Familiar Firm To Manage Beach Patrol Project

OCEAN CITY – The city decided this week to hire Gillis Gilkerson to manage the construction of the new Ocean City Beach Patrol (OCBP) headquarters downtown.

During Monday evening’s Mayor and City Council session, two bid awards came under the consent agenda — construction management services for the new OCBP headquarters and an Energy Performance Contract.

The city received six proposals for the OCBP construction management services that have been reviewed by staff, and two firms were selected to make oral presentations. Staff recommended to the Mayor and City Council to award the contract to Gillis Gilkerson.

City Engineer Terry McGean believes Gillis Gilkerson’s local experience and long history building in Ocean City is a significant advantage for the project. In addition, on previous projects using conventional low bid method of procurement, Gillis Gilkerson has often been either the low or next to low bidder and as the low bidder it has successfully completed the projects.

“This gives me confidence that they will be able to keep this project within budget,” McGean said.

The cost of pre-construction services is $25,000, which is included in the project bond funds.

Currently, Gillis Gilkerson is constructing a new Fire Station 4 in north Ocean City. In August 2013, the Mayor and City Council approved the apparent low bidder of Gillis Gilkerson in the amount of $2,692,018 to construct the new fire station. The total building budget is $3.5 million that is funded by the 2012 bond issue.

When the council voted to approve the design of the new OCBP headquarters in March, it also approved McGean to solicit proposals for construction management services. The issues associated with the Caroline Street Comfort Station were cited as reasons to go in that direction.

The method allows the construction professional to work with the architect to insure that proper materials and methods are specified to produce a quality building within the allowable budget and time constraints. Once the project design is complete, the construction manager obtains pricing from sub-contractors and a final price for construction is established based on sub-contractor pricing and the previously stated construction management fees.

Construction will begin following this summer season on Sept. 15 and the project is estimated to be complete by the following summer season.

Also under the consent agenda was approving the award of an energy performance contract. The city received three proposals.

An energy performance contract is a process whereby the selected firm performs energy audits at various facilities, such as in Ocean City’s case, the city-owned street lights, City Hall, fire headquarters, convention center, Public Safety Building and Northside Park.

Based upon the audits, the contractor will recommend energy saving projects or upgrades. The contractor guarantees the energy savings and the savings are used to pay for the project. After the cost of the project is paid off, the city continues to receive the energy saving benefits.

After staff’s initial review of the proposals, two firms were short listed, Energy Systems Group and Honeywell. Staff submitted a series of questions to both firms and asked the city’s energy consultant to evaluate both proposals, and after careful consideration staff recommended Energy Systems Group of Linthicum Heights, Md. The council voted unanimously to approve the consent agenda, or both bid awards, without discussion.