Rental & Concession Vendor for Weedon Island

Pinellas County, Florida is seeking a qualified vendor to provide rental and concession services at Weedon Island Preserve under a Request for Proposal (RFP) with flexible operational parameters. The County is not prescribing a single service format and welcomes innovative approaches including on-site rentals, satellite or off-site staging with delivery services, guided eco-tours or educational programming, and hybrid service models, provided all proposals comply with County operational, environmental, and site-specific constraints. The designated concession area is defined in Attachment C and Exhibit D mapping documents. Key deliverables include the operation of water-based recreational activities focused on paddle craft rentals (kayaks, canoes, and stand-up paddleboards), accurate financial record-keeping with monthly reporting, and compliance with all federal, state, and local regulations. The successful proposer must operate seven days per week from 7:00 a.m. until sunset, excluding the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, and must maintain Commercial General Liability insurance of $1,000,000 per occurrence and Watercraft Liability insurance of $1,000,000 per occurrence. The evaluation criteria allocate points as follows: 150 points (15%) for qualifications, 300 points (30%) for approach, 250 points (25%) for statement of work, 250 points (25%) for compensation, and 50 points (5%) for exceptions, with the award going to the highest-scoring qualified proposer. Critical deadlines include a non-mandatory pre-conference and site visit on May 22, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. at 1800 Weedon Drive NE, St. Petersburg, Florida 33702; a question submission deadline of May 28, 2026 at 12:00 p.m.; and a proposal due date of June 11, 2026 by 3:00 p.m. via the OpenGov procurement portal.

The contract will be awarded to a single vendor for an initial term of sixty (60) months from the date of award with one optional extension of twenty-four (24) months. There are no designated set-asides for disadvantaged enterprises or socioeconomic categories specified in this solicitation. The successful proposer must execute three mandatory compliance documents: a Human Trafficking Affidavit certifying non-use of labor coercion; a Common Carrier Attestation confirming compliance with Florida Statute 92.525 and Section 908.111 regarding transportation of unauthorized aliens; and a Foreign Country of Concern Affidavit certifying that the contractor is not owned by or organized under the laws of specified foreign countries including China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, or Syria. The concessionaire must pay the County a concession fee based on a percentage of gross sales, submitted monthly by the 15th with late payments subject to a one percent (1%) daily penalty and a three percent (3%) processing fee for credit card payments. Historical gross sales data for the concession location indicate baseline performance expectations of $370,823.27 (FY 2023), $194,796.45 (FY 2024), and $227,020.85 (FY 2025), though no specific award value or guaranteed revenue floor is identified. No current incumbent vendor or existing infrastructure integration requirements are referenced in the solicitation documents.