The Riviera Beach Community Redevelopment Agency on Dec. 10 directed staff to obtain a formal legal opinion about whether a recent property disposition (identified in board discussion as the '1851' matter) complied with applicable procurement rules and the CRA’s process.

Commissioner Davis Paneer opened the discussion saying the board should ensure the city obtains the highest and best price for public land. Procurement Director Latanya Ammons told the board the disposition had not followed a traditional procurement RFP process and that staff had used a procurement methodology to evaluate proposals. A public commenter cited the CRA code and said the relative weights of evaluation criteria must be disclosed to proposers beforehand.

"The relative weights of price in the evaluation process to all of the other criteria is required by your code," a member of the public said, citing a code section during public comment. Executive Director Jadel Murcias acknowledged the concern and said staff would pursue a legal opinion and a policy for future dispositions. The board voted to limit tonight’s proceedings to the 1851 issue and unanimously asked staff to return with legal guidance and a proposed policy or standardized weights for future solicitations.

Next steps: procurement and legal will prepare an opinion on whether the earlier disposition complied with city code and state statute (Florida Statute 163.38 was cited during discussion) and will draft a standard policy for how disposition criteria and weights are presented to the public and proposers.