Selection advisory committee recommends Crowder Golf, TFR and Southern for Fort Myers Beach debris-removal contract

The Town of Fort Myers Beach selection advisory committee voted to forward a ranked recommendation for RFP 26-11-ES (disaster debris removal and disposal services) to the town manager, placing Crowder Golf Joint Venture Inc. first, TFR Enterprises Inc. second and Southern Disaster Recovery third.

Connor Nally, contracts procurement manager, opened the publicly noticed evaluation meeting and said it was being conducted “pursuant to Florida statute section 286.011.” The committee proceeded alphabetically through the 12 responsive proposers, with each member announcing category-by-category scores for the four evaluation criteria the RFP prescribes: experience and references, company resources, company capabilities, and financial stability. Nally tabulated the average evaluator scores and precalculated price scores according to the RFP formula before announcing rankings.

Nally announced the preliminary rankings: “Number 1 ranked firm is Crowder Golf Joint Venture Inc at 95.09,” followed by TFR Enterprises Inc. at 92.71 and Southern Disaster Recovery at 90.8. Committee members explained their scoring on the record: Tracy Koller, deputy town manager, cited coastal and Florida-specific experience and strong documentation when awarding high scores to several firms; other evaluators highlighted equipment ownership, FEMA documentation experience, and scale of operations as reasons for higher marks on some proposals.

Frankie Kropatsik, community development director, moved to forward the ranked recommendations to the town manager; Jeff Hauge, community services director, seconded the motion. The committee conducted a voice vote and Nally recorded the motion as approved after Tracy Koller indicated she was "not opposed." The transcript records a verbal voice vote only; no roll-call vote totals were recorded in the meeting transcript.

Committee members discussed but did not request oral presentations. Nally noted that oral presentations, if requested, would be exempt from the open-meeting requirement under Florida law. Town clerk Amy Baker (not a committee member) suggested the recommendation could go to the May 18 council meeting and, depending on negotiations, an award could be considered at the council’s June 15 meeting. Nally said he would compile the final scoring tabulation and prepare a recommendation memo for the town manager to forward to town council; the council will make the final award decisions at a noticed public meeting.

The committee’s recommendation to the town manager does not constitute a final contract award; the town manager and town council retain final authority to designate primary and standby contractors and to complete any negotiations necessary prior to award. The committee adjourned after turning in initial scoring forms, which Nally said will be retained as public records in the procurement file.