonfire vendor-discussions portal so any clarifications will be published in writing.

The meeting’s nut graf: the county sought to make clear procedural requirements and deadlines that could affect bid responsiveness and award eligibility — especially the DMWBE/MBE documentation, required pricing for alternates, and site-visit schedules.

Daishon Hines of the Economic Development Minority and Small Business Department reviewed the minority- and small-business participation requirements. He said bidders must complete and submit the MBE 1 subcontractor/material-supplier form, that each listed MBE/DMWBE must be certified with Hillsborough County (or by other Florida public agencies if not on the county’s denied/reciprocal list), and that the apparent low bidder must deliver completed DMWBE documentation within five business days of notification. “Apologies. It's a 17% goal on this project,” Hines said when asked about the target. The county stressed that failure to submit required forms and supporting letters of intent could result in rejection of a bid.

Mansoor Yazzie, project manager with the Hillsborough County Capital Programs Department, walked bidders through site- and scope-specific details for each solicitation. He described the Sun City site (IFB 25000070) as a two-bay, approximately 7,300-square-foot, single-story fire station on leased property and said the county holds a long-term lease from the Florida Department of Forestry for that parcel. Yazzie said bidders should attend the scheduled Sun City site visit and avoid impeding current forestry operations during inspections.

Yazzie also reviewed contract allowances and alternates that bidders must price. The advertised documents show the projects at approximately 90% complete design; the county listed four construction-related allowances common across the packages, including a $150,000 allowance to carry drawings from 90% to 100%, a $75,000 meter/permitting allowance, a county-approved fire-alarm vendor allowance (amounts listed on drawings), and a $200,000 allowance for user-requested changes. He repeated that bidders must submit pricing for all additive alternates included in the bid package even if the county ultimately selects only some of them.

Other site notes: Progress Village South (IFB 25000072) has a gated site the county said would be opened for inspections; the project footprint there is roughly similar in scale to the other two stations. The Tunotossasa/Fire Station 21 site (IFB 2520071) was described as a two-bay station with an on-site septic system and special overlay-district treatments indicated on the drawings; that station’s building footprint was described as about 7,550 square feet (site-specific conditions are detailed in Division 1 special conditions and the construction documents, Yazzie said).

Procurement deadlines and procedures: Tucker displayed the Bonfire solicitation page and said the current bid-close date shown for all three solicitations is March 14, 2025, at 2 p.m. Bidders were told that question deadlines run 14 days from the pre-bid conference or a site visit (whichever is later); the county asked that bidders submit grouped lists of questions through Bonfire’s vendor-discussions area and not contact consultants, architects, Fire Rescue or other county staff outside the official procurement channels.

The meeting recording and public notice will be posted in the county’s procurement files, Tucker said. Bidders who had not entered contact information into the Bonfire chat or attendance list were asked to do so before the meeting closed.

Ending: County staff encouraged prospective bidders to review all bid documents carefully, to submit questions in writing within the 14-day window, to price every alternate, and to provide the DMWBE/MBE forms and evidence of good-faith outreach as required to be responsive to the solicitations.