City staff told the Winter Haven City Commission that they negotiated a master progressive design‑build agreement with Wharton Smith Inc. to guide phased upgrades and an expansion of Wastewater Treatment Plant 3.

The agreement is a framework under which separate task orders will be issued for specific design and construction elements, each of which will include a guaranteed maximum price (GMP) that the commission would consider before construction. “This is a significant project at the end of the day, close to a $200,000,000 investment that will ultimately be made into our wastewater system,” the staff presentation said.

The master agreement itself carries no immediate construction cost; staff said it sets terms and expectations for future task orders. City staff said the approach allows the city to take “bites at this project” by phasing work at Plant 3 and to eventually decommission or repurpose Plant 2, repurposing it “more of a master lift station” as system needs change.

Representatives from Wharton Smith and consultant Jones Edmonds were present. Staff reported the city issued a request for qualifications in March of the previous year, received responses, and has been negotiating terms for several months. Staff said they are already reviewing an initial task order that would be brought forward to a future meeting for approval of scope and a GMP.

Commissioners asked procedural questions about how task orders and GMPs will be presented; staff emphasized that each task order will return to the commission for approval before construction funds are committed. The city attorney’s office and counsel for Wharton Smith participated in drafting the master document, staff said.

Staff did not request authorization of construction dollars at the meeting; instead they asked the commission to adopt the master agreement framework so that future, scoped task orders can be negotiated, priced and approved individually.

The presentation did not include a final timeline for the full program or a dollar‑by‑dollar schedule; staff said those details will appear with individual task orders and GMPs when presented to the commission.