On Monday, the Delray Beach City Commission will settle the fight over a big contract.
It’s for construction of the new Pompey Park Recreation Center. It could be worth roughly $40 million.
In August, a staff committee ranked the bidders. An entity composed of CORE Construction of Florida and two Delray Beach-based companies—Randolph Construction Group and Hatcher Construction & Development—finished one point ahead of Fort Lauderdale-based Pirtle Construction.
Pirtle filed a bid protest. City Manager Terrence Moore denied it. Pirtle appealed. Moore again denied it.
Moore then asked the commission for permission to begin negotiations with the top-ranked bidder. At the Oct. 15 meeting, however, Mayor Tom Carney and Commissioners Rob Long and Thomas Markert said they wanted to hear presentations from both bidders and scheduled Monday’s special meeting. Long noted that Pirtle built the new Joaquin Garcia High School near Lake Worth Beach that has drawn many compliments. Commissioners Angela Burns and Juli Casale sided with the CORE team.
In its protest, Pirtle charged that CORE’s bid was “facially deficient” and “non-responsive” to the city’s solicitation. The entity includes names of all three companies—CORE, Randolph and Hatcher. No such business name, Pirtle said, exists in Florida. My search of state records confirms that.
CORE’s proposal, Pirtle said, is an attempt to “mislead the city” into thinking that the bid includes two local firms. CORE’s proposal listed eight projects the company has completed, Pirtle said, but none were built by the entity that submitted the Pompey Park bid. Pirtle also questions whether this entity as structured has sufficient bonding capacity.
Pirtle cited three lawsuits involving CORE projects. Randolph also is the object of a lawsuit by a former subcontractor alleging breach of contract. Randolph contends that there was no written agreement and thus no breach.
Finally, Pirtle cites the offer from CORE-Hatcher-Randolph to provide $5,000 for the community. Each commissioner would get to give $1,000 to the organization of his or her choice. Such an offer, Pirtle claims, “violates the county’s ethics code, the city’s Code of Ethics and literally every other ethics tennant (sic) applicable to government procurements…”
CORE is a national company with several offices in Florida, including one in West Palm Beach. Essentially, Pirtle claims that CORE has included Randolph and Hatcher to make it seem as though the bid is local when it’s not. Doing so, Pirtle said, amounts to “misdirection and confusion.”
This being Delray Beach, politics is part of the story.
Dwayne Randolph is the son of former Commissioner David Randolph, a much-respected man for his long civic involvement in Delray Beach. Advocating for Pirtle is the EJS Project, run by the much-respected Emanuel Dupree Jackson.
Beyond the politics is a project meant to become the center of Delray Beach’s northwest neighborhood. The community redevelopment agency—which is financing the construction—calls Pompey Park “beloved community space.”
On this issue, the politics don’t align in the usual way. Long rarely agrees with Carney on big topics. Neither do Burns and Casale. Whichever bidder loses may sue.
I sought comment from CORE, Randolph and Hatcher. None of the companies responded by deadline for this post. I’ll have more after the meeting.
New TCAI development casts further doubt on project
The fate of a proposed performing arts center in Boca Raton is even more in doubt than it was a week ago.
After the Center for Arts & Innovation (TCAI) failed to meet its second fundraising target, city council members last week gave the group until Jan. 7 to report better numbers. Under the agreement for TCAI to lease land in Mizner Park, the council could have walked away at that time.
This week, however, TCAI President Andrea Virgin emailed the council and city administrators to say that the group “respectfully” would not sign the letter granting an extension. TCAI, Virgin said, could not sign an agreement “that it knows cannot be achieved.”
Instead, Virgin said, by Nov. 25 TCAI would propose to City Manager George Brown an amendment to the lease agreement. It would contain “revised fundraising thresholds and performance dates.”
Virgin wrote, “We hope that both this letter and the forthcoming Realignment Amendment will be received in the constructive and collaborative spirit intended and look forward to the opportunity to solidify a partnership that brings lasting value to Boca Raton and its community.”
In granting the extension, the council granted temporary approval of the center’s plan for the project. Because TCAI did not sign the letter, Brown said in a memo to the council, that approval “is no longer in effect.”
As a result, the council has new grounds to terminate the lease agreement. Brown noted that the council last week “expressly considered and rejected” the longer extension and revised agreement that Virgin is proposing.
Despite the diplomatic language, this seems like an attempt by TCAI to call the city’s bluff. The issue now goes to the council, acting as the community redevelopment agency, on Monday. I’ll have more after the meeting.
Trial for alleged Boca Bash strangler
A trial is imminent for the man accused of trying to kill his girlfriend at Boca Bash two years ago.
Cole Preston Goldberg is charged with attempted second-degree murder and domestic battery by strangulation. Court files indicated that the trial would start Monday. A spokesman for the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office, however, said that had been “a placeholder date.”
Instead, the judge on Monday likely will choose a trial date. “It may be Nov. 12,” the spokesman said, “but that still remains to be determined.”
Boca to discuss land-use change for Boca Villas development
On the agenda for Monday’s regular Boca Raton City Council meeting—moved up a day to not conflict with the election—is approval of a land-use change to allow a 120-unit residential project just east of Florida Atlantic University.
Boca Villas would be at 2600 NW Fifth Ave. A previous owner hoped to build student housing. This project would have 22 three-story buildings, a pool and a clubhouse. City planners recommend approval with conditions to make the project compatible with the neighboring single-family community. Homeowners in that community spoke against Boca Villas during previous hearings.
New Crest Theatre art classrooms to open Friday
Delray Beach will hold a grand opening at 3 p.m. Friday for the renovated art classrooms at Crest Theatre. Potential students can meet with instructors. Classes will begin Tuesday.
The Crest has been closed for nearly three years after a previous commission evicted the group that founded and named Old School Square, of which the Crest is a part. After discussions will several outside groups about offering the classes, City Manager Terrence Moore proposed that the city run the program. The rest of the Crest remains closed.
Unintended consequences of Marsy’s Law
Florida voters put the so-called “Marsy’s Law” in the state constitution six years ago after ads portrayed it as necessary to protect the privacy of crime victims. Opponents, though, warned of unintended consequences.
Those have happened. Police officers accused of excessive force have used the law to shield their identities. Also, the law can restrict information that could help people stay safe. Consider a recent example in Boca Raton.
A carjacking occurred on Southwest 18th Street. But Marsy’s Law prevented the police department from being any more specific about the location than to say that it happened east of I-95. Presumably, word of mouth had to suffice.
