FORT PIERCE \u2013 The process to determine the next operator of Fort Pierce\u2019s iconic Little Jim Bait & Tackle is starting over, this time after city officials identify a list of existing property issues and determine who is financially responsible for fixing them.<\/p>\n
This will mark the third time the City of Fort Pierce, owner of the North Hutchinson Island causeway bar\/restaurant property, has begun the process to determine who should be awarded the next long-term lease for the historic site.<\/p>\n
Deliberations have been mired in procedural and political issues for nearly a year after the current operating lease expired and was subsequently extended with the existing operator on a month-to-month basis.<\/p>\n
On Sept. 23, an internal city evaluating committee rated the final two of five proposals submitted, giving the highest ranking to a Michigan bidder based on food service industry experience, site plan design and financial capability to perform.<\/p>\n
Little Jim\u2019s current operator, Salty 3 Baitshack LLC, was ranked second.<\/p>\n
However, City Manager Richard Chess said Monday night those final two proposals were subsequently ruled non-responsive for apparent failures to meet all the requirements outlined in the city\u2019s request for proposals (RFP).<\/p>\n
\u201cThose scores should have never happened,\u201d Chess told the Fort Pierce City Commission Monday night.<\/p>\n
That made all five of the original bidders ineligible for consideration, closing the award process before a final decision went before the commission.<\/p>\n
Officials said unresolved issues relating to boundary lines, unpermitted construction, zoning and environmental concerns should have been addressed before the RFP process sought proposals.<\/p>\n
A team of officials from a variety of city departments is now expected to convene next week to identify the full range of unresolved questions, what action is required and who is responsible for curing them.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Little Jim\u2019s future operation has become a political issue leading up to a Nov. 4 special election to fill a vacant District 2 city commission seat. There\u2019s been at least one rally advocating for simply renewing the operating lease with Salty 3 Baitshack LLC.<\/p>\n
However, Chess said Monday state law and local ordinances require a \u201cfair, unbiased and impartial\u201d bidding process to be conducted when public property is leased to a private concern. The city is compensated by the operator for use of the public land.<\/p>\n
Mayor Linda Hudson said community concern illustrates the historic significance of the former Navy guard shack property to the Fort Pierce community.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe public can have a favorite (operator), but we have to be objective (in a lease of public property) and follow the law,\u201d Hudson said.<\/p>\n
The city\u2019s bidding process already has undergone some changes, following criminal charges against former City Manager Nicholas Mimms of bid tampering and official misconduct in connection with the award of a lease for some Avenue D vacant land to a nonprofit headed by two, then-city employees. Mimms was terminated by the city, pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.<\/p>\n
At least two of the original five Little Jim bidders have filed a protest of that RFP process, claiming the city disqualified them after they said officials failed to answer their questions surrounding the project.<\/p>\n
None of the original bidders have indicated whether they will submit proposals when a new RFP is issued and the city has not yet announced a timetable for when that solicitation will come.<\/p>\n
The city was given the Little Jim property by the Navy after World War II when it was no longer being used as a wartime guard shack for a military training compound here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT PIERCE \u2013 The process to determine the next operator of Fort Pierce\u2019s iconic Little Jim Bait &…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172,563],"class_list":{"0":"post-13944","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-port-st-lucie","8":"tag-port-st-lucie","9":"tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","10":"tag-port-st-lucie-news","11":"tag-st_lucie"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}