Bay Harbor Islands council to weigh causeway repair bids, $200 resident toll pass and new town attorney

Town staff will ask the Bay Harbor Islands Town Council on Monday, Nov. 16, to throw out the bids to repair the Broad Causeway and seek new ones, after the only qualified bid came in about 17% over the engineer’s estimate, according to the meeting packet posted this week.

The causeway and the bridges

• Broad Causeway repairs: The town’s engineering consultant, Hardesty & Hanover, estimated the job at $4.2 million. Home Express Corp. (HE Builders) bid $4,922,457.35, and the lowest bid, $2,956,059 from Earth Tech Enterprises, should be disqualified for lack of bridge experience and missing unit prices, Finance Director Gerald Bryan wrote. He recommends rejecting all bids, revising the estimate and re-advertising.
• Resident toll pass: The council is asked to ratify its Sept. 10 vote cutting the annual Broad Causeway pass for town residents to $200 from $350, retroactive to Sept. 1. Residents who already paid $350 would get $150 back, and six-month pass holders who paid $225 would be moved to a full year and get $25 back. Applicants would need a Florida driver’s license or ID, a vehicle registration and a utility bill showing the same town address.
• Bridge replacements: Staff ranked EAC Consulting first, ahead of Kimley-Horn, to design replacements for the Indian Creek bridge (built in 1963) and the Bay Harbor Waterway bridge (1958). The packet says the state transportation department rates both structurally deficient.

Also on the agenda

• Town attorney: A contract with McCarter & English for town attorney services, with Tania Gimenez as lead attorney, at a fixed $20,000 a month through April 30, 2027.
• Police: A five-year renewal with Axon for police body-worn cameras and Tasers, $441,743.47 in total.
• 96th Street: Accepting a county Transportation Planning Organization grant of up to $45,000, matched by the town, for a 96th Street and Kane Concourse sidewalk and corridor plan, and a $90,000 task order to Ardurra to write it.
• Other items: A $417,654 cap on bridge insurance, a building-fee study of up to $80,000, a 12-month extension request for the temporary condo sales center at 1170 Kane Concourse, and ordinances on construction staging, waterfront address signs and a new government-property zoning district.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. Speakers get three minutes during public comment, according to the agenda.