Miami Gardens hires local construction management firm

Miami Gardens council members voted to award a bid to a company to manage the construction of its general obligation bond projects at Wednesday’s meeting.

The City Council gave the bid to Fort Lauderdale-based Calvin, Giordano and Associates after staff evaluated five firms and settled on three finalists. Staff proposed awarding the bid to Atkins North America, a global firm which scored the highest in their evaluation process.

Mayor Oliver Gilbert proposed selecting Calvin, Giordano and Associates, which finished second in the evaluation, and the council voted 6-1 to award the contract to that firm.

“I think all of the firms are capable, I just felt comfortable with Calvin Giordano,” Gilbert said.

Councilwoman Lillie Odom dissented, saying she supported staff’s recommendation of Atkins.

Calvin Giordano also was selected in 2012 to oversee the construction of a walking trail at Rolling Oaks Park, 18701 NW 17th Ave. That project is ongoing, and City Manager Cameron Benson told the council that it shouldn’t interfere with their work on the general-obligation bond projects.

The firm has worked on parks projects in Sunny Isles Beach, the construction of Weston’s City Hall, public works building and Peace Mound Park.

The contract did not give more specifics on the scope or focus of the coming bond work, but did mention the construction of a real-time crime center. Of the $60 million residents voted to borrow in April, $10million is intended to focus on electronic law enforcement and crime prevention equipment.

The council approved the first major bond project to build a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) facility that also would house a recording and TV studio and instruction facility in Risco Park, 19010 NW 39th Ave. The city negotiated a 40-year lease agreement, with two 10-year extensions.

Staffing for the STEM after-school programs will be paid for by the School Board, while the city will pay $1 a year for the lease and will handle maintenance of the land.

Also at Wednesday’s meeting, the council gave final approval to an ordinance to reestablish the city’s progressive young adults committee. The committee was created in 2008 but shut down last year due to a lack of appointments and low attendance at meetings.

The next City Council meeting will be at 7 p.m. Oct. 22 at City Hall, 18650 NW 27th Ave.

This story was originally published October 9, 2014 at 3:51 PM with the headline "Miami Gardens hires local construction management firm."