Lee County approves $11.7 million contract to rebuild Fort Myers Beach pier amid questions over low bid

The Board of County Commissioners voted April 7 to award a contract worth $11.7 million to R.J. Gorman Contracting to rebuild the Fort Myers Beach fishing pier, a 1,000‑foot, reinforced‑concrete structure officials said is part of hurricane recovery work.

Ehab Birjes, representing the county’s construction management team, described the pier as 1,000 feet long by 12 feet wide with reinforced concrete piles, a concrete deck, aluminum railing and three shade structures. He said local, state and federal permits are in process and that construction is expected to take about 12 months after notice to proceed.

During public comment and in board questions, residents raised concerns about the bid process after the low bid was substantially lower than the next bids. Daniel Becker, a District 2 resident, said, “This is about a 5 million dollar difference,” and warned that unusually low bids can lead to future change orders and recommended a 15–20% contingency for the project.

Procurement staff responded that the county followed its competitive solicitation process and conducted vendor checks. Mr. Salyer of procurement said the low bid was “within 1% of the engineer’s estimate of probable cost,” and that the engineer of record (Stantec) vetted the bidder and issued a letter of recommendation. Staff added the contract will include performance and payment bonds and a liquidated damages clause to protect the county’s schedule and budget.

Joyce Campana, a resident who reviewed the contract attachments, asked whether the contractor had completed projects of comparable size and complexity and whether the county had a qualifications‑based selection with score sheets; staff said procurement had verified relevant experience (including similar bridge projects and an awarded pier reconstruction elsewhere) but that some follow‑up was done outside of a formal scored committee given the nature of the solicitation.

The board approved the contract after the discussion. Commissioners and members of the public noted ongoing permitting uncertainty at federal agencies and asked staff to keep transparency on change orders and contingency spending. County staff said any change orders over $100,000 would be brought back to the board.

The next procedural step is final permitting with the U.S. Army Corps and work to secure required bonds and the notice to proceed. Commissioners said they expect staff to provide regular updates should the contract move into change orders or schedule impacts.