Commission Meeting Agenda Item

Since October 2016, the Town of Lady Lake has utilized M.T. Causley, LLC, as the third-party provider of building inspections and plan review services. The original term of the contract was for a two-year period with two one-year extensions available if the Town chose to exercise them. The Town did take advantage of both extensions, taking us through October of 2020. As the expiration of the contract was approaching, due to COVID-19 and concurrent staffing transitions that the Town was undergoing at the time, a Request for Proposal (RFP) was not advertised to seek a new provider; rather, the Town piggy-backed on another Florida contract that M.T. Causley, LLC, had with the Town of Medley, Florida. The current contract expires on September 30, 2022.

Given that the Town has not considered competitive bids for third-party building service providers for a period of nearly six years, we thought it prudent to advertise an RFP to see what services and accompanying fee schedules are available for the Town to consider.

RFP 2022-001 was advertised in the Lake Sentinel on July 10, 2022 and posted on DemandStar on July 14, 2022. The proposals of the five responding firms were opened on August 4, 2022, and a Selection Committee reviewed and ranked the submittals on Tuesday, August 23, 2022. Charles Abbott Associates, Inc. and our existing service provider, M.T. Causley, LLC were ranked the highest among the five respondents, as well as equally by the Committee based on the scoring matrix used to assess the proposals. Although two firms ranked well, the Town only needs to procure a contract with one building service provider. The Growth Management Director elected to pursue negotiating an agreement with Charles Abbott Associates, Inc. provided approval of the Town Commission. If negotiations are not successful with Charles Abbott Associates, Inc., the Growth Management Director would like to negotiate with M.T. Causley, LLC as the second most qualified candidate.