Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/96141
Sarasota News Leader November 30, 2012 That was proven during the county's process of hiring a new maintenance contractor for Siesta Village — another project with which Smith was integrally involved as chairman of the Siesta Key Village Maintenance Corp. Because a county staff member estimated publicly before the County Commission that the annual expense of upkeep in Siesta Village would be about $183,000, one vendor offered a proposal in the $200,000 range when the contract finally was put out for bid at the end of May, Smith said. Page 14 design team, and approve construction [payment] draw requests." Instead, Smith pointed out, county staff and the professional consultants already hired should be handling that work. Regarding CMS, or Capital Management Services, expenses, Smith wrote that he understood the $835,621 figure for the beach project covers the expense of county staff assigned to the work because it is a capital project. "As a taxpayer," he continued, "I need to ask, The company that was hired won the contract are the staff members of this group paid solely from the budgets of all Sarasota County Capwith a bid of $97,417.70, he noted. ital Projects and not from the general fund? "We need to put the word out: This is a $13 What are their qualifications? Do they lack million project," he said of the beach improve- the expertise of overseeing the construction ments. of the Siesta Beach project, which is the justification why the CEI firm needs to be hired?" QUESTIONING OTHER FACTORS In response to a question about the CEI expense, Carolyn Eastwood, program manager for the beach park improvements, told the News Leader in an email that the county does not hire a CEI firm for every project. "However," she wrote, "for larger projects such as the Siesta Beach Park Project, the county does not have sufficient internal staff to manage a project of that magnitude and therefore hires According to the commission-approved con- a CEI firm to provide the oversight and manstruction budget, he added, "these overhead agement during the construction phase." costs total $2,506,863." Smith told the News Leader he spent the He continued in the letter, "My understand- equivalent of four or five days on his review ing is that CEI (Construction Engineering In- of the consultants' figures. "It was a lot more spection) is a process where Sarasota County time than I thought," he said, after adding it hires an outside company to review the conall up. struction drawings, assist in hiring the contractor, oversee the construction, coordinate "I volunteered because I have a tendency to construction changes with the contractor and do that, I guess," he added with a wry chuckle. Smith also recommended in his letter to the commissioners that they seek explanation or clarification of two other, non-construction items in the project cost summary prepared by staff and presented to the board on Nov. 13: "They are items CEI and CMS which are 10% and 5% of the construction budget respectfully," he wrote.