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Evaluation committee ties Audubon Ranch, Rolfard Cattle in scoring for Lower Green Swamp grazing lease
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Summary
Hillsborough County evaluation committee reviewed two bids for RFP 2600069 (Lower Green Swamp cattle grazing lease), awarded consensus scores that left Audubon Ranch and Rolfard Cattle LLC effectively tied (92.02 and 92), and raised questions about pesticide applicator licensing and subcontracted spraying practices.
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY — The county’s evaluation committee on Jan. 9 examined two proposals for RFP 2600069, the Lower Green Swamp cattle grazing lease, and reached consensus scores that left the two bidders essentially even.
"This is the evaluation committee meeting for RFP 2600069, Lower Green Swamp Cattle Grazing Lease," said Tisha Zheng, the senior buyer assigned to the project, as she opened the publicly noticed, recorded meeting. Committee chair Forrest Turpeville led the scoring discussion.
Committee members reviewed proposals from Audubon Ranch and Rolfard Cattle LLC, discussing qualifications, past experience managing large ranches, technical approaches to invasive-species control, fencing and infrastructure maintenance, prescribed burning and feral-hog control. Members praised Audubon Ranch’s long-term leases and documented invasive-plant expenditures and noted Rolfard’s reported 30 years of continuous ranching and experience across roughly 20,000 acres.
Concerns focused on the level of site-specific detail in both proposals and on pesticide application practices. "I'm not sure if this is the pesticide application license in this section," Ali Williams said, questioning whether the license category provided in a proposal covered spraying in natural areas. Zheng replied that the solicitation requires a Florida pesticides applicator's license (FPAL) active at the time of submission, and that a proposer may utilize a subcontractor provided the subcontractor’s FPAL and business arrangement are included with the proposal.
After committee members debated a handful of minor weaknesses and adjusted scores by consensus, Zheng announced the tallies: Audubon Ranch received A1 (qualifications) 19, A2 (experience) 18 and A3 (technical approach) 10, plus a net proposal-price score of 45.02 for a total of 92.02. Rolfard Cattle LLC’s subtotal and price calculations produced a final total reported as 92. Committee members verbally confirmed consensus before the meeting concluded.
Zheng instructed proposers to monitor the county procurement portal for updates. No formal award or contract was made during the meeting; the session was limited to evaluation, scoring and announcement of the committee’s consensus rankings.
What’s next: procurement will verify scores and the net proposal prices, publish the ranking and proceed according to the county’s solicitation and award procedures.
