05-16-63SpMtg MAY 16, 1963.
A special meeting was held in the Council Chambers at 1=00 P.M.,
Thursday, May 16, 1963,' with Mayor Walter Die tz in the Chair, City
Msnager Robert J. Holland, City Attorney John Ross Adams, and Coun-
cilmen A1 C. Avery, ~mory'J. Barrow, George Talbot, Jr.,' and Oliver
W. ~odard, Jr. being present.
An opening prayer was delivered by City Clerk R. D. Worthing.
Mayor Walter Dietz called the meeting to order and announced that
same had been called for the purpose of consultation with Russell &
Axon, Consulting Engineers, relative to their tabulation of the bids
received for the Ocean Outfall Sewer Project and recommendation per-
' taining thereto, and for any other business that may come before the
Council.
Mr. Frank Osteen of Russell & Axon, Consulting Engineers, pre-
sented the Council with bid tabulations, as corrected, on the Ocean
Outfall Sewer Project, and stated that as corrected the order of
bidders on the base bids are as follows:
Section I, Barbarossa & Sons, Inc., in the amount of $342,575.92.
Section II, Barbarossa & Sons, Inc.,in the amount of $356,167.20.
Section III, Cleary Brothers Construction Company'in the amount
of $396,239.80.
Section IV, Barbarossa & sons, Inc., in the amount of $76,622.34.
Section V, Harry Pepper Company in the amount of $451,154.00.
Section VI, Powell Brothers, Inc., in the amount of $753,971.00.
Total of all base bids, $2,376,730.26.
Mr. Osteen informed the Council that the C. O. Osborn Construction
Company, Inc., had been the apparent low bidder on Section III when
the bids were opened but that they had made an error of about
$100,000.00 in addition, also, that there had been a large error in
addition made by the Intercounty Construction Corporation in the
amount of $51,300.00 on their bid on Section V, making their total
bid on Section V, $547,800.00.
Mr. Osteen informed the Council that as far as the total amount
of money on the face of the base bids, that it was well within the
engineer~ estimate, and if they made a recommendation today; would,
without· any question, recommend that the base bid of the low bidders
be accepted exactly as bid.
Mr. Avery said that there was one supplier of equipment, who, it
is suspicioned, has jacked their price, and asked if that could be
taken care of with a change order if another brand of equipment was
used.'
Mr. Osteen stated that the e~i~eers had no objection to a con-
tractor submitting a request for change order on equal equipment,
providing that he met the conditions as set forth in the contract
documents which says that it must be equal, and that it must reflect
an advantage to the city. That they would then consider it and make
their recommendations to the Council whether to accept it or not,
but on the award of bids,,.thpy should be in strict conformance with
the way the bids came in.
Mr. Avery questioned further as to if and when the Council could
decide on the use of alternate' equipment, tO which Mr. Osteen said
thst was something that should be settled a~ter the Council had
determined the contractors to whom the contracts would be awarded.
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Mr. Osteen then gave an explanation as follows of the contractors
who were the low bidders.
That Barb&ross& & Sons, Inc., had done work on'which Russell
Axon were the Engineers and their work was satisfactory, further,
that they are a large and reputable, company and the engineers feel
that' they can do the work and do it satisfactorily~
That everyone knows about Powel~ Brothers from the work they have
done in this area.~
That Harry Pepper has never been a contractor on a job on which
Russell & Axon were the Engineers other than'the abortive effort a
year or so ago, but that his work is considered to be very good.
That the Cleary Brothers are very respons~ble and that he was
very gtad to see them as a low bidder on a section of this project.
Mr. Osteen informed thec~Uncil that'inorder to execute a con-
tract for each of the contractors, it would be ne=ess&fy for them
to execute a performance bondin the amount of One.hundred percent
of the contract, and commented fur{her ss follows= "Should you elect
to award to the low base bids, which is in strict conformance to the
best of municipal practice, should you elect to do this, and later
on you found that any one of the contractors could not execute the
performance bond, I believe that your Attorney here will agree with
me that that provision is amply covered in the bid documents as to
what your c~urse of action would be."
Mayor Dietz commented= "For the record. S~pDose one of these
contractors for some reason could not 'fu~ish'~ ~erformance bond and
a maintenance bond. T~o bonds they must furnish, and suppose one of
them finds'/themselves unable to furnish such bonds, then what is the
procedur~ tO get tha~ ~articular section done? Does it then revert
to the neX~ '~oWest b~dde~?~' ~.
Hr. Osteen: "Frankly, I would rather not see us or you get in
this position, but let us assume that it happens. I believe that
the Council would be within Sts rights, we are getting into the
legal side and I-would like for Attorney Adams to correct me if
am wrong on any point, I believe that you could, if you wish, go to
the next responsible bidder. Is that right, Mr. Adams?"
Attorney Adams= "Yes. That is,within a certain period of time."
Mr. Osteen: "You could do that, or you might choose to =eject
.that section and re-advertise for new bids. You have those two
courses of action."
Following other comments, Mr. Gilbert Clifford of Russell a Axon
explained an instance where the low bidder coul~ not furnish bond,
and the community then negotiated with the next two or three lowest
bidders to s~e how close they could come to the original low bid.
Mayor Dietz commented: "My question was more that Contractor "A"
has bid $100.00. Contractor "B" has bid $120.00. Contrac%~r.-"A"
cannot perform under the bond condition, then does thebid
stand of Contractor "B" so that he may ~e accepted at his bid?"
Attorney Adams said that Contractor "A" would forfeit his bid
bond and Contractor "B" could, within the time set up in the
specifications, be given the contract.
Mr. Osteen said that regardless of what may happen on that score
the bids are well within the mo~ey provided, and further commenteO:
"As it stands, as far as the low bidders on the specified equipment,
on the base bid, which as you know li'ke all engineers this is what
we consider to be the'best job for Delray Beach or we would not have
so specifie~. There are many other routes you can go but you are
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253
well under the engineer% estimate, and I, without hesitancy will
say that our recommendation would be to follow the bids to the
letter, right down. the line of the base bids when you get around
to it."
Concerning paving, Mr. Osteen stated= '"This is something you
want to consider. If you take the paving out, and you.consider it
on the basis of bids with paving deleted, it wouId change the order
of bidders in this respect. Osborne Construction Company would then
become low on Section I, if you deleted the paving and then analyzed
it on this basis. Let me caution you on this. If you did this you
would be .going somewhat contrary to the conditions of advertisement
of the project. In my.personal opinion I do not believe that you can
consider this, you would in effect be awarding to the second bidder."
Following further discussion, Mr. Osteen said that the total amount
alloted for.paving in the low base bids in the four sections amounts
to $112,843.27, and the Council was informed that something would
have to be done in the interim of putting back a partial base and
some form of a seal, also it would have to be determined what the
cost of that would be and deduct same from the $112,843.27.
Mayor Dietz asked that the City Manager compile some definite
fi~re~ on the pavement replacement that would be .necessary.
Following lengthy discussion and comments, Mr. Osteen commented
as follows concerning the paving: "There is some ramifications to
this business of paving replacement that I agree with the Mayor on.
We need to do some further talking, some further studying of the
matter. After we know who is going to be the Iow contractors, then
we can find out how much money is involved in just paving, and when
we find that,out then you will be in a position to make an intelli-
gent decision. In the meantime, it would seem to me that the Mayors
suggestion is well taken to get some figures of what.you have had in
the past on the street work, and then let us compare it with what we
can get now."
Mr. Osteen said that another item that should be discussed now is
the 700 days time on completion of the Outfall Line, which 700 days
would carry the work into. the third season. Mr. Hugh Langford of
Powell Brothers, Inc., was present and Mr. Osteen informed him that
the Engineers and the City of Delray Beach would like to see this
Outfall Sewer System in operation by January, 1965, and if the full
700 days were used it would go beyond that time. Mr. Langford said
that in his opinion, it could be completed by January of 1965, but
that the weather is a large factor, and another factor is the start-
ing time, as you can only work in the ocean efficiently from about
the first of April until the middle of September, and during the
other months there i.s very little if anything that can be done on
the outfall construction. Mr..Langford further stated that it would
be to their advantage as well as to the City of De,ray Beach to com-
plete said outfall before January of 1965.
Mr. Osteen said that they took three different types of bids on
this project, that the base bid is the best, and explained how Powell
Brothers had bid on said project, further, that he thinks the Powe11
bid is a clear cut, good low. bid.
Mr. Avery asked Mr. Robert H. Cook, of the Fiscal Agents if he saw
any reason that it would not be al.right to award the Outfall Contract
today in the interest of getting the job started sooner.
Mr. Cook said that he saw no reason for not going ahead with the
award of contracts as soon as Council desires, and the City Clerk and
City Attorney also said that they saw no reason for holding up the
awarding of the Contracts.
Mr. Cook informed the Council that the Fiscal Agents would like to
put in the official statement to the purchasers of the Bonds that the
contracts were in, that the moneys involved would take care of the
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154
project and that the contracts had been awarded, further, assured
the Council that there were two firms ready to bid on' said bonds.
It was pointed out that the bids would have to be awarded on
this project by June 6th or they would become invalid.
Attorney Adams stated that in the event a contractor who had been
awarded a contract failed to post sufficient bond, the two next low
bidders, within ten days after that failure, are considered low
bidders.
Following lengthy discussion, Mr. Avery moved that the' Contract
for Section I be awarded to"Barbar0ssa & Sons, Inc., in the amount
of $342,575.92 as the base bid, with the completion time of 450 days.
The motion was seconded by Mr. Woodard and carried unanimously.
Mr. Avery moved that the award on Section II base bid be made to
Barb&ross& & sons, Inc., in the amount of ~356,167.20 with the com-
pletion time of 450 days,the motion being seconded by Mr. Wood&rd
and unanimously carried.
Mr. Averymoved that SeCtion III base'bid be awarded to Cleary
~ot~ers Constr. uction Company i'n the amount of $396,239.80 with a
completion 'date of 3.00 days. The motion was seconded by Mr. Barrow
and carried unanimously.
Mr. Avery moved that Section IV base bid be awarded to Barb&ross&
&'Sobs, Inc~, in ~the amount .of*$76,622-.34' ~ith a completion time of
450 days. The motion was seconded by Mr. Wood&rd and carried unani-
mously.
Mr. Avery moved that'Sectio~ V base bid be awaTded to Harry
Pepper Company in the amount of $451,154.00 with a completion time
of 390 days, the motion being seconded by Mr. Wood&rd and unanimously
carried.
Mr. Avery moved that Section VI base bid be awarded to Powell
Brothers, Inc., in the amount of $753,971.00 With a completion time
of 700 days, the motion being seconded byMr. Barrow and unenimously
carried. ~
Mr. Avery moved that the motion awarding the Contract of Section
II to Barb&ross& & Sons, Inc., be~'rescinded. Th~ motion was seconded
by Mr. Wood&rd and carried unanimoUsly.
Mr. Avery then moved that Section No. II base bid be awarded to
Barbarossa & Sons, Inc., in the amount of $356,131.7t with the com-
pletion time to be 450 days. The mOtion was seconded by Mr. ~odard
and carried unanimously.
Mayor Diet= asked Mr. Osteen if it was the intent of Russell &
Axon to sign the Contract that was agreed upon at a former meeting.
Mr. Osteen informed~the Council that' hehad just been advised by Mr.
George D. Russell that Russell & Axon are satisfied with the Contract
with the exception of one item, that being that the Council will pay
for the extra insurance.
Following lengthy discussion concerning the additional insurance
and premium, Mr. Avery moved, that since it is going to cost so much
money, that the City not require the extra insurance. The motion
died for the lack of a second.
Mr. Avery then moved that the Council execute a Contract with
Russell a Axon Engineers for Resident Inspection according to the
terms of a ContraCt mutually agreed upon by the City and said Firm,
and that the C~ty agrees to Pay'~the~ additional premium involved, the
motion being seconded by Mr. Bar~Ww and unanimously carried.
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There was discussion concerning the time it would take to
officially award the contracts and Mr. Daniel Neff suggested, con-
cerning Powell Brothers, Inc., that the city issue them a letter of
intent in order that said firm may accumulate their equipment and
materials prior to the signing of the contract since time is such
an important factor in that section of the Outfall System getting
started.
Mr. Osteen read an excerpt from, the specifications as follows:
"The acceptance of the bid will be by notice, in writing, signed by
the owner or his representative, (his representative in this case
is the Consulting Engineer, but if you want to send them out, that
is alright by us too) mailed to or delivered at the office designated
in the bid. If, within ten days after the acceptance of his bid, the
successful bidder shall refuse or neglect to attend at the office of
the owner or the engineer and execute the contract and to furnish
the required contractors bond, properly signed~by the contractor and
a surety or sureties satisfactory to the owner as hereinafter pro-
vided, the bidder shall be deemed in default and shall forfeit his
deposit."
The council was informed that it would take some time to prepare
the contraets for signing and in order to take care of the Powe11
Brothers Contract as-soon as possible, the City Attorney and the
Engineers agreed with the Powell Brothers representative that said
Contract'would be ready for signing on Wednesday, May 22nd at the
City Hall in Delray Beach.
Mr. Avery moved that Russell & Axon be authorized, as the City's
representatives, to notify the contractors that they have been
awarded the bids and to assist in that awarding. The motion was
seconded by Mr. Talbot and carried unanimously.
It was suggested that the other five contracts be signed at the
City Hall in Delray Beach on Friday, the 24th of May, but Mayor
Dietz said that he would not be available for signing same from the
23rd through the 26th of May.
Mr. Osteen said that the contractors generally sign the contracts
and send them back with all of the bid documents and the City can
execute same at any time they want to, and that it is not necessary
for the contra6tor to be present at the time the City signs said
contract.
Mayor Dietz asked of Mr. Cook and Mr. McCreedy if there was any-
thing that ne%de~ to be done for the Fiscal Agents at this time.
Mr. Cook said that he thought that instructions and plans for
selling the bonds should be made. That a preliminary official state-
ment had been submitted to the City, and asked if same had been
checked.over and was satisfactory. Mr. Cook was informed that said
official statement was satisfactory.
Mr. Cook said that a sale date would have to be set, and suggested
that a special meeting be held to sell the bonds at 2:00 P.M.;on the
18th or IPth of June. Mayor Dietz said that when a definite date
had been decided by the Piscal Agents that he would call a special
meeting.
Mr. Avery said there had been quite an issue made about using,
local sub-contractors and local suppliers, and asked MrJ Osteen how
this could be encouraged, to which Mr. Osteen replied-that,the
engineers could assist in encouraging them. It Was pointed 'oUt that
all of the contractors were present and a~e aware of the wishes of
the Council in this respect.
City Attorney Adams asked Mr, Osteen when they would be in a
position to plan a Work Schedule for the contractors. Mr. Osteen
said that after the contracts had been signed, a conference would be
scheduled with the contractors to work out an acceptable Work Schedule
Mr. Cook said that it would be proper to pass a resolution
authorizing the sale of bonds.
Followinq discussion, Mr.'Talbot me-ed that the Fiscal Agents
be authorized to proceed with the bond sale, .which motion was con-
sidered to be sufficient instead of a resolution. 'The motion was
seconded byMr. Barrow and carried-unanimously.
City Attorney Adams said that he would still like to have the
contractors come to Delray Beach to execute their contracts, or at
least be notified that they have to come to Delray Beach within ten
days.
Mr. Osteen st&ted that along with sa~d notice and the contract
documents that will be sent to 'them, that a time should be specified
that they should be at the City Hall in Delray Beach to sign said
contracts. It was decided that said time would be at 4:00 P.M.,
Friday, May 24, 1963,* at: the City Hall in Delray Bea~. It was
noted that the Mayor would not be available at that time, but that
according -to 'the City Charter the City Manager could sign the con-
tracts. It was alsonoted that if a certain proposed legislative
bill. of the City had been passed by that time, the Vice Mayor could
officially sign said contracts.
City Clerk Worthing asked the Council if they desired to consider
the matter 'contained in a letter to them from City Manager Holland,
dated May 14th, cOncerning city liaison with the engineers on the *
Sewer Project.
It was mentioned that Mr. Woodard and Mr. Barrow had been appoint-
ed on May 13th to contact Mr. Dante1 Neff concerning supervision on
the Outfall Sewer Project.
City Clerk Worthing informed the Council that the. State of Florida
requires the adoptioh of a resolution in support of any right-of-way
dedication to the Stateof municipal owned-lands, further, that the
Council had, attheir regular meeting of May 13th, authorized execu-
tion of certa~ quit-claim'deeds pertaining to rights-of-way necessary
for the proposed improvement of west A~lantic Avenue, and that Reso-
lution N0.*.1450 had beenprepar~d Concerning same. Mayor Diets asked
if there had been provision in said Resolution that if nothing had
been done toward said improvement in a certain number of..years, that
the deeds would not be goo~. City Attorney Adams said that it would
be a very good idea to insist that in the event it was ever abandoned
it wouldrevert to the ~ity. The'City Clerk was requested to inquire
of the State if.they-would accept a provision that the right-of-way
is given subject to the highway being constructed within five years
and al~o subject to revision to the owner in the event that it is
abandoned~
City Clerk Worthing informed the~Council that he ~ad been re-
quested t~ contact the State to see '~f it was possible to stripe
lance for parking on the inside of Federal.Highway one-way roads,
and the reply to said inquiry is as follows, signedby Clarence E.
Davidson, District Engineer of the S~ate Road Department, dated*May
14, 1963.
"Your request for marking the inside lane of both the north-
bound and southbound roadways on State Road 5 to allow parallel
parking on both sides has been discussed with the Tallahassee
office and your request has been denied.
As you know, this was a Federal Aid participated job and the
Bureau of Public Roads insisted originally 'that the striping
be according to plan, which is the way it is striped at the
present time."
}~ayor Dietz said that the City has been officially notified by
the State of Florida 'that they cannot park on a certain side of a
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"157
certain highway going through town, both northbound'and southbound,
but that peoPle'do park on both sides of this highway, and ~the City
of Delray Beach will be liable.for anynegligencedue to parking o~
that side, since this official notice.
Following discussion, Mr. Woodard moved that the City Manager be
~nstructed to ask the State, in view of the fact that they have made
this ruling, that they put some "No. Parking" signs along the highway
and-that the City ask its pOliCe department to enforce same, after
educating the people to the fact that'there will be no parking on
the left side as this is a Federal Highway and Federal Highway policy.
The motion was seconded by Mr'. Barrow and carried unanimously.
Mayor Dietz said that he had received a ~roclamation for a United
Nations Day and ssked the Council what their plea'sure was concerning
same. Mr'. Avery moved that this item be tabled for further consider-
ation, the motion being seconded by Mr. W~odard and unanimously
carried.
City Manager Holland asked when Mr. Woodard ~nd Mr. Barrow could
make their recommendations relative to his letter, as he may be the
one to sign the sewer project contracts.
Mr. Barrow stated that he and Mr. Woodard were not appointed to
a committee concerning the letter from'the city Manager but that
the Mayor had asked them to discuss with Mr. Neff whether or.not
he would be available to serve in an advisory capacity as an
Engineer on this program. Mr. Woodard said that he was ready to
discuss the matter since he and Mr. Barrow had talked with Mr. Neff
today and asked him whether or not he cared to continue in an ad-
visory capacity of some 'sort, inasmuch as the sewer program has
progressed as far as it has. That his original intention was to.
advise the Council primarily as to the contracts and getting the
bids awarded and that he had not considered it past. that point.
Mr. woodard commented further as follows= "Mr. Neff informed us
that he could and would be willing to serve in one of two capaci-
ties, and would be willing to do this on an initial trial temporary
basis or on a long t~rm permanent basis for the period of the con-
tract. He would either be willing to serve as an advisor to the
Council, correct me Col. if I go wrong on some of this. It.is my
understanding that he would be willing to serve in one of two
capacities, either as a part.time temporary consultant where we
could call on him from time-to time if we had a specific thing come
up. He felt that he could do this and would be willing to do so
for $100.00 a month, or if we were to utilize his services to the
fullest extent of his abilities as a full time consulting engineer,
he would be willing to do this for $1,000.00 a month which he felt
was less than he had 'received~on c~mparabl~ positions in the past,
and it was more or less up to us to determine in what capacity we
thought he could benefit us'and how we wished to use him. This was
basically the extent of our conversation. ~%at we need to decide
here, I think, primarily among ourselves and the City Manager is
what type of an organizational structure should be used in the
handling of the sewer project and how the City Manager feels that
such professional advise could be best utilized. What is your
thinking on this Mr. Holland, inasmuch as you are the man probably
who will receive the most telephone calls as we get into the program?
Do you feel that it would be beneficial to you to have someone avail-
able to help solve the problems as they come up and act a~ an engi-
neering consultant or what is your basic feeling on that?"
City Manager Holland said that he thought it would be wonderful
to have anyone conmected with the City or outsiders who are willing
t° serve to help handle this project, as he is not an engineer, but
he does have to set up some sort of a schedule, and even though the
money for same will come out of the sewer fund he wi!l try to save
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as much money as possible and still do the job correctly. City
Manager Holland further stated that it had been his intention to use
all city forces if.he is actually going to be the coordinator. That
he would be in a position to demand anyone who is connected with the
city, from any department, to help ~n their capacity if they are not
too busy with other projects, but tha~ he would need expert ad, ice
from time to time as far as engineering is concerned, further,, that
it would be Council'decision whether to employ Mr. Neff in that
phase as far as finances are concerned and relieve everyone else of
that responsibility or whether to go along on a basis of economy
and use everyone possible connected with the city organization.
Mr. Avery said that it was his opinion that the person to be the
liaison in the coordination of this project would be the City Manager
and that he would need help, but it would be improper to super~mpOs~
anyone on him at first until he knows just wha~ he will'need, further~
that it would be proper to make theCity Manager responsible for the
coordination, with the assurance.of the Council that they will give
him any extra help that he wants.
Mayor Dietz said that he objects to the word liaison being used
as it is his understanding that Russell & Axon must come directly
under the City Manager, that they can come no other place,that is
not a liaison, further, that whoever the Council would give the
City Manager to assist him would work under him and such person
should be a qualified-~erson and be paid for his services.
The City Manager said that he would like to have Col. Neff in an
advisory capacity, and that he would like to have any of the Council
who have had experience along that line, further, that he knows two
other individuals who may be willing to serve without pay, and that
he would prefer to have five individuals to serve in an advisory
capacity rather than to depend on one.
Mayor Dietz said that whoever was selected to work under the City
Manager in this instance, that he wou14 want to check into their
qualifications first.
Mr. Avery moved that this liaison be left up to the City Manager
and that he can come to the Council with what he wants and how he
wants it, the motion being seconded by .Mr. Barrow. Follo~ihg dis-
cussion, Mr. Avery restated his motion ~s follows: "I raove that the
City Manager be made responsible for the liaison and that he make
recommendations to us for who and what helphe 'needs to accomplish
it." .Following further discussion, and upon call of roll, the
motion carried unanimously.
The meeting adjourned at 3:-10 P.M. by order of Mayor Dietz.
R..D....WORTHING
City Clerk
MAYOR
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