1 STAFF REPORT
DATE: April 11, 2023
TO: Justin Hess, City Manager
FROM: Michael Albanese, Chief of Police
BY: Courtney Padgett, Police Administrator
VIA: Adam Cornils, Captain – Patrol Division
SUBJECT: Approval of a Professional Services Agreement with LAZ Parking California LLC for Parking Enforcement Services
RECOMMENDATION
Approve a Professional Services Agreement between the City of Burbank and LAZ Parking California LLC for the provision of parking enforcement services.
BACKGROUND
The Burbank Police Department (Department) manages parking enforcement within the City and is responsible for maintaining traffic safety by enforcing parking laws, removing vehicles that are obstructing the roadway, and impounding abandoned vehicles. The Department’s parking enforcement program issues parking citations to violators of the Burbank Municipal Code (BMC) and the California Vehicle Code (CVC). These types of violations include, but are not limited to, illegal parking in restricted areas, overtime parking in commercial areas and residential neighborhoods, 72-hour parking restrictions, and street sweeping violations. Over the past several years, the Department has experienced challenges in providing continuous effective services for the City.
Challenges for the program include diffic ulty maintaining a stable, well -trained, and experienced workforce. To address these challenges, in April 2022 the City Council approved a proposal by the Department to implement a one -year pilot program working with a third -party professional service provider to supplement existing parking enforcement services to meet the needs of the City.
POLICE DEPARTMENT
2 DISCUSSION
The BMC establishes procedures for executing agreements for such services. First, the City competitively solicits proposals (BMC § 2- 2-102). After, the City Council must approve such agreement before the Chief of Police may deploy such services (BMC §§ 2-2-102 and 6-1-1002.G).
On October 31, 2022, the City issued a request for proposals (RFP No. BPD-2022-001) for parking enforcement services. The RFP was posted on PlanetBids, a web-based procurement solution utilized by the City and other public agenci es to streamline and manage procurement processes. All proposals were due on December 6, 2022. At the close of the solicitation period, the City received four proposals, three of which were deemed responsive.
An evaluation team comprised of the Department’s Traffic Bureau Lieutenant, two Sergeants, an Administrative Analyst, a Parking Control Officer, and a Parking Analyst from the Community Development Department was assembled to evaluate each submitted proposal. One hundred (100) evaluation points were available, with the selection criteria comprised as follows:
• Comprehensiveness of Proposal (10 points)
• Contractor Capabilities (17 points)
• Integration Abilities and Unique Services (10 points) • Operational Plan (28 points)
• References (7 points)
• Presentation Evaluation and Site Visit (8 points)
• Price Proposal (20 points)
The evaluation t eam evaluated the technical merits of each proposal. Th is process included participation in virtual meetings with all three proposed service providers. These meetings allowed each firm to provide an overview of their company, details on their proposal to provide parking enforcement services for the City, and answer questions from the evaluation team about their proposal. The evaluation team also conducted site visits to locations where each firm currently provides parking enforcement services comparable to the services requested in the City’s RFP. The site visits provided the evaluation team the opportunity to observe each firm’s delivery of services, speak with other city’s personnel who work directly with these firms , and review each firm ’s technology and equipment capabilities.
Proposed prices were bifurcated in PlanetBids and withheld from the evaluation team, so that proposals were evaluated solely on their technical merits, without pricing influence.
Once technical scores were tabulated, the City’s Purchasing section evaluated the price 3 proposals from each firm and calculated the price scores. P rice scores were combined with the technical merit scores to determine the total overall score for each firm. LAZ Parking California LLC and SP Plus Corporation resulted in a tie score with 85 points each. The tie was broken by considering the submitted proposed pricing for the two firms, with the selection of LAZ Parking due to an annual price differential of approximately $200,000 between the two equally qualified service providers.
Based on the totality of the evaluation process, t he evaluation team recommends selecting and executing the agreement to LAZ Parking California LLC for the provision of parking enforcement services for the City , as permitted under the BMC . LAZ Parking submitted a comprehensive proposal and their staff responded to all questions from the evaluation team in a well-informed manner. LAZ Parking has forty years of experience in conducting parking enforcement services and provides services in cities of various sizes throughout the country. C ities in the Los Angeles area that currently work with LAZ Parking include West Hollywood, Inglewood, Long Beach, and Manhattan Beach.
The Department will maintain all current parking enforcement personnel, who will work in partnership with the third-party professional service provider. Service provider personnel will conduct parking enforcement services throughout the City, and all personnel and vehicles will be clearly identifiable as performing parking enforcement for the City of Burbank.
With the assistance of parking enforcement conducted by a service provider, Department parking enforcement staff can reallocate time to focus pr imarily on responding promptly to calls for service, managing complex and sensitive parking issues, conducting vehicle impounds, and addressing community complaints and concerns. Department staff will also continue to conduct regular parking enforcement services in conjunction with service provider personnel. Department management will work with the service provider to ensure the highest level of professional and efficient delivery of parking enforcement services.
The Department anticipates the following benefits in the delivery of parking enforcement services:
• Full Utilization of Authorized Positions – Service provider guarantees to provide the agreed upon number of staff, backfilling staff as needed due to illness, injury, separation, or retirement. This ensures continual operation at full authorized strength, reducing periods of insufficient staffing levels that result in the inability to effectively manage workload and respond to the needs of the community. • Schedule Flexibility – Service provider personnel schedules are flexible and can be adjusted as necessary based on operational needs.
4 • Efficiencies in Onboarding of New Staff – Current processes for on-boarding new personnel can take up to one year for recruitment, selection, processing, background investigation, and completion of required training. Service provider maintains qualified, trained, and experienced personnel who can be on-boarded in less time to replace departing staff.
• Advancements in Technology and Equipment – Although the City has done its best to stay up to date with technology and equipment, upgrades necessary to maintain contemporary technology and equipment advance at a rapid pace. A professional service provider is more agile and adaptable to maintaining and implementing upgrades that will provide enhanced efficiencies in service delivery. • Scalable Resources – Service provider offers a scalable resource model that can be tailored to reduce or increase the staffing and services provided based on the needs of the City.
• Professional Expertise – Service provider has extensive experience and expertise in the profession of conducting parking enforcement and maintains up-to-date knowledge of advancements within the field, innovative initiatives in other jurisdictions, and has acquired experience in managing a broad range of enforcement scenarios in other jurisdictions . The community will benefit from additional personnel who are technically proficient and experienced in a professional field that requires specialized skills.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Under California Environmental Quality Act (C EQA) 14 Cal. Code Regs § 15378, organizational or administrative activities of governments, that do not result in direct or indirect physical changes to the environment, are not projects under CEQA. Here, approval of the agreement allows the City to enforce existing parking regulations and the only change is how such enforcement is provided. In addition, enforcement activities are exempt under CEQA. (See 14 CCR §15321.) As such, this approval is not a project and no further environmental review is necessary.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact to the City’s General Fund for implementation of the parking enforcement program. The estimated cost to implement a one -year program is $1,097,071, which will be funded utilizing salary savings from vaca nt Parking Control Officer positions within the Police Department’s Fiscal Year 2022- 23 budget and proposed Fiscal Year 2023-24 budget. Should the City determine to exercise the option to extend the agreement for additional years, the Department will return to City Council to request a budget appropriation to support program continuance. Dependent on the success of the program and futur e direction of parking enforcement services, there are potential recurring cost savings in salaries and benefits, vehicles, and equipment.
5 CONCLUSION
Working in partnership with a third-party parking enforcement service provider will provide the City the opportunity to assess an alternate model for conducting parking enforcement.
This program will maintain all City parking enforcement personnel and supplement the existing program with well -trained, experienced, and professional p arking enforcement personnel who work with contemporary equipment and technology. In accordance with the BMC, staff has competitively solicited proposals for these services and seeks City Council approval to execute the agreement and permit the Chief of P olice to use such services. Accordingly, staff recommends that Council approve the recommendation and authorize the City Manager, or designee, to enter into a professional services agreement with LAZ Parking California LLC for the provision of parking enforcement services.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 – LAZ Parking Professional Services Agreement Attachment 2 – Parking Enforcement Services RFP BPD-2022-001 Attachment 3 – Parking Enforcement Services RFP BPD-2022-001 Addendum No. 1 Attachment 4 – LAZ Parking Bid Results
Attachment 5 – RFP Evaluation Score Sheet