CEI SERVICES FOR THE DADELAND SOUTH INTERMODAL STATION

Board of County Commissioners · 2026-09-01 · resolution

The Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners adopted Resolution R-748-26 (File Number 261323) on September 1, 2026, authorizing Supplemental Agreement No. 1 with BCC Engineering, LLC for Construction, Engineering, and Inspection (CEI) services for the Dadeland South Intermodal Station project. The agreement increases the maximum compensation from $3,551,593.10 to $5,467,817.92, a total fiscal impact of $1,916,224.82, funded by the People's Transportation Plan Bond Program. The project is located at the Dadeland South Metrorail Station, 9150 Dadeland Boulevard, Miami, Florida 33156, within Commission District 7. The design-build project is valued at approximately $77 million. The supplemental agreement supports additional scope and a 264-day extension to the design-build contract (Contract No. CIP207-DTPW19-DB), including bus charging infrastructure, reconfiguration of the BRT platform, escalator replacements, and modifications to station access and circulation elements. The original CEI PSA was awarded on May 16, 2023, and the design-build contract was approved on July 18, 2023. The supplemental agreement to the design-build contract was approved on November 4, 2025. The Infrastructure, Innovation & Technology Committee forwarded the item with a favorable recommendation on July 15, 2026. The item was introduced on July 14, 2026. The final action was adoption on September 1, 2026. The agreement term matches the construction contract, which was extended by 264 days beyond its initial term of approximately 300 days, for a total of nearly two years. Payments average approximately $200,000 per month. The agreement is a time-and-materials contract with negotiated hours at contractually set rates. The contingency allowance of $322,872.10 remains unchanged. The CEI consultant is responsible for continuous oversight of construction activities, including contract administration, schedule and cost monitoring, inspection of civil, structural, electrical, and mechanical work, materials sampling and testing, quality assurance/quality control verification, coordination with stakeholders, and ensuring compliance with design criteria, safety requirements, and regulatory standards. The project was added to the Five-Year Implementation Plan in February 2020. The original PSA was approved with a maximum compensation of $3,551,593.10. The CEI services do not include construction costs. The additional cost is attributed to the 264 days of work added to the construction project as a result of additional scope, including electric vehicle charging infrastructure and work in the kiss-and-ride area and bus station. The scope was added based on operational needs related to bus rapid transit (BRT) service and new requirements from permitting agencies. The Board authorized the additional design scope through a supplemental agreement approved on November 2, 2025. The project originated from a planning and scoping effort conducted several years earlier. Changes arose during design, both through modifications accepted by the County and through new permitting requirements for electric vehicle charging and fire suppression. The applicable National Fire Protection Association codes were still being written when the project was bid. The item also includes County-accepted design changes, including reconfiguring the bus pickup alignment from parallel to a seesaw design, escalator and elevator modifications, and added infrastructure for evacuation purposes. The evacuation requirements had not been included initially because the planning report had been vetted under the standards in effect at the time, which were subsequently modified before the project went to bid. The design-build contract was approved with NV2A Group, LLC (Resolution No. R-698-23) on July 18, 2023. The PSA for CEI services was awarded to New Millennium Engineering, Inc. (Resolution No. R-462-23) on May 16, 2023, which was subsequently acquired by BCC Engineering, LLC. The supplemental agreement to the design-build contract was approved on November 4, 2025 via Resolution No. R-1068-25. The Citizens' Independent Transportation Trust (CITT) was required to forward a recommendation prior to Board consideration. The item was a late item and CITT required. The program name is Dadeland South Intermodal Station, program number 2000001203, in the FY25-26 Adopted Budget & Multi-Year Capital Plan, Volume 2, Page 142. Bassam Moubayed, CFM, Chief, Construction Division, DTPW, is responsible for implementation and administration. Due diligence was conducted, including verification of corporate status and checks of various databases and listings, with no adverse findings identified. Public comment sentiment: Commissioner Cohen Higgins requested clarification on the item, given its late addition to the agenda, and asked whether the $5,467,817.92 total covered the provider's professional services alone or included construction costs, the term of the agreement, the aggregate value of the project, and the justification for the additional expenditure of approximately $1.9 million above the original $3.5 million allocation. Mr. Ferrer-Diaz explained that the amount was for CEI services only and did not include construction. Commissioner Cohen Higgins acknowledged the need for outside engineering expertise but expressed concern that the request stemmed from an expansion of scope at a time when the County faced transportation budget shortfalls. She stated that she would support the item based on the department's representation that the funding was necessary, and indicated she intended to closely examine the County's $2 billion transportation budget, including professional services agreements and whether percentage-based or time-and-materials calculations were appropriate. Chairwoman Steinberg noted she had also intended to raise questions on the item because of its late addition and the lack of an opportunity to be briefed. Commissioner Lopez expressed concern that the County frequently approved additional scopes of services without knowing the associated cost, as had occurred in November 2025, and questioned the fairness of that practice to the competitive bidding process. She stated that she would closely scrutinize such items during the budget cycle and was not prepared to approve items that had not been carefully planned from the outset. Commissioner Gonzalez commended Mr. Ferrer-Diaz for his preparedness and inquired about the original bid and scope of work and when the additional work became necessary. Chairwoman Steinberg stated that scope changes and change orders warranted closer scrutiny, particularly where the changes originated with the County. Hearing no other questions or comments, the Committee proceeded to vote on the foregoing proposed resolution as presented.