Wellington selection committee narrows CMAR field to five finalists for PBSO substation

The Village of Wellington selection committee on Sept. 25 ranked 11 responsive proposals for a construction-manager-at-risk contract to build a new Palm Beach Sheriff's Office substation and voted unanimously to advance five finalists for interviews.

Purchasing Manager Danielle Zabrowski, who chaired the panel, said the village received 13 proposals on Sept. 11; two were deemed nonresponsive, leaving 11 firms for review. The committee converted reviewers' scores to ordinal rankings using a 100-point weighted rubric, then announced final ordinals with Wharton Smith ranked first, Kaufman Lynn second and The Morganti Group third.

The committee's scoring rubric assigned points for work plan (5), workload and scheduling (15), cost control (20), firm experience (10), experience of project personnel (30), information and communication (10) and litigation/disputes (5). Zabrowski also said the state confirmed none of the proposers qualified for minority enterprise status, so no points were awarded in that category.

Village engineer Jonathan Reinzold, the committee's subject-matter expert, said the project returned to active design after earlier program work and that the CMAR will be engaged during design development to provide constructability input. "We don't do PBSO substations on the regular," Reinzold said, and the village seeks a contractor with prior public-safety or similar facility experience "so we don't have them learning on the job." The project will also house the village's building department, he said.

After Zabrowski read the final ordinal totals (Wharton Smith 9 points; Kaufman Lynn 12; Morganti 16; Core Construction 19; Vertex 22; Hedrick Brothers 27; Bar and Bar 35; Gulf Building 43; Gas Construction 45; Person Services 47; Procter 48), committee member Nicole Coates moved to bring the top five firms forward for interviews and presentations; Bruce Wagner seconded and the motion passed by voice vote, recorded as 5-0.

The committee then set an interview schedule for Oct. 9 starting at 9 a.m., agreeing on 20-minute presentations followed by 10-minute interviews. Bruce Wagner moved the timing; Jonathan Reinzold seconded, and the committee again approved the motion 5-0. Zabrowski said she would confirm the order and logistics with firms and adjust the calendar as needed.

The selection committee framed the CMAR procurement as a collaborative design-construction approach to avoid constructability issues and to ensure the chosen contractor has relevant experience with public-safety or mixed-use public facilities. The committee did not take a final contract award; advancing five finalists and scheduling interviews are the next procedural steps.

The Oct. 9 interviews will determine which firm the village invites to negotiate a contract or proceed to the next procurement stage; Zabrowski said the committee will re-rank following oral presentations and Q&A.