By Rich Pollack
Highland Beach town officials are once again going back to the drawing board as they continue searching for professionals to design and enclose two terraces at the public library.
After discovering last month that a company recommended by a selection panel to design and build the structures was owned in large part by the daughter of Library Director Mari Suarez, Highland Beach commissioners agreed not to award the contract.
“We couldn’t accept the quote that was given,” said Commissioner Carl Feldman.
Instead, commissioners at their March 3 meeting decided to reject all bids and once again seek new proposals.
“It is abundantly clear that the facts and circumstances resulted in the appearance of impropriety,” said Commissioner Rhoda Zelniker.
The proposal from Reel Builders LLC included services for design and construction and came in at $144,671, which was the lowest bid. But commissioners, on the advice of Town Attorney Glen Torcivia, agreed not to award the bid after learning that Suarez’s daughter, Maria Williams, owned 49 percent of the company.
The other 51 percent of Reel Builders in owned by Suarez’s son-in-law, Dax Williams. He told town officials in February that he would be willing to reconfigure ownership of the company in order to resolve the issue should the town decide to re-bid the project.
In a letter to commissioners, Torcivia cited a section of the Palm Beach County Code of Ethics that prohibits relatives of town officials or employees from entering into a contractual relationship with the town.
“If the contract is awarded to Reel Builders, there is a possibility that Library Director Mari Suarez may be in violation of the Palm Beach County Code of Ethics,” Torcivia wrote.
While the code clearly prohibits employees’ children from contracting with the town, it does not contain clear language regarding in-laws.
Town Finance Director Cale Curtis said he was aware at the time of bidding that Williams was connected to Reel Builders and related to Suarez. He said the town, however, did not know that Maria Williams had a 49 percent ownership interest in the company.
The commission’s decision to reject the bid is just one more setback for the project.
Last summer the town issued a request for qualifications for an architect to develop plans and received several responses. A selection committee recommended contracting with the architectural firm of Bridges, Marsh & Associates at a negotiated price of $16,000.
Following concerns voiced by residents over whether an architect was necessary for such a small project, town commissioners rejected the staff recommendation.
When informed by the town building official that the town code required an architect for the project, commissioners asked staff to issue a request for proposal for the design phase. Only one bid was received and that was in excess of $25,000.
Frustrated by the lack of other responses, commissioners rejected the bid and decided on yet a third approach, which was to seek a company to do the design and build work for the project.
Now, with the rejection of the latest bids, the town will try for the fourth time to get the project back on track.
Comments