LTC 217-2003
CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
Office of the City Manager
Letter to Commission No. ~/1--020()3
m
From:
Mayor David Dermer and
Members of the City Commission
Jorge M. Gonzalez ~ ,...,e.,(
City Manager . U
STATUS REPOR - MARSEILLE DRIVE STREETSCAPE IMPROVEMENT
PROJECT
Date: September 11, 2003
To:
Subject:
Pursuant to the award of a construction contract by the Mayor and City Commission to
Williams Paving Inc. to implement the improvements to the Marseille Drive Streetscape
Improvement Project, on January 27, 2003, the City issued a Notice to Proceed to the
contractor to commence with the work.
The scope ofthe Project includes improvements to Marseille Drive, from Bay Drive to Rue
Notre Dame; Rue Versailles, from Marseille Drive to Normandy Drive; and Rue Notre
Dame. from Marseille Drive to Normandy Drive.
The Project's program includes the provision of 5 foot wide sidewalks, with 6 inch deep
valley gutter system to catch basins; paved angular parking, including handicap parking;
paving, re-grading and striping of roadways, landscaping, including shade trees; irrigation,
improvement of the drainage system; installation of water mains and street lighting.
The Marseille Drive Streetscape Improvement Project has been a vision of the Mayor and
City Commission and the community since 1995 when the City of Miami Beach entered
into a professional services agreement with a designer to provide architectural and
engineering services for the improvement of the neighborhood.
During the course of the design, construction documentation and bidding phases, the
Project had to overcome several funding issues that arose, causing the project to be put on
hold on many occasions. In the year 2000, the addition of$1 Million Dollars in Section 108
Housing and Urban Development to the project and of Water and Sewer Bond Funds
invigorated the budget and gave a final definition to the Project's program.
As stated above, a Notice to Proceed was issued to the contractor on January 27,2003.
Substantial completion was to be attained 150 calendar days later, or June 26, 2003. The
contract specified the Project to be closed-out 30 days after substantial completion.
However, a series of unforeseen events occurred during the construction phase forcing the
completion date to be extended by change orders, and adding 67 more days to the
contractor's contract.
Change orders on the project have been caused by unforeseen conditions with
underground utilities or with site grade elevations (total value of +/- $27,700). Some
changes have been made as a result of corrections to existing installations not part ofthe
original scope which both CIP and the Public Works Department agreed would be more
efficient to correct now while major construction is still underway (total value of +/-
LTC-Status Report- Marseille Drive Streetscape Improvement Project
September 11, 2003
Page 2o.,-z--
$13,700). The balance of change orders were at the request of the City for improvements
not stated in the original contract documents (total value of +/- $52,000). They were mostly
dealing with increased depth in the asphalt overlay to achieve a better performance than
originally specified. Additional drainage components were also provided. Approved change
orders currently total approximately $88,000 and are funded by the project's contingency
allowance. This represents 6% of the total budget which is within industry standards for this
type of project, especially since a significant amount is due to City requests. The total
project contingency approved by Resolution was $135,000 which CIP does not anticipate
will be exceeded at this time.
The Project is at its final stage of construction: sidewalk construction, water mains
replacement, street lighting installation, valley gutter and catch basins construction have all
been mostly completed. The first inch of the two (2) layers of asphalt has been applied in
most of the area of work. The second layer of asphalt would be applied in the next few
weeks. Pavement striping and landscaping would be the last components in the Project.
A change order to add a new valley gutter at the comer of Normandy Drive and Rue
Versailles is being discussed with the contractor. This valley gutter adjustment is required
for drainage improvements related to an existing parking area at the corner of the two
streets, a modification to an existing gutter, and a deletion of two catch basins as a result
of new landscaping installations. Due to the above and other minor changes to the project,
substantial completion is currently expected in late September 2003 instead of the
anticipated August 30,2003.
It must be noted that the Marseille Drive Streetscape Improvement Project, in a smaller
scale, represents a good example of the challenges to be anticipated during the
construction phase of the G.O. Bond Streetscape Neighborhood Projects, citywide. A wide
variety of issues and challenges arose that have had a serious impact on the schedule.
These issues include community complaints regarding the inconvenience of the
construction; residents parking issues; an FDOT permit to partially close a portion of
Normandy Drive for the contractor to perform the water main replacement work at Rue
Notre Dame and Normandy Drive, which created delays to the process because of the
length of processing documents through an additional agency; several unforeseen
underground utilities conflicts; and the need to obtain written authorization from numerous
private owners to allow modifications to a portion of their walkways to have a smooth
transition with the new sidewalks. These issues were all handled by the Administration,
City staff and the City's consultants. Changes as a result of the issues described above
were held to a minimum and the impact on the project schedule was minimized.
As stat above, the construction phase of the Project is winding down. Substantial
on and close-out are near to be attained.
MM
nt
Robert C. Middaugh. Assistant City Manager
Tim Hemstreet, CIP Director
Jorge Chartrand. Assistant Director CIP Office
F:\CAPI\$al1\MAGMIC\MARSEILLE DRIVE\L TC AUGUST 2003.doc
..... ,
,
.