Friday, November 6, 2009

A contract given out by the city to install pilings for new dinghy docks is coming under scrutiny from the Florida Keys Contractors' Association.

FKCA President Chris Gratton told the Free Press on Wednesday his association was in the midst of collecting paperwork related to a $39,000 contract that was given to Coral Marine Construction to install the pilings. The job was not put out to public bid, but instead given to Coral Marine Construction since it is on the city's continuing services agreement list.

"We are getting some information together," Gratton said.

The city has continuing service agreements with contractors in a variety of fields, which are typically used to allow for minor jobs to be taken care of without having to go through a lengthy bid process. There did not appear to be a cost cap on the city's list for marine construction work.

The Marathon City Council unanimously approved the $39,000 contract during a public meeting in September.

"We just don't want this type of thing to happen again," Gratton said.

Marathon Community Services Director Susie Thomas said the city would likely be instituting a $25,000 price limit on the continuing services agreement list, meaning any job that would cost more would have to be put out to bid.

Marathon Sea Walls and Docks owner Randy Colmer said he would have liked to have bid on the dinghy dock project, and didn't find out it was going on until the pilings were already being installed. Colmer has also expressed displeasure with the handling of his bids for the 33rd Street Boat Ramp project.

Gratton emphasized he did not want this to turn into a dispute between the contractors, but felt the issue needed to be resolved with the city.

"Everybody that is involved is members," Gratton said. "We are not mad at the guys who got the contract."

The actual docks made up the bulk of the project, as the city purchased those for about $128,000. The price for the docks was also not put out to bid as the council is allowed to purchase from a sole source provider. The new dinghy docks were purchased from the same company as the original set of dinghy docks. The council also unanimously approved that purchase.

Gratton said the association would meet again on Nov. 17, and was expected to have a clearer idea of what it intended to do by then.