“A Culture of Engineering Excellence”

PROJECT: Design Services for Quintette Road and

Well Line Road Extensions

SOLICITATION IDENTIFICATION NUMBER:

PD 10-11.080

RESPONSIBLE OFFICE: 4489 Woodbine Road

Pace, Florida 32571 Tel 850.289.1000 Fax 850.289.1001

CONTACT: Tracy Boutwell, PE

Tel 850.289.1000 Fax 850.289.1001

tboutwell@acp-fl.com

October 11, 2011

Office of Purchasing, Room 11.101 213 Palafox Place, Pensacola, FL 32502 Matt Langley Bell III Building Post Office Box 1591 Pensacola, FL 32597-1591 Attn: Mr. Paul R. Nobles, CPPO, CPPB, FCN, FCPM, FCCM Re: Design Services for Quintette Road and Well Line Road Extensions

Solicitation Identification Number PD 10-11.080 Dear Mr. Nobles: American Consulting Engineers of Florida, LLC, through our local office in Pace, Florida, is pleased to submit our qualifications in response to the County’s request for Letters of Interest for the above referenced projects. Our team offers you a balance of technical competence and ability to produce a high quality product in a timely manner. American is pleased to respond to this RFP and wishes to be considered for both projects. This project will be designed and managed by Tracy Boutwell, PE in American’s branch office in Pace. With over 15 years of experience managing PD&E and roadway design projects, Ms. Boutwell will serve as the Project Manager and primary point of contact for the County. Tracy will be surrounded by experienced designers and professionals that know how to design drainage and roadways. Our goal is to be the County’s advocate by promptly responding to every question, meeting, deadline, and ultimately submitting a set of plans that can be constructed for the budgeted amount. We have assembled a qualified team of subconsultants to ensure success from start to finish. Joining the American team on this contract will be Rebol-Battle & Associates, LLC (drainage), Wetland Sciences Incorporated (environmental), Universal Engineering Sciences, Inc. (geotechnical) and Pittman Glaze Associates, Inc. (survey). We have performed a field review and have prepared preliminary layouts for these projects. This preliminary preparation and review has familiarized us with the background of these projects and helped us to fully understand the issues that must be overcome. The utilization of our local staff and local subconsultants guarantees that 100% of the work will be provided by staff living and working in either Escambia or Santa Rosa Counties and that we will work quickly and efficiently on this contract. Our experience with similar projects for Escambia County, the Florida Department of Transportation and counties throughout Florida makes the American team well qualified for this project. In addition to road and drainage design, our capabilities also include:

L Litigation As a firm, we deal in large, complex, multi-disciplinary projects. There has been no litigation against American Consulting Engineers of Florida, LLC by any of our clients. American Consulting Engineers of Florida, LLC has not failed to complete any work proposed to the organization in the last five years. American Consulting Engineers of Florida, LLC. nor any of the officers or partners of this team, has failed to complete a contract handled in his/her name within the last five years.

We trust that our team will merit your confidence and favorable consideration. On behalf of all of us, I appreciate the opportunity to provide this submittal.

Sincerely, American Consulting Engineers of Florida, LLC Tracy D. Boutwell, PE Principal

Planning Survey and Mapping Traffic Engineering and Operations Studies and Design Permitting and Mitigation Construction Engineering Inspection

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LETTER of INTEREST

All work tasks required by Escambia County will be managed,

coordinated, and completed by staff in our Pace, Florida office.

INTRODUCTION American Consulting Engineers of Florida, LLC (American) has been providing engineering services in the Panhandle of Florida since 1992. Over 98% of our work is for Public Sector clients, most involving the design of roadways and bridges. From six locations throughout the State, we provide full-service, design expertise in areas including planning, surveying & mapping, environmental, roadway, structures, drainage, traffic, signalization, permitting & mitigation, maintenance of traffic, landscape architecture, and construction engineering inspection. Our roadway design experience ranges from local rural and city streets to freeways and complex interchanges.

ROADWAY DESIGN EXPERIENCE Our Pace office staff has completed design work for Escambia County and other clients utilizing the Florida Green Book, AASHTO, MUTCD, FDOT Design Standards, and the Escambia County Specifications, and permitting for numerous design projects in addition to the representative projects in our chart:

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American offers you the capabilities of a large, full-service firm yet is

small enough to know the value of our clients and afford them high

priority, low cost and true individualized commitment.

In addition to our past experience for local counties and municipalities, American has completed a number of projects for FDOT. We understand that these projects are not relevant to the County’s scope of work; however they are an important part of our knowledge base utilizing the Florida Green Book, AASHTO, MUTCD, FDOT Design Standards, FDOT Standard Specifications for Road and Bridge Construction, and a working relationship with FHWA. This experience helps to provide Escambia County a well-rounded and experienced team, capable of handling large, small, straightforward or complex projects.

Our team has an overall wealth of experience that will help guarantee this project is a success for Escambia County. Many of American’s staff members have lived and worked in Escambia County, and take pride in the finished product and our continued working relationship supporting the County.

DRAINAGE DESIGN EXPERIENCE

American has teamed with Rebol-Battle and Associates, LLC (RBA) to assist with the drainage tasks for this project. RBA has a vast amount of experience in drainage design and permitting on similar projects and has also performed stormwater analyses and design for

other local clients including Escambia County, Okaloosa County School Board, Santa Rosa County, and the United States Army Corp of Engineers. RBA is very familiar with stormwater permitting and has received more than 60 NWFWMD Enviornmental Resouce Permits and several hundred FDEP stormwater permits. RBA has reviewed the Jack’s Branch and the William’s Creek Drainage Basin Studies and is familiar with the proposed improvements along the project route. Some examples of RBA’s experience with similar drainage projects include the following: Magnolia Lakes Estates - Stormwater Pond Rehabilitation: Designed and permitted the reconstruction of an Escambia County Stormwater Pond which had failures consisting of bank erosion and pipe joint failures. The design includes regrading in the pond, replacing or slip linining five inlet pipes, redesign and replacement of the sand filter system, new fencing, miscellaneous inlets, and additional outfall structure. Guidy Lane - Paving and Drainage Project: The project consist of approximately 3/4 miles of road widening, resconstruction and drainage improvements on Guidy Lane between Nine Mile Road and Candlestick Drive. The project also constist of a drainage basin analysis and the construction of a stormwater pond to provide treatment which did not exist in the basin previously. A NWFWMD Environmnetal Resource Permit was obtained for the pond design. Airway Drive Paving and Drainage Project: The Design included providing $1,000,000 of drainage improvements to alleviate flooding problems along Airway Drive. A new curb and gutter system, inlets and a 24 foot box culvert was installed. The project had multiple design constraints such as limited right-of-way, wetlands, and multiple utility conflicts. The project also consists of approximately one mile of road widening and resconstruction. Jones Swamp Ecological Park: Provided the civil engineering design and permitting for the Jones Swamp Ecological Park for Escambia County. Design included wet retention pond, artifical stream design, parking, and utilities. Project also included wetland permitting, wetland enhancement and mitigation. All wetland environmental permitting was performed by Wetland Sciences, Inc. Civil permitting associated with the project included: Escambia County DRC; ECUA approval for the proposed sanitary sewer system; and FDEP permitting for the Stormwater Management System. Riverside Elementary School and Shoal River Middle Schools: RBA designed and permitted a new elementary and middle school on a 65 acre campus in Crestview, Florida. The new schools can accomodate 1800 students. The design included, overall drainage basin study and master planning, paving, drainage, ballfields, utilities, stormwater management system, and emergency well and sewage facilites for use during huricanne shelter activities. Design also included wetland permitting, geotechnical investigation, and traffic engineering.

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PERMITTING There are wetlands located within both corridors; therefore, a wetland resource permit will be required along with a stormwater permit due to the addition of travel lanes. Every effort will be made to develop alternatives that limit the impacts to the wetlands. A connection permit from FDOT will be required for the Quintette Road project due to improvements within the FDOT right-of-way at US 29. As outlined in our project experience above, American and RBA are very familiar with acquiring environmental and stormwater permits from FDEP, NWFWMD, USACOE and other permitting agencies as shown in the table below.

UTILITY COORDINATION American will be responsible for coordinating with the utility owners for any relocations/exceptions required for this project. American has contacted the Sunshine One call center to pull a utility ticket to identify all utility owners within the project limits as shown in the table below. We will continually coordinate with the utility owners throughout the design phase to ensure all conflicts are identified prior to construction. Coordination will be critical during construction to facilitate the necessary adjustments to the existing utilities located within the County right-of-way. We will be proactive in working with the utility owners and attending the County’s monthly utility coordination meetings and one on one meetings as needed. American’s recent CR 297A project and other projects in Escambia County have afforded us the opportunity to establish a working relationship with most of these utilities.

Our proposed Project Manager and primary point of contact for the County, Tracy Boutwell, PE previously served as the chairperson for the FDOT District 3 Utility Liaison Committee.

PAST RECORD AND PERFORMANCE AMERICAN TEAM American is committed to delivering this project to Escambia County on time and within budget. This will be accomplished by utilizing experienced staff as outlined below. American’s office is located in Santa Rosa County on Woodbine Road. Our staff resides in Santa Rosa County, Escambia County Florida and Escambia County Alabama.

PROJECTS REQUIRING PERMITS TO BE ACQUIRED BY AMERICAN

FOR ESCAMBIA COUNTY: FOR FDOT: Cody/Olive

Hummingbird Blvd. CR 297A

Market St.

SR 4 (Okaloosa County) SR 10 (Okaloosa County) SR 71 (Gulf County) SR 296 (Escambia County) SR 10 (US 90) (Escambia County) SR 10 (US 90) (Santa Rosa County)

SR 87 (Santa Rosa County) SR 369 (Wakulla County, 2 projects) SR 196 (Escambia County) SR 189 (Okaloosa County) US 98 (Bay County) SR 77 (Washington County) US 98 (Santa Rosa County)

UTILITIES WITHIN THE PROJECT AREA

AT&T Bright House Networks Cottage Hill Water Works Inc.

Emerald Coast Utility Authority (ECUA) Energy Services of Pensacola (ESP) Farm Hill Utilities, Inc. Frontier Communications Gulf Power

Molino Utilities, Inc. Okaloosa Gas Sprint/Nextel

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Tracy Boutwell, PE – Project Manager, Roadway, MOT, Bid Assistance: Ms. Boutwell has more than 15 years experience in roadway, traffic and transportation projects, including PD&E studies, alternative alignment reports, widening and drainage improvement projects. Ms. Boutwell served as the Project Manager and lead engineer for American’s design teams for the Market Street Drainage Study and Design, CR 297A widening and drainage improvements, and the Nine Mile Road and Olive Road signalization and widening projects for Escambia County in addition to numerous FDOT projects. Tracy’s management experience and knowledge of roadway design, utility coordination and permitting enables her to efficiently manage the overall project. To keep this project on track, she will provide continuous, direct and proactive communication with the subconsultants and the County. Jaime Celler, EI, and Deborah Turner – Engineering Support and Public Involvement: Mr. Celler and Ms. Turner will assist Tracy in providing the engineering support needed to complete the design plans, quantities, and specifications for this project. Ms. Turner will also lead the public involvement efforts for this project. With a combined 25 years of experience, this team has the knowledge of preparing plans for Escambia County. This team has worked alongside Tracy for the Escambia County and FDOT projects she has managed and will carry that knowledge forward to this project.

Rebol-Battle & Associates LLC.: All drainage and permitting activities on these projects will be completed by RBA. Paul Battle, PE will serve as the lead drainage engineer for RBA and will be assisted by Jason Rebol and Kevin Gibson, EI. RBA’s staff lives and work within Escambia County.

Wetland Sciences, Inc. (WSI): All environmental services and permitting assistance for these projects will be completed by WSI. Craig Martin will serve as the lead environmentalist for WSI and will be assisted by Keith Johnson. Craig and Keith have

extensive knowledge of the local environmental issues and have permitted several projects through FDEP, NWFWMD, ACOE, and other regulatory agencies. WSI’s staff lives and work within Escambia County.

Universal Engineering Services, Inc. (UES): All geotechnical engineering will be performed by UES and will be lead by Mr. Guy Rabens, PE. Mr. Raben has over 13 years of experience on roadway projects specializing in geotechnical engineering sciences. UES has worked with both American and RBA on Escambia County projects including two segments of CR 297A. UES has a

local office in Pensacola and 60% of their staff lives in Escambia with the remainder residing in Santa Rosa County.

Pittman Glaze Associates, Inc. (PGA): All surveying will be performed by PGA and will be lead by Mr. David Glaze, PLS. Mr. Glaze has over 37 years of experience providing survey services for Escambia County and private parties within Escambia

County and the surrounding area. PGA has worked with both American and RBA on Escambia County projects. PGA’s office is located in Pensacola and all of their staff lives in Escambia County. American is comprised of approximately 80 full-time employees with offices in Florida, Georgia, and New York. We provide design expertise and capabilities typical of larger firms while maintaining project control and enhanced client contact levels normal with smaller firms.

At the present time, our design staff in Pace has a high level of availability (see chart to the right).

RECENT AND CURRENT WORKLOADS

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American only has two active Escambia County design projects at this time. Our Market Street drainage design is on hold and the 100% plans for CR 297A were completed at the end of May 2011. Ultimately, American can immediately provide Escambia County the manpower and expertise needed for the Kingsfield Road Extension project.

American and Rebol-Battle are both very proud of the performance record they have establised with Escambia County on similar projects. We develop specific methods to be as responsive as possible to the needs of our client. We consistenly beat deadlines set for all assigments and have completed several fast-track assignments ahead of schedule. Our design scores have consistently been in the performed notably well category or satisfactory performance for all Escambia County project Contractor Performance Evaluations, shown below.

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COMMUNICATION COUNTY/MANAGEMENT TEAM

The American Team has the expertise and resources to complete work under this contract within the time frames assigned to the particular tasks. Our project approach will keep the County thoroughly informed of the project and will accelerate completion of the deliverables. One essential component of excellent service is working “with” our clients in a “team” approach. The team approach is a cornerstone of American’s method of doing business. Our goal is to form a true partnership with the County. Our Project Manager has practiced the interactive project approach throughout her career. Interaction with the County will include conducting a brainstorming session early in the design phase to identify issues, concerns, and solutions. We will meet as necessary with appropriate County technical staff to discuss their concerns and ideas on how to improve the overall design concepts. We will prepare a summary of all meetings as a record of the decision-making process.

INTERACTIVE COORDINATION The goal of the interactive COORDINATION proposed by our team is to get the decision makers – CLIENTS, permitting agencies, major stakeholders and the general public – involved early in the project. This will be extremely important to meet tight schedules and address the potential opposition from one or more agencies. With appropriate involvement by your staff, you will participate throughout the design process as a partner. Major design decisions will be coordinated with the County’s staff as they are made. This timely involvement allows our Team to help eliminate significant changes late in the project that could otherwise cost the County both valuable time and money. Public Invovlmenet will be critical during the initial planning phase of this project. Our past expereince working hands on with the public on numerous projects including the Ninth Avenune/Langley Avenue/Tippin Avenue PD&E, will help to dissimenate accrate information in a timely manner. It will also help to foster a partnering relationship with the local residents and gain insight on past historical issues, including any flooding problems, roadway deterioration, etc.

UNDERSTANDING OF SCOPE Based on our understanding of the scope of services, the intent of these projects is as follows:

Quintette Road - Provide a new roadway extending Quintette Road from Highway 29 to Jack’s Branch Road. This will require a minimum of three alternatives to be reviewed in order to minimize the wetland impacts, review any threatened and endangered species locations, review and reduce r/w impacts, and review the drainage design. Wetlands are present west of Highway 29, so alternative alignments will be reviewed to include an analysis of the wetland cost versus bridging the wetlands or utilizing box culverts to reduce the impacts.

Drainage along the extension will be closely coordinated with the roadway design and the final geotechnical report for the roadway and pond sites. The soils in the area are poorly drained soils due to the shallow groundwater levels combined with shallow silty and clayey soils. Perched groundwater may also be

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encountered. The presence of shallow fine-grained soils indicated that moisture sensitive soils will be a consideration for both roadway and drainage designs. The presence of these soils may include recommendations for undercutting in areas, replacement of the disturbed soils, or drying and re-compacting the affected areas in order to achieve proper compaction. Organic soils are anticipated to be encountered around the wetland area. These soils will require over excavation and replacement, surcharging or the utilization of pile foundations for embankments and/or bridge crossings.

In addition to the Quintette Road extension, the existing Quintette Road from CR 95A to Highway 29 will be widened to 12 foot lanes with 5 foot paved shoulders, an approximate length of 1.8 miles. American and RBA recently provided these same services for 2 segments of CR 297A and understands the necessary work effort to complete this task. The intersection of Quintette Road and CR 95A will be reviewed for alternatives to correct the offset alignment. Another item that the County may want to consider is a sidewalk for approximately 1,350 feet along Quintette Road just west of CR 95A to Quintette Lane. Our staff has noted several children walking along or in the road to access the Quintette Park located on Quintette Lane.

Well Line Road - Provide a new roadway extending Well Line Road from Madrid Road to Jack’s Branch Road. This will require a minimum of three alternatives to be reviewed in order to minimize the wetland impacts, review any threatened and endangered species locations, review and reduce r/w impacts, and review the drainage design. Wetlands are present east of Fargo Road, so alternative alignments will be reviewed to include an analysis of the wetland cost versus bridging the wetlands or utilizing box culverts to reduce the impacts. Wetland impacts could be avoided by a southern shifted alignment. This shift would impact property owners Erick Stephens and Capricia Wesley and reduce the impacts to DDJ Land Co., LLC.

Drainage along the extension will be closely coordinated with the roadway design and the final geotechnical report for the roadway and pond sites. The soils in the area are poorly drained soils due to the shallow groundwater levels combined with shallow silty and clayey soils. Perched groundwater may also be encountered. The presence of shallow fine-grained soils indicated that moisture sensitive soils will be a consideration for both roadway and drainage designs. The presence of these soils may include recommendations for undercutting in areas, replacement of the disturbed soils, or drying and re-compacting the affected areas in order to achieve proper compaction. Organic soils are anticipated to be encountered around the wetland area. These soils will require over excavation and replacement, surcharging or the utilization of pile foundations for embankments and/or bridge crossings.

In addition to the Well Line Road extension, the existing Well Line Road from Highway 29 to Madrid Road will be widened to 12 foot lanes with 5 foot paved shoulders, an approximate length of 1.5 miles. American and RBA recently provided these same services for 2 segments of CR 297A and understands the necessary work effort to complete this task. The intersection of Well Line Road and Highway 29 will be reviewed for alternative alignments and studied to determine if additional improvements such as a signal or additional turn lanes may be warranted.

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GENERAL PROCEDURES FOR BOTH PROJECTS Task 1 for these projects will consist of meeting with the residents and other concerned citizens to gather input on historical issues in regards to pavement issues, drainage, traffic flow, etc. Based on this information and other information available from the County’s Public Works staff such as existing survey, GIS data, etc., American and RBA will prepare a minimum of three alternatives for both projects. These alternatives will minimize the affects to the residents and environment. Based on wetland information on the County’s website and other data bases, regardless wetland impacts may not be avoidable; however there are ways to minimize the impacts with refined alignments.

Before an alignment is chosen, we propose to hold a public involvement meeting with the local residents and other interested persons to allow them an opportunity to voice their likes and dislikes in order to assist with the final alignment decision. We understand that there will be property owners who will not like any alternatives and will be against the projects. Our role will be to clarify any misunderstandings that they may have about the process and the alignments and to present alternatives that does not create any unfair impacts to one resident over another.

A pre-application meeting should be held with NWFWMD to discuss the alternatives prior to a final selection to gain by-off on the approach for each in regards to wetland and storm water permitting.

Once an alternative has been chosen, American and RBA will proceed with development of the final roadway construction plans. During the final development phase, we will coordinate with all the affected utility owners and obtain the environmental and stormwater permits. Utility impacts should be minimized on these projects and concentrated along the existing Quintette Road and Well Line Road portions that will be widened as the remainder of the projects will be on a new alignment.

Task 2 will consist of preparing the bid documents, attending the pre-bid meeting, responding to any request for information and tabulating the bids.

Tasks 3 will be a limiting allowance tasks for assistance during construction to respond to questions and preparing the as-built drawings.