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4 DATE:June 3, 2024
TO:Mayor and Members of the City Council
VIA:Stefan Chatwin, City Manager
Marlene Subhashini, Assistant City Manager
FROM:Derek Schweigart, Parks and Recreation Director
Tiffany Oren, Recreation Manager
DEPARTMENT: Parks and Recreation
SUBJECT:AUTHORIZE THE ISSURANCE OF A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
FOR REPLACEMENT OF ELECTRONIC MARQUEE DISPLAY
BOARDS FOR THE MARQUEE AT THE CORNER OF SHELL AND
EAST HILLSDALE BOULEVARDS
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council adopt the attached resolution approving and authorizing staff to issue the attached Request for Proposal (RFP) for replacement of the electronic marquee display boards for the marquee at the corner of Shell and East Hillsdale Boulevards.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The dual marquee display boards located at the corner of Shell and East Hillsdale Boulevards in Leo J. Ryan Park were installed in 2016. The boards have experienced numerous problems over the past seven years, and staff had to work with 3 different support vendors to perform repairs. Replacement LED panels for these boards are no longer being manufactured, so no further repairs can be made.
Due to the condition of the boards and lack of replacement parts for repairs, staff seeks City Council authorization to issue a Request for Proposal for replacement of the marquee display boards.
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4 BACKGROUND/ANALYSIS
A Marquee has been located at the corner of Shell and East Hillsdale Boulevards since 1997 for the purpose of providing public information from both the City and various community organizations. The display boards are an effective way to reach the public due to their high visibility and immediate messaging capability. Along with numerous City uses, many local non-profit organizations such as the Foster City youth sports groups, the Foster City Library, and the Foster City Village, are able to advertise their events.
Prior to 2016, the structure consisted of a single display board. In 2016, the City Council directed staff to consider technologies and structural configurations that would increase and maximize viewership, including the addition of a second display board that would be viewable by additional lanes of traffic. The cost for the two-display board design, including site engineering, new infrastructure to sustain the second board, and installation was $183,198. Funding in the amount of $60,000 was appropriated in the FY 2015-2016 budget for replacement of the current Marquee with a similar technology in the same configuration. The Council approved an additional appropriation of $123,198 from the Park-in-Lieu Fund to the Equipment Replacement Fund to expand the visibility of the Marquee.
On December 21, 2015, City Council approved an agreement with Guru Digital Media in the amount of $183,198 for the purchase and installation of a two-display board design marquee (Resolution No. 2015-107). The new structure was completed in 2016. Less than a year after installation, the board experienced power outages and display issues.
Problems occurred regularly with a total of $9,843 in repairs so far. Guru Digital Media went out of business not long after the product was installed.
Staff explored using similar vendors to perform repairs to these proprietary boards, since most sign companies only maintain signs they originally sold. Golden Gate Sign Company agreed to do some repairs but indicated in 2019 they could no longer work on these signs.
Staff was able to work with another vendor, Ad Art, for repairs in 2020, however, they informed the City that replacement parts for the sign were in short supply. The City bought some of the remaining replacement LED panels, but these have since been utilized and new ones can no longer be purchased that match the existing signs. The boards continue to experience issues, mostly with panels going dark as they fail.
The marquee boards are now in a state of disrepair, with only one display board currently usable. Due to the lack of available replacement parts, no further repairs of the current signs are possible. Below is a history of repairs.
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4 Marquee Purchase Orders
Date Vendor Amount Comments
5/23/2017 Golden Gate Sign Company $680
Outage on message board. Reset
ribbon cables and found 2 bad panels
requiring replacement and return trip.
Two new LED panels from Signtronix
were installed.
12/14/2017 Golden Gate Sign Company $700 Outage on both boards due to loose wires. Technician tightened wires.
2/21/2018 Golden Gate Sign Company $500 Board outage due to disconnect switch.
3/1/2018 Golden Gate Sign Company $375 Board outage due to loose cable. 9/6/2018 Golden Gate Sign Company $875
Two marquee signs not lighting. Two
of four breakers tripped, also trouble
communicating with marquee board
facing Shell Blvd.
5/6/2019 Ad Art Sign $862.50 LED sign outages, several modules needed to be replaced.
8/5/2019 Ad Art Sign $600 Install replacement parts.
7/8/2020 Ad Art Sign $1,561.65 Replace bad power supply. 10/20/2020 Ad Art Sign $586.65 Replace one power supply due to outages.
3/30/2022 Ad Art Sign $976.88 Assess and repair bad panel. 2/1/2024 Ad Art Sign $1,125 Assess and repair bad panel.
Total: $8,843
Ad Art technicians did an assessment of the boards at the beginning of this year when the panels again started going dark in spots. Their estimate was $49,682 to replace one display and $93,632 to replace both displays. The Equipment Replacement Fund Schedule has the boards scheduled for replacement in 2026.
If authorized, staff will request proposals from qualified firms to provide replacement boards and support services required for the marquee board replacement. The selected firms will be required to have completed similar projects and possess experience in the services mentioned above. The attached resolution authorizes staff to issue the RFP and initiate the request for proposal process.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no significant cost to issue the RFP. Once the proposals have been reviewed and a recommended vendor is chosen, the purchase will come back to City Council for approval. Funding in the amount of $52,000 is available in the Equipment Replacement Fund for the marquee, but not appropriated for this fiscal year. Staff anticipate additional funding will be necessary to purchase and install the two-display board marquee. 6 5
4 CEQA
Not applicable.
CITY COUNCIL VISION, MISSION, AND VALUE/PRIORITY AREA
Facilities and Infrastructure
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1 – Resolution
Attachment 2 – Request for Proposal