Joint Use Pole Audit

The City of Lakeland, Florida, through Lakeland Electric, is requesting proposals for a Joint Use Pole Audit of approximately 80,789 City of Lakeland-owned poles within its service territory under RFP 2026-RFP-054, with proposals due July 13, 2026, at 4:30 p.m. A local vendor preference is available for qualified Lakeland-area businesses that maintain a physical location within Lakeland Electric's service territory and have operated there for at least 12 consecutive months prior to proposal submission.

The audit represents the first comprehensive pole count since 2007 and excludes decorative poles, aluminum light poles, and poles at the power plant. The contractor shall document electric equipment, telecommunications attachments, missing or incorrect pole identification tags, poles no longer in service, and poles ready for removal across 85,241 existing licensee assets representing entities including COL Traffic Signal, COL Fiber, Spectrum, Verizon, Frontier, and multiple fiber providers. Deliverables include data in ESRI ArcGIS file formats (shapefile or geodatabase) and Excel spreadsheets, completion of a 250-pole test run with high-resolution digital photographs, and notification to joint users of new pole counts in batches with 30-day dispute periods. The contractor must distinguish between electric and telecommunications equipment and demonstrate compatibility with Lakeland Electric systems such as ArcGIS.

Pricing is submitted as a flat-rate fee per pole inspected and carries 40 percent evaluation weight. Technical expertise and field knowledge comprise 20 percent; process, data accuracy and documentation quality, safety compliance and training, and technology and tools utilization each receive 10 percent. Respondents must provide minimum three references, evidence of previous similar projects, commercial general liability insurance of at least $1,000,000 per occurrence, business automobile liability of $1,000,000, workers' compensation at statutory limits, and excess liability of $1,000,000. A signed Hold Harmless Indemnification Agreement, Human Trafficking Affidavit, and certifications regarding drug-free workplace status, suspension and debarment status, public entity crimes, conflict of interest, E-Verify compliance, and scrutinized company status are required at proposal submission. Payment milestones are triggered only after test run approval and completion of each batch with no ongoing disputes and 30 days elapsed since joint user notification. The non-mandatory pre-proposal meeting is June 10, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. Questions are due June 18, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. Proposals remain valid for 60 days from opening.