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Date
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November 9,
2009
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Agenda Item
No. 56A Roll
Call No.
09- Communication No.
09-795 Submitted by: Judy A. Bradshaw, Chief of Police |
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AGENDA
HEADING:
Accepting Finance Director’s Decision on Appeal of
Bid Award Recommendation for Impound Towing and Storage Contract V10-027
to G&S Service, Inc. and Acceptance of G & S Service, Inc. Bid.
SYNOPSIS:
The Impound Towing Contracts with Owen Crist Auto
Body and Crow’s Auto Services, Inc. d/b/a Crow Tow (“Crow Tow”) expired May 31,
2009. A bidding process (V09-103) was initiated to identify qualified impound
towing contractors for the City. Bidders were allowed to bid either District 1
(West) or District 2 (East) or Both Districts 1 and 2. Proposals were submitted
by three qualified vendors for V09-103.
Bid V09-103 was rejected by the City Council on
August 24, 2009 and staff was instructed to initiate a new bidding process
delineating in the specifications that any towing and storage charges incurred
by an owner of an impounded vehicle would not exceed the towing and storage
charge incurred by the City. Bid V10-027 was then distributed to ten qualified
vendors and four proposals were submitted to the City.
On October 20,
2009 the
Procurement Administrator sent bidders notification that the City staff
recommendation to Council was to accept the bid from Crow Tow for both District
1 and District 2. On October 21, 2009 G
& S Service, Inc. filed a timely appeal to that award recommendation from
the Procurement Administrator. The bid instructions provide that appeals from the Procurement
Administrator’s award recommendation are decided by the Finance Director. The Finance Director issued his decision on
the appeal on October 23, 2009 that the bid from G & S Service, Inc, was the low compliant bid, for District 1 and District
2, based on a first tow charge, including wrecker, of $20.00. The Finance Director’s decision is the staff
recommendation for award of the bid. On
October 27, 2009 Crow Tow delivered a written appeal from the Finance
Director’s decision. The bid
instructions provide that appeals from the Finance Director’s decision be made
to the City Council.
This Council Communication will provide
information relating to the bid analysis and award of bid. A separate City Manager’s letter to Council will
provide information relating to the Crow Tow appeal.
Compliance with
Bid Requirements
|
Specifications |
District 1 |
District 2 |
Owen Crist Compliance |
G&S Compliance |
Crow Tow Compliance |
Hanifen Compliance |
|
Location in City |
City Limits |
City Limits |
Yes District 1 only |
Yes |
Yes |
Non
compliant |
|
Experience |
2 years |
2 years |
Yes District 1 only |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Zoning |
Cert. Occupancy Salvage Cert. |
Cert. Occupancy Salvage Cert. |
Yes District 1 only |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Storage Outside |
175 Spaces |
150 Spaces |
Yes District 1 only |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Storage Inside |
10 Spaces |
10 Spaces |
Yes District 1 only |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Auction spaces |
110 Spaces |
110 Spaces |
Yes District 1 only |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
One ton Wreckers |
4 |
3 |
Yes District 1 only |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Flatbeds |
2 |
2 |
Yes District 1 only |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Semi Truck wrecker |
1 |
1 |
Yes District 1 only |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Licensed drivers |
6 |
6 |
Yes District 1 only |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Staff then determined that the low dollar bid for
both District 1 and District 2 was submitted by Crow Tow, based upon an
understanding that the first tow bid charge for Crow Tow was $39.90 and the G
& S Service, Inc. first tow charge would be $70.00 (see Table 1
below). After evaluation of all
proposals, it was recommended by the police department that the option that was
in the best interest of the City and the vehicle owners is to award the Impound
Towing and Storage contract to one vendor.
Table 1
|
Vendors Options |
Owen
Crist Auto Body Inc. |
G&S
Services |
Crow
Auto Service Inc. |
Hanifen |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total Cost Value |
|
|
|
|
|
District 1 |
$ 497,773.80 |
$ 443,937.00 |
$ 413,751.60 |
N/A |
|
District 2 |
$ - |
$ 239,845.00 |
$ 236,723.10 |
N/A |
|
Total |
|
$ 683,782.00 |
& 650,474.70 |
N/A |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Compliance to Bid |
Compliant
for District 1 |
Compliant |
Compliant |
Non
Compliant |
Under the bid specifications, the formula for
determining the cost of each bid proposal relies in part on the Line 1 amount
of the Pricing Worksheet (see Attachment 3) found in Bid Sections 10 and
11. The G & S Service bid had a
discrepancy between the amount submitted for lines 1 and 15, which staff
anticipated should be the same, and was the same for all other bidders, so G
&S Service, Inc. was contacted to provide clarification as to the amount to
be charged for a first tow with a wrecker. G&S Service, Inc. advised City
staff that their charge would be a combined total of line 1 ($20) and line 15
($50) for the normal charge for the first towing of a vehicle. The above calculations were based upon the
cost amounts submitted by the participating vendors, which in the case of Owen
Crist Auto Body and Crow Tow was the dollar cost proposed on line 1 of Sections
10 and 11 of the bid specifications. In the case of G&S Service, Inc. the
combined totals of Line 1 and Line 15 of Sections 10 and 11, were used as the
Line 1 total cost.
Upon notification of the vendors that the low cost
compliant bidder was Crow Tow, G&S Service, Inc. filed a written appeal
through their Attorney Patrick W. O’Bryan (see Attachment 1). In this appeal, G
& S Service, Inc. asserted that the $70.00 cost for the normal charge for
the first towing of a vehicle in the City limits was incorrect and that the
City should be calculating the cost at $50.00 delineated on line 15 of Sections
10 and 11 of the bid specifications. The formula using the $50.00 cost computed
as follows: (See Table 2 below)
Table 2
|
Vendors Options |
Owen
Crist Auto Body Inc. |
G&S
Services |
Crow
Auto Service Inc. |
Hanifen |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total Cost Value |
|
|
|
|
|
District 1 |
$ 497,773.80 |
$ 349,457.00 |
$ 413,751.60 |
N/A |
|
District 2 |
$ - |
$ 191,465.00 |
$ 236,723.10 |
N/A |
|
Total |
|
$ 540,922.00 |
& 650,474.70 |
N/A |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Compliance to Bid |
Compliant
for District 1 |
Compliant |
Compliant |
Non
Compliant |
Pursuant to the bid instructions, the appeal was decided
by the City Finance Director, who reviewed the bidding process and all
proposals and bidding documents. His decision is attached to this Council
Communication (see Attachment 3). In summary, it was the decision of the City
Finance Director that the $20 amount listed in Line 1 by G&S Service was
their bid price for the normal charge for the first towing of a vehicle.
Recalculating the formula defined in the bid specifications in Section 9.5
reveals the following low cost amount for G&S Services: (See Hearing
Officer’s Findings and Table 3 below).
Hearing
Officer’s Findings
G&S Services District
1 Crow Auto Services
Incorporated
793 x $20.00 = $15,860 793 x $39.90 =
$31,640.70
32 x $3.00 x 793 = $76,128 32 x $6.00 x 793 = $152,256
50 x $35.00 = $1,750 50
x $45.00 = $2,250
3931 x $20.00 = $78,620 3931 x $39.90 =
$156,846.90
3 x $3 x 3931 = $35,379 3 x $6 x 3931 = $70,758
= $207,737 (low bid) =
$413,751.60
G&S Services District
2 Crow Auto Services
Incorporated
547 x $20.00 = $10,940 547 x $39.90 = $21,825.30
32 x $3.00 x 547 = $52,512 32 x $6.00 x 547 = $105,024
33 x $35.00 = $1,155 33 x $45.00 = $1,485
1872 x $20.00 = $37,440 1872 x $39.90 = $74,692.80
3 x $3 x 1872 = $16,848 3 x $6 x 1872 = $33,696
= $118,895 (low bid) =
$236,723.10
Table 3
|
Vendors Options |
Owen
Crist Auto Body Inc. |
G&S
Services |
Crow
Auto Service Inc. |
Hanifen |
|
Total Cost Value |
|
|
|
|
|
District 1 |
$ 497,773.80 |
$ 207,737 |
$ 413,751.60 |
N/A |
|
District 2 |
$ - |
$ 118,895 |
$ 236,723.10 |
N/A |
|
Total |
|
$ 326,632 |
$ 650,474.70 |
N/A |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Compliance to Bid |
Compliant
for District 1 |
Compliant
District 1 and 2 |
Compliant
District 1 and 2 |
Non
Compliant |
Based upon the appeal decision, the Police and
Finance Department’s staff recommends the City Council award the Impound Towing
and Storage Contract to G&S Service Inc., 4100 East 16th Street,
Des Moines, Iowa 50313, owner Glen Mikel for both
District 1 and 2.
The term of this contract is for thirty six months
renewable for two additional twelve month periods.
FISCAL
IMPACT:
Amount: $41,000.
Payment to the successful bidder is to be approximately $326,632 annually, but considering the offsetting revenues
from auction proceeds and the State of Iowa, the net amount provided in the
Police Department budget will be approximately $41,000 per year.
Funding Source: GE001, POL040400, FY2010
Recommended Budget, page 229.
ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION:
The expiration of the Impound Towing and Storage
Contract in May 2009 generated two bidding processes. The first bid V09-103 was
rejected by the City Council after they reviewed the specifications and
determined the specifications should reflect the stipulation that any vehicle owner
in the City of Des Moines having their vehicle impounded should not be charged
a towing and storage fee that exceeded the same charge contractually applied to
the City. The specifications were changed to document the Council’s request and
another bidding document V10-027 was sent to qualified vendors. Ten vendors
received the bidding document and four responded with valid proposals.
One of the vendors was Hanifen
Company Incorporated. This company was disqualified because they failed to
comply with Section 4.1 of the specifications that requires the vendor to be located
within the boundaries of the City of Des Moines, Iowa.
The three remaining vendors were Owen Crist Auto
Body, G&S Services, Inc., and Crow’s Auto Service, Inc. d/b/a Crow Tow
(“Crow Tow”). After an appeal by G &
S Service to the City Finance Director, the compliant low dollar bidder for
both District 1 and District 2 was determined to be G&S Service, Inc.
In the past, the Council has approved two towing and
storage vendors for the City. The advantage to this arrangement is the ability
for each vendor to assist the other during high volume towing trips being
dispatched on one side of the City. The disadvantage of this arrangement is the
disparity of towing and storage fees charged to the public. Currently it costs
less to have your vehicle impounded on one side of the City rather than the
other and the same result will occur if two vendors are used. This also means two
separate sets of impound records and two auction sales in separate locations.
All of these disadvantages disappear when the City retains one vendor because
all vehicles and sales will be located and priced at one site. The single
vendor awarded this contract will be maintaining equipment and personnel
requirements for both districts.
There have been incidents in the past when towing
contractors have failed to meet their contract requirements and the City was
forced to take emergency contractual steps to alleviate the volume of impounded
vehicles. If this were to be experienced during this new contract term, action
to relieve the above situation will be in accordance with the authority of the
City Procurement Ordinance to quickly contract with another qualified towing
and storage vendor in cases of an operational emergency. Removing inoperable
vehicles to allow safe access and utilization of City streets and freeways is a
high priority for the police department and well being of the general public.
For these reasons, staff believes that it is in the
best interest of the City, and is therefore recommending that the City Council
award the Impound Towing and Storage Contract to G&S Services Incorporated
4100 East 16th Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50313, owner Glen Mikel for both District 1 and 2.
The term of this contract is for thirty six months
renewable for two additional twelve month periods.
PREVIOUS
COUNCIL ACTION(S):
Date: August 24, 2009
Roll
Call Number: 09-1603
Action: Rejection of
impounded vehicle towing and storage bids and directing Procurement
Administrator to reissue invitation to bid with revised bid
specifications. (Council
Communication No. 09-613) Moved by Vlassis to
adopt and expedite the process if possible.
Motion Carried 7-0.
Date: August 10, 2009
Roll
Call Number: 09-1509
Action: Bids from G & S Services Inc. (Glen Mikel, Owner/President) and Crow’s Automotive Services d/b/a Crow Tow (Randy Crow, President) to furnish impounded vehicle towing and storage services for use by the Police Department, estimated cost $522,209. (Nine bids mailed, three received). (Council Communication No. 09-547
) Moved by Coleman to continue to August 24, 2009 meeting and refer to City Manager for additional information regarding citizen fees being considered in bid process. Motion Carried 7-0.BOARD/COMMISSION
ACTION(S): NONE
ANTICIPATED
ACTIONS AND FUTURE COMMITMENTS:
Applying these prices to the bid matrix yields the
following results:
G&S
District 1 Crow
Tow District 1
793 x $20.00= $15,860 793
x $39.90= $31,640.70
32 x $3.00 x 793= $76,128 32 x $6.00 x 793= $152,256
50 x $35.00= $1,750 50
x $45.00= $2,250
3931 x $20.00= $78,620 3931 x $39.90= $156,846.90
3 x $3 x 3931= $35,379 3 x $6 x 3931= $70,758
= $207,737 (low bid) =
$413,751.60
G&S
District 2 Crow
Tow District 2
547 x $20.00= $10,940 547
x $39.90= $21,825.30
32 x $3.00 x 547= $52,512 32 x $6.00 x 547= $105,024
33 x $35.00= $1,155 33
x $45.00= $1,485
1872 x $20.00= $37,440 1872 x $39.90= $74,692.80
3 x $3 x 1872= $16,848 3 x $6 x 1872= $33,696
= $118,895 (low bid) =
$236,723.10
Impound Towing and Storage Pricing Worksheet