GBB issues recycling RFQ for Florida county

Gershman, Brickner & Bratton Inc. (GBB) has announced that it is assisting the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority (ECUA), based in Pensacola, Florida, and Escambia County with the development of a request for qualifications (RFQ) to select a contractor to provide the design, permitting, financing, construction and long-term operation of a source-separated recyclables and solid waste processing plant in Escambia County.

The RFQ, issued by the ECUA, can be found at www.ecua.fl.gov.

Statements of qualifications are due Dec. 18, 2014, after which qualified firms will be interviewed, followed by detailed negotiations of a service agreement with the selected firm, says GBB. Commercial operations of the facility are slated to begin within 24 months of the service agreement signing with the contractor, which is scheduled to take place during the first quarter of 2015.

“Procurements are not without challenges, especially when it involves technologies, and we're excited to work in partnership with the ECUA and the county to provide expertise, as we've done for other past projects,” says Bob Brickner, GBB executive vice president.

“We’re providing contractors the opportunity to showcase their capability and experience to creatively address the needs of ECUA and the County, and we expect to evaluate responses that incorporate new technologies that have been successfully demonstrated elsewhere,” adds Randy Rudd, ECUA project manager.

Brickner says, “The primary objective of the procurement is to identify a shortlist of qualified contractors, negotiate term sheets with each and then select the most appropriate private contractor to negotiate a minimum 20-year service agreement. Both the ECUA and the county will each guarantee 100,000 tons per year of feedstock to the project.”

The private contractor would complete the detailed design, permitting, financing, equipment supply and installation, site and building construction, startup, testing and long-term operation of a turnkey facility to serve the needs of the entire county.

Both the ECUA and the county will provide the contractor with single-stream recyclables and municipal solid waste as feedstocks from its internal operations. Other locally generated feedstocks in the region not controlled by either the ECUA or county also may be available. Depending upon the technology proposed, the ECUA could also be a customer for biogas produced by the project.