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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20-080 RESOLUTION NO. 20-080 A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF ST. LUCIE COUNTY, FLORIDA RATIFYING AN ORDER OF THE ST. LUCIE COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR WAIVING FORMAL 0 P D O BIDDING FOR REPAIRS TO THE SAVANNAH ROAD ANIMAL SHELTER o o A m GZiAjm• rn 44 Sp_WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners of St Lucie County, Florida has made the m o=m following determinations: 8 0 0 1. On March 17, 2020, the St. Lucie County Public Safety Director declared a State of w Local Emergency Covid-19 Public Health Emergency ("St. Lucie County Declaration of °c m Emergency"); and c 2. The findings in the St. Lucie County Declaration of Emergency are incorporated o c herein and, 73 3. On March 16, 2020, President Donald J.Trump and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ('CDC") issued the "15 Days to Slow the Spread" guidance advising individuals to adopt far-reaching social distancing measures, such as avoiding gatherings of more than 10 people, and in states with evidence of community spread, recommending restrictions to certain establishments conducive to mass gatherings and congregations; and 4. On March 29, 2020,the President extended such guidance to be in effect until April 30, 2020; and 5. On March 24, 2020, the Governor of the State of Florida issued Executive Order No. 20-83 directing the State Surgeon General and State Health Officer to issue a public health advisory to all persons over 65 years of age and persons that have serious underlying medical conditions that place them at high risk of severe illness from COVID-19 urging them to stay home and to take such other measures as necessary to limit their risk of exposure to COVID-19; and 6. Pursuant to Executive Order No. 20-83, the Governor of the State of Florida further directed the State Surgeon General and the State Health Officer to issue a public health advisory providing that individuals should cease all social or recreational gatherings of 10 or more people; and 7. On March 25, 2020, the State Surgeon General issued a Public Health Advisory consistent with Executive Order 20-83; and 8. On March 25, 2020, the President of the United States declared that a major disaster exists in the State of Florida as a result of COVID-19; and 9. On April 1, 2020, the Governor of the State of Florida issued Executive Order 20- 91 directing senior citizens, individuals with a significant underlying medical condition, and persons engaging in nonessential services or activities to stay at home; and, 10. Due to Executive Order 20-91,the Board has cancelled all public meetings through April 30, 2020. The next Board meeting is scheduled for May 19, 2020; and, 1 • • 11. In the months prior to October 1,2019,the County and the City of Fort Pierce ("Fort Pierce") and the City of Port St. Lucie ("Port St. Lucie") had separate agreements with Humane Society of St. Lucie County, Inc. to provider animal shelter services; and, 12. Although the parties attempted to enter into a unified agreement with the Humane Society to be effective October 1, 2019, those negotiations were unsuccessful and the existing agreements expired effective October 1, 2019; and, 13. Effective October 1, 2019, the County entered into an Interlocal Agreement with the City of Fort Pierce and the City of Port St. Lucie for the operation of a Temporary Animal Shelter, ("Temporary Shelter Interlocal Agreement"); and, 14. Pursuant to the Temporary Shelter Interlocal Agreement, the County converted the vacant County owned building located 2700 Industrial Avenue, Fort Pierce, Florida, into a Temporary Animal Shelter to house and care for homeless dogs and cats coming into the custody of the Cities and the County through owner surrender or animals taken into custody as strays or as neglect and/or abuse cases; and, 15. Although the County received a temporary Certificate of Occupancy for the Temporary Animal Shelter due to the emergency need to provide animal shelter services to the three entities, that temporary Certificate of Occupancy will expire on July 1, 2020; and, 16. On April 6, 2020, the Fort Pierce City Commission approved an Interlocal Agreement with the County which provides for the parties to work together to repair the existing Savannah Road Animal Shelter owned by Fort Pierce, select a third party to operate the shelter on behalf of the two entities, and ultimately design and construct additional facilities on the site of the Savannah Road Animal Shelter to expand the animal services provided to the community ("Savannah Road Shelter Interlocal Agreement"); and, 17. On April 7, 2020, the St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners approved the Interlocal Agreement with Fort Pierce for the Savannah Road Animal Shelter; and, 18. Pursuant to the Savannah Road Shelter Interlocal Agreement, the parties will share equally in the cost of the repair project up to the amount of $250,000.00 per party; and 19. Due to the temporary nature of the Certificate of Occupancy for the Temporary Animal Shelter, it is necessary for the parties to expedite the commencement of the repairs to the Savannah Road Animal Shelter in order to move from the Temporary Animal Shelter prior to July 1, 2020; and 20. While a large portion of the repairs to the Savannah Road Shelter will be performed by the County and Fort Pierce staff, certain repairs will require the use of private contractors; and, 21. The County has obtained three quotes from licensed contractors for the work to be performed by private contractors and determined that several of those project tasks may exceed $49,999.99 and would as a result require bid solicitation pursuant to the County's Purchasing Manual; and, 2 • 22. The County's formal bidding procedure normally requires a minimum of thirty(30) days from publication of the Call for Bids to the bid award by the Board of County Commissioners and contract execution with the selected bidder; and, 23. As indicated above, adherence of the County's formal bidding procedure would result in a minimum of at thirty(30) day delay in the commencement of the Savannah Road Shelter repairs and likely push the completion date beyond the July 1, 2020 expiration of the Temporary Certificate of Occupancy; and, 24. The use of the Temporary Animal Shelter was never intended to be permanent and while meeting the current needs of the community use past July 2, 2020 may pose challenges to the County staff operating the shelter due to increased external temperatures and rainfall limiting the ability to exercise the dogs and keep the bay doors open for increased airflow; and, 25. The current estimated cost of the repairs to the Savannah Road Shelter for both labor and materials based upon quotes solicited for work to be performed by private contractors is approximately $385,435.00, or $192,717.50 for each party. Due to the age of the Shelter buildings, it is anticipated that actual costs may exceed this amount; and, 26. Based upon quotations received from licensed contractors, the cost of at least one of the repairs to be performed at the Savannah Road Shelter will exceed $50,000.00; and 27. Section 6 of the St. Lucie County Purchasing Manual requires all purchases of $50,000.00 or more require formal sealed bids. The bid requirement may be waived by the Board of County Commissioners if it determines an emergency exists which would result in a direct loss to the County, imminent damage to public property, safety or health by requiring competitive bids due to the time loss inherent in the bidding procedures, or there is an interruption of an essential governmental service. In cases of emergency, the County Administrator may approve the bid waiver and submit the waiver request to the Board at the next scheduled meeting or a special meeting. If the Savannah Road Shelter repairs are delayed as a result of the formal bidding procedures, it appears likely that the facility will not be able to accept animals prior to July 1, 2020. This would result in a loss to the County if the Temporary Animal Shelter is closed and an alternative location to shelter animals taken into custody must be obtained. In addition, closure of the Temporary Animal Shelter without an alternative location will result in the disruption of an essential governmental services. 28. Pursuant to Section 255.20, Florida Statutes, a county is required to formally bid a public building construction project which will exceed $300,000 subject to certain exemptions and annual adjustment of the threshold amount based upon changes the Engineering News-Record's Building Cost Index from January 1, 2009 to January 1 of the year in which the project is scheduled to begin; and, 29. Based upon the January 2020 Engineering News-Record's Building Cost Index, the adjusted threshold for 2020 is $392,411.00 for construction and $98,103.00 for electrical; and, 30. Paragraph 4 of the St. Lucie County Declaration of Emergency provides that the County Administrator may suspend, toll or extend the time requirements, notice requirements and deadlines for final action on applications for permits, licenses, rates and other approvals under the St. Lucie County Code. 3 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of County Commissioners of St. Lucie County, Florida: 1. The County Administrator's April 15th, 2020 Order waiving formal bidding requirements for repairs to the Savannah Road Animal Shelter is hereby ratified. 2. This resolution shall take effect upon adoption. After motion and second, the vote on this resolution was as follows: Commissioner Cathy Townsend, Chair AYE Commissioner Chris Dzadovsky, Vice Chair AYE Commissioner Sean Mitchell AYE Commissioner Linda Bartz AYE Commissioner Frannie Hutchinson AYE PASSED AND DULY ADOPTED this 19th day of May, 2020. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ATTEST: ST. LUCIE COUNTY, FLORIDA y ep CI- Chair GDMA9i APPROVE' A S TO FOR £ ND u qa 0 CORRECT E. : `"t "Ai' sr BY: 4 ht c6 `' County £ ttor ey 4