CEI SERVICES FOR THE DADELAND SOUTH INTERMODAL STATION

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

Resolution authorizing Supplemental Agreement No. 1 with BCC Engineering, LLC for Construction, Engineering, and Inspection Services (CEI) for the Dadeland South Intermodal Station project. The agreement increases the contract amount from $3,551,593.10 to $5,467,817.92, an increase of $1,916,224.82. The project is located at the Dadeland South Metrorail Station, 9150 Dadeland Boulevard, Miami, Florida 33156. 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. The additional scope includes electric vehicle charging infrastructure, work in the kiss-and-ride area and bus station, reconfiguration of the BRT platform, escalator replacements, and modifications to station access and circulation elements. The resolution was adopted on 9/1/2026. The Infrastructure, Innovation & Technology Committee forwarded it to the BCC with a favorable recommendation on 7/15/2026. The item was introduced on 7/14/2026. The original design-build contract was approved on July 18, 2023 (Resolution No. R-698-23) with NV2A Group, LLC. The original PSA for CEI services was awarded on May 16, 2023 (Resolution No. R-462-23) to New Millennium Engineering, Inc., which was subsequently acquired by BCC Engineering, LLC. A supplemental agreement to the design-build contract was approved on November 4, 2025 (Resolution No. R-1068-25). The funding source is the People's Transportation Plan Bond Program. The project was added to the Five-Year Implementation Plan in February 2020. 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 project is within Commission District 7, represented by Commissioner Raquel A. Regalado. The CEI consultant is responsible for providing 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 increased expenditure authority is required to support additional scope and a 264-day extension to the associated design-build contract, Contract No. CIP207-DTPW19-DB. The expanded scope includes integration of bus charging infrastructure, reconfiguration of the BRT platform, escalator replacements, and modifications to station access and circulation elements. The design-builder bid on 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 CEI cost had not accompanied the November 2025 supplemental agreement for the design-build contract. The Board authorized the additional design scope through a supplemental agreement approved on November 2, 2025. The original PSA was approved with a maximum compensation of $3,551,593.10. The total fiscal impact for this Supplemental Agreement is $1,916,224.82. The funding source is the Dadeland South Intermodal Station program, program number 2000001203, FY25-26 Adopted Budget & Multi-Year Capital Plan, Volume 2, Page 142, People's Transportation Plan Bond Program. Bassam Moubayed, CFM, Chief, Construction Division, DTPW, is responsible for the implementation and administration of this PSA. Due diligence was conducted, including verification of corporate status and checks of various databases and listings. No adverse findings were identified. The resolution authorizes the use of Charter County Transportation Surtax Funds for the Department of Transportation and Public Works included in the FY25-26 Adopted Capital Budget and FY25-29 Five-Year Implementation Plan of the People's Transportation Plan. The item was a late item and CITT was required. The resolution is R-748-26. The file number is 261323. The requester is Transportation and Public Works. The agenda date was 9/1/2026, agenda item number 8N9. The final action was on 9/1/2026. The Infrastructure, Innovation & Technology Committee meeting was on 7/15/2026, agenda item 3D. The Office of the Chairperson added the item on 8/31/2026. Roy Coley assigned the item on 7/14/2026. The County Attorney was assigned on 9/1/2026. Bruce Libhaber was assigned on 7/14/2026. The legislative history includes a report from the County Attorney dated 9/1/2026 stating 'DTPW - Late item - No sponsor - pending July cmte - County attorney Bruce Libhaber - no attachments - pgs 7'. The report from the Infrastructure, Innovation & Technology Committee on 7/15/2026 includes Commissioner Cohen Higgins requesting clarification on the item, given its late addition to the agenda, and asking 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. He stated that the CEI team functioned as the County's on-site inspectors for the Dadeland South Intermodal Station project, reviewing construction specifications, materials, and testing; monitoring the contractor's schedule and budget; and conducting the first-pass review of invoicing and reimbursement requests, and that the County contracted out such services for projects of this magnitude. He advised that the agreement term matched the construction contract, which had been extended by 264 days beyond its initial term of approximately 300 days, for a total of nearly two years, and that payments averaged approximately $200,000 per month. He stated that the design-build project was valued at approximately $77 million and clarified that the agreement was a time-and-materials contract with negotiated hours at contractually set rates, rather than a percentage-based agreement, although CEI services generally fell within a range of about five percent of project cost. Mr. Ferrer-Diaz attributed the additional cost 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. He explained that the scope had been added based on operational needs related to the bus rapid transit (BRT) service and new requirements from permitting agencies, and that the Board had authorized the additional design scope through a supplemental agreement approved on November 2, 2025. He confirmed that the CEI cost had not accompanied that item and that the present supplemental corresponded to the work approved for the contractor at that time. 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. Mr. Ferrer-Diaz explained that the project originated from a planning and scoping effort conducted several years earlier, that the design-builder bid on that planning effort, and that changes arose during design, both through modifications accepted by the County and through new permitting requirements for electric vehicle charging and fire suppression. In response to Commissioner Gonzalez's question as to why those requirements had not been factored into the original scope given that the County issued the permits, he stated that the applicable National Fire Protection Association codes were still being written when the project was bid and that the more rigorous standards had affected several County projects. Asked whether the new standards accounted for the full increase, he noted that the item also included 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. He explained that 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. 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.