ANNA MARIA – Mayor Dan Murphy is among those disappointed with the $1.4 bid received from C-Squared to construct a one-block Reimagining Pine Avenue prototype area.
On March 25, C-Squared submitted the only bid the city received in response to the fourth request for proposals (RFP) issued since 2022 for the long-desired safety improvement project.
The latest RFP sought bids for the installation of brick paver sidewalks along both sides of a one-block portion of Pine Avenue, from Gulf Drive to North Shore Drive, and for new crosswalks in that one-block area.
On April 11, Murphy briefly discussed the proposal with city commissioners. He said the C-Squared bid contains numerous line-item expenses including mobilization, traffic control, brick paver costs, crushed granite costs, excavation costs and more.
For comparative purposes, Murphy said he already had line-item cost estimates provided by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), and also by other engineers utilized by the city.
FDOT is the state agency overseeing the city’s expenditure of approximately $2.5 million in state appropriations previously approved for the Reimagining Pine Avenue project that last year was expanded conceptually to Magnolia and Spring avenues as well.
The city plans to use previously obtained federal funds to install new streetlights in the one-block prototype area, and later along the rest of Pine Avenue.
“I had those two sets of numbers, I had an idea what this should cost, and it was not $1.4 million. That’s what the bid came in at,” Murphy said of the latest C-Squared bid.
He noted that C-Squared previously bid $1.4 million to install sidewalks and crosswalks along the entire length of Pine Avenue.
Murphy said he reviewed the bid with a C-Squared representative and asked him to bring back additional information that justifies the estimated line-item costs and/or proposes ways to lower those estimated costs. Murphy hopes to provide that follow-up information to the commission on April 25.
“I cannot, with a clear conscience, recommend to you a $1.4 million project for one block,” Murphy said, noting the city couldn’t afford to do the rest of Pine Avenue at that rate.
When proposing the one-block prototype earlier this year, Murphy said an engineer estimated the one-block area might cost approximately $450,000.
“It’s disappointing to me to be where we are. I was hoping, at this point, I would be asking you for permission to negotiate a contract,” Murphy said.
He noted the C-Squared proposal will not be made available to the media and the public until the end of the month.
Commissioner Jon Crane noted that C-Squared is currently named as a defendant in a wrongful death lawsuit pertaining to a project the company previously completed for the city of Holmes Beach. Crane said he’d be leery of the potential financial implications associated with that unresolved civil lawsuit.
Regarding the C-Squared bid, Commissioner Mark Short said, “It’s disappointing, to say the least, and let’s hope that maybe they come back with a little sharper pencil by the end of the month.”
Since 2022, C-Squared has submitted the only four bids received in response to the city’s Reimagining Pine Avenue RFPs. For various reasons, the city commission rejected three previous C-Squared bids.
Related coverage: Another Reimagining Pine Avenue decision looms
