EAST PALO ALTO
CITY COUNCIL
STAFF REPORT
DATE: December 15, 2022
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
VIA: Patrick Heisinger, Interim City Manager
BY: Humza Javed, Public Works Director
Benjamin Zarrabi,
SUBJECT: Award of Contract for Street Sweeping Services Recommendation
Adopt a Resolution authorizing the City Manager to enter into a three year contract in a form approved by the City Attorney, for citywide street sweeping services with Sweeping Corporation of America (SCA), with the option for two (2), one-year extensions, at a compensation rate of up to $361,750 per year, with service commencing on January 2, 2023.
Appropriate additional funds of $181,000 for the street sweeping services to National Pollutant Discharged Elimination System (NPDES) Fund (F203) budget for the fiscal year 2022-23.
Alignment with City Council Strategic Plan
This recommendation is primarily aligned with:
Priority No. 4: Improve Public Facilities and Infrastructure Priority No. 6: Create a Healthy and Safe Community
Background
SCA, formerly known as CleanStreet, is the current street sweeping contractor for the City of East Palo Alto, and has had a contract with the City since January 2, 2017. Three amendments were authorized by the City Council to extend the contract term on January 2, 2020, January1, 2021, and December 21, 2021. The most recent amendment provided the contractor a compensation rate of $164,275.32 (for base services) for citywide street sweeping services. The current Agreement expires on December 31, 2022. Street sweeping services are paid from the Garbage and Street Sweeping fund which is collected through property assessments via the tax roll.
The purpose of this staff report is to recommend the selection of SCA as the citywide street sweeping service contractor.
Analysis
Proposal Review
City staff released the Request for Proposals through an advertisement on November 10, 2022 and sent out the RFP to street sweeping service providers throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. The City received one proposal in response to the RFP.
Public Works Staff have worked with SCA during the current contract term and have been satisfied with their work for the following reasons:
• Cost effectiveness; this contractor conveyed the ability to provide a high work quality, with efficient and effective use of funds;
• Excellent responsiveness and consistent high quality customer service • Employee training, long term retention, pay, and focused development of personal work performance and pride, along with strong interest to hire locally; • Excellent equipment maintenance and noted responsiveness to replacement of equipment or driver exchange if issues arise;
• Lack of complaints and verifiable quality assurance standards; • Innovative use of solid waste materials in a reuse method, and extra leaf removal equipment for leaf litter when there is a large amount of debris on roadways.
Continuation of SCA as the City’s sweeping service provider is expected to deliver a high level of service to the community.
Summary of Contract Terms
To fulfill the terms of the contract, SCA agrees to the following terms which will be included in the final contract language:
• Service will begin on January 2, 2023
• Contract duration is for three years, with an option of two, one-year extensions at the City of East Palo Alto’s request and upon mutual agreement,; • Cost of service shall be $297,000 per year for base sweeping services, and up to $361,750 per year with additional services such as emergency services, debris removal, or unscheduled service. There is an option for the contractor to request an annual increase consistent with the current Consumer Price Index, upon fulfillment of the contract terms;
• The contract shall be subject to prevailing wage (the City is required to do this based on review of the law by the City Attorney’s office), hence the significant increase in contract price.
• Contractor shall sweep streets according to the schedule provided in the RFP which is located at the following link:
https://www.cityofepa.org/sites/default/files/fileattachments/public_works/page/21792 /2022_street_sweeping_rfp.pdf
• Sweeping schedule may be amended by the City by written agreement with a minimum two week advance notification to contractor;
• Street sweeping shall be verified by City audit and contractor quality assurance of 95% effectiveness and timeliness;
• Contractor shall dispose of all waste associated with fulfilling the terms of the contract;
• Contractor shall provide all water necessary to fulfill the terms of the contract without the need for potable water provided by the City of East Palo Alto; • Contractor shall ensure adequate dust control by means of no visible airborne dust; • Performance Measures shall be indicated in the following parameters:
• All equipment used shall be in compliance with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) by providing the City with equipment that meets or exceeds air quality standards set forth in the “Mobile Source Compliance Plan,” upon final adoption;
• All vehicles shall be equipped with Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) systems providing real-time data monitored by SCA dispatchers; tracks including time, date, and vehicle speed and location shall be provided to the City within 24 hours of request;
• Back-up equipment and personnel shall be available at all normally scheduled sweeping times;
• When the City has provided the Contractor with more than 5 complaints of a similar nature in a thirty-day period, Contractor shall provide the City with an assessment of complaint trends, and offer solutions for resolving the matter; • If the City indicates that there is a potential concern regarding equipment or personnel, Contractor shall seek to address the concern(s) in a meaningful way, such as replacement of equipment that does not provide excellent sweeping capability or replacement of a driver that is not fulfilling the duties as specified in the contract in a respectful and courteous manner; • Contractor shall provide the City with the following information regarding Supervisors and Street Sweeper Operators/Drivers, including back-ups:
• Introduce all employees working in the City to the staff person(s) responsible for contract management prior to providing service in the City; • Inform City staff of training schedule and release to independent duty once training is completed;
• Provide written notice to staff within 24 hours of an emergency staffing change, or 24 hours prior to a new or replacement driver working in the City; • Provide at least once-a-month meetings with the City staff person to assess performance and seek ways to improve service;
• Provide monthly service reports indicating any late or missed routes, challenges identified during the sweeping route (such as illegal dumping, obstacles in the roadway, equipment failure, etc);
• Offer twenty-four hour telephone availability for emergency sweeping requests, along with immediate dispatch, as necessary;
• Monthly solid waste disposal tonnage reporting;
• Written response to complaints within 24 hours.
Updating the Street Sweeping Program
The Citywide Street Sweeping Program is improving incrementally year-to-year. While the City’s current contractor provides street sweeping services with a goal of effectively removing debris from roadways, the City enhances the program’s effectiveness through the installation of curbs and gutters, and the installation of “No Parking” signs that indicate to the community the hours during which the street sweeper is scheduled to sweep a given street. The City is continuously expanding the sidewalks, curbs, and gutters throughout the community as funding becomes available.
The City also is undertaking a major infrastructure effort to install trash capture devices to prevent litter and debris from City streets from entering the storm drain system and the Nation’s waterways, as a means of compliance with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit. These devices will require ongoing maintenance that is highly dependent on the effectiveness of the street sweeping program.
The new contract is also subject to prevailing wage as directed by the Department of Industrial relations and as advised by the City Attorney’s office. This is a major change from the last contract hence the cost of the annual base sweeping service has gone up from approximately $165,000/year to $297,000/year. Attachment 2 includes a Memo from Sweeping Corporation of America identifying the breakdown of contract costs associated with the prevailing wage proposal. Attachment 3 includes SCA’s proposal.
Fiscal Impact
The cost of this service is $297,000 per year for base sweeping services, and up to $361,750 per year with additional services such as emergency services, debris removal, or unscheduled service. This increase is due to the City’s requirement to ensure the contract includes prevailing wage conditions. Due to the increase in the contract amount, staff recommends appropriating additional funds of $181,000 from NPDES fund (F203) for the fiscal year 2022-23 budget.
The current street sweeping fund has adequate funding available to cover these costs for the upcoming year. Funds will be allocated through the property tax roll for the near term.
The current budget reflected a use of fund reserves to continue to pay increased waste costs without a garbage rate increase. Regardless of this selection process, staff anticipate the need to increase the assessment for these services due to increased tipping fees, increased street sweeping, and normal inflation, the overall cost increases. Staff are anticipating returning to the City Council with an increase spring or summer 2023.
Environmental
The action being considered by the City Council is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it is not a “project” pursuant to 15378(b)(4) because it is a fiscal activity which does not involve any commitment to any specific project which may result in a potentially significant impact on the environment.
Attachments
1. Resolution
2. SCA Memo - Prevailing Wage Contract breakdown
3. SCA Proposal - Street Sweeping Services