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Commission backs 5th amendment to I'm Electric contract amid criticism over repeated amendments and lack of competitive bids
Summary
Staff argued delaying the 5th amendment to a street‑lighting contract would stall the Golden Shores undergrounding project; one commissioner objected that the original $120,000 contract has grown to roughly $1.2 million through amendments and urged a new procurement, but the commission approved the amendment with one no vote.
The commission approved a fifth amendment to the city's street‑lighting preventive maintenance agreement with I'm Electric despite objections from a commissioner who said the contract had ballooned from its original $120,000 award to more than $1.2 million with successive amendments and should be re‑bid.
City staff told commissioners the vendor was the primary awardee from Bid No. 23‑11‑01 and that a secondary bidder declined to sign the city's contract; staff said continued use of the incumbent avoided at least a six‑month delay for the Golden Shores undergrounding work. "To go out to bid would have delayed that project at least another six months," a deputy city manager said.
The dissenting commissioner said successive amendments have effectively converted a small preventive‑maintenance contract into a multimillion‑dollar engagement without competitive bidding, calling for procurement to re‑advertise the work. "At what point...does another amendment not just become a new procurement? We are not bidding this," the commissioner said, quoting the contract history and cautioning against repeatedly extending the same award.
City staff countered that the vendor's hourly rates were substantially lower than other bidders and that the secondary bidder refused to sign, leaving the city with the incumbent contractor as the practical provider. The city attorney and staff said legal and procurement staff had vetted the extension as within the contract's allowable amendments and that stopping work now could prompt FPL to leave the site and further delay undergrounding.
After debate the commission approved the amendment; one commissioner recorded a 'no' vote in the minutes. The deputy city manager said the amendment was intended to cover remaining work through the final term before taking the contract back out to bid.
