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Council selects Reynolds Construction for Northern Plantation Key booster upgrade after debate
Summary
After debate about experience and pricing, the council approved Reynolds Construction — a local contractor — over the low bidder, citing local experience and confidence in delivery; the project is estimated near the engineer’s $7.0M estimate and funded through stewardship, state appropriations and FQIP grants.
The council considered final rankings from an evaluation committee that reviewed four proposals for the Northern Plantation Key booster station upgrade. The committee’s scoring combined qualifications and cost; Comtech received the highest total score driven by a lower bid ($6,700,500) but several council members and public commenters raised concerns that Comtech lacked Florida Keys wastewater experience and that references cited schedule delays.
Josh Vandersoll of Reynolds Construction, a local contractor, told the council Reynolds has local staff and available crews and urged the council to prioritize demonstrated local experience for timely delivery. "We are a local contractor... we are prepared to start this project immediately," Vandersoll said.
Council Member Anna Richards and others said they were uneasy awarding a major utility project to a bidder without documented Keys experience despite its lower price. Council ultimately voted to approve the second‑ranked contractor (Reynolds) and authorized the manager to negotiate an agreement. Staff and the engineer noted an engineer’s estimate of about $7.0 million for the work; consultants and staff explained the project can be funded through a combination of stewardship funds, state appropriations and FQIP grants with reimbursable SRF loan bridging where needed.
The manager will proceed to negotiate the contract and return to council if negotiations cannot reach terms; the committee and staff emphasized grant reimbursement and stewardship funds are available to cover the construction and inspection costs as presented.
