News

By Jane Smith

MBR Construction won the bid to construct the second phase of the master beach plan for Delray Beach.
That phase includes beach promenade lighting and intersection improvements between Casuarina Road north to nearly George Bush Boulevard. The project is supposed to be finished in seven months.
Commissioners approved the Fort Lauderdale firm’s bid on April 16, even though at $3.3 million it was about $800,000 more than the bid from West Construction of Lantana.
The reason?
On April 3, West Construction was sent a “non-responsible letter” by Jennifer Alvarez, the city’s purchasing director.
The letter listed three major problems with the first phase of the NE Second Avenue project:
• Construction was completed six months behind schedule with numerous change orders.
• Sidewalks were not wheelchair-accessible under federal guidelines.
• Paperwork was not produced to close out the project with the city and the Florida Department of Transportation. FDOT owns State Road A1A, which lies just west of the municipal beach.
West Construction also was the successful bidder on the city’s eight lifeguard stands. That contract also had problems, Alvarez wrote:
• Construction was completed three months behind schedule with numerous change orders.
• Problems were found, including the installation of non-specified stainless-steel hardware when the contract specified 316 grade stainless steel, and roofs were not installed to the specification within the scheduled time.
“Therefore, West Construction Inc. is deemed ineligible for award,” Alvarez wrote.
The second phase of the beach master plan was on the April 16 consent agenda, meaning it was not discussed before the commission voted on all the consent agenda items.
Also on the April 16 consent agenda, commissioners approved hiring Mathews Consulting of West Palm Beach for $256,000 to monitor and inspect the work of MBR for the second phase of the beach master plan.