On November 11, 2017 RFP-No. 18-004 was advertised for Disaster Recovery and Debris Removal Services, (DRDRS). On December 20, 2017 two sealed proposals were submitted to the City Clerk’s Office by the 2:00 p.m. deadline. The two proposals were submitted by Ceres Environmental Services at $31,451,600.00 and DRC Emergency Services at $101,745,000.00. Ceres Environmental Services is a privately held Florida-based national firm located in Sarasota, Florida. Ceres Environmental Services core expertise is in the field of (DRDRS).
As Council may recall, the City is currently under contract with Ceres Environmental Services and AshBritt, Incorporated for disaster recovery and debris removal services. The current agreements are piggyback agreements containing the same terms and conditions as the Pasco County’s (DRDRS) contracts. Subsequent to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s, (FEMA) decision not to allow communities to piggyback off of one another for these types of services, the City proceeded with the RFP process to meet FEMA’s mandate. In addition, stringent requirements for debris removal and disposal are required to be submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for reimbursement of costs associated with recovery efforts during emergency events. These challenges have prompted the need for agencies to execute secondary contract agreements with certified contractors performing the debris removal and disposal services should the need arise when an event may be too large for staff to handle. If approved, this agreement puts in place a secondary/redundancy for these services.