City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: CONSENT CALENDAR
Lead Department: Public Works
Meeting Date: May 13, 2024
Report #:2312-2367
TITLE
Approval of Amended and Restated Rental Agreement C20175026A with JC Decaux San Francisco, LLC, in the Amount Not-to-Exceed $685,655 for a Five-year Term to Provide the Rental and Servicing of a single Automated Public Toilet with an option to extend for another Five-year term from the Termination date; CEQA Status - Exempt Under CEQA Guidelines Sections 15301 and 15302
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that Council approve and authorize the City Manager or their designee to execute an amended and restated agreement to extend contract no. C20175026A with JC Decaux San Francisco, LLC for an amount not to exceed $685,655 for five additional years, through January 24, 2029, with an option to extend for an additional five years, through January 24, 2034. This agreement also amends and restates the terms of an earlier agreement to provide rental and servicing of a single Automated Public Toilet.
BACKGROUND
To ensure that the public has access to clean and safe public restrooms in downtown areas with limited facilities, the City entered into a 20-year agreement with JC Decaux for rental and servicing of Automatic Public Toilets (APT) effective January 25, 1999 (referred to as the “Original Agreement”1). The original (1999) and the current agreement (2019) provided two APTs.
The original agreement expired on January 24, 2019, with the City and the Contractor agreeing to continue their contractual relationship by entering into a new five-year contract that expired 1 City Council, January 25, 1999; CMR-106-99, Item #7; , https://portal.laserfiche.com/Portal/DocView.aspx?id=61872&repo=r-704298fc&searchid=9e4041bc-58cb-4df1- 8f97-73b7ea53ed04
on January 24, 20242. Per this contract, the City can, in agreement with the Contractor, exercise the option to extend the agreement for an additional five years.
During the February 2021 Council meeting, Council directed staff to remove the APT located at Lot D (Hamilton at Waverley) and to assess alternative vendors before the contract’s expiration.
The Lot D APT was removed in August 2023. Staff’s findings regarding alternative vendors are included in the Analysis section of this staff report.
ANALYSIS
Staff recommends that Council extend the 2019 contract, in the form of an amended and restated rental agreement C20175026A (Attachment A), for a five-year term with JC Decaux.
This will allow JC Decaux to continue providing a self-cleaning and accessible public restroom. The City leases the unit, with maintenance and operational support included, making it the preferred and most cost-effective model. When researching alternatives, staff did not locate a comparable competitive product or service. As a result, an exemption to competitive solicitation pursuant to Palo Alto Municipal Code section 2.30.360(d) was approved by the City Manager.
Public Works and Purchasing staff in the Administrative Services Department explored alternative APT vendors, seeking to identify financially and operationally similar alternatives.
Staff checked Planet Bids, Open Gov, and the California Public Procurement Organization for self-cleaning toilet (APT) solicitation history and was unable to locate any. The solicitations that were the closest, but still not directly comparable alternatives, included chemical toilet rentals and services, also known as porta-potties. While conducting research for alternatives, City staff found that most APT vendors are located in Europe, New Zealand, and Canada. The vendors that staff contacted either did not respond, did not conduct business in the United States or were unable to offer leasing options that provided both daily repair and maintenance – services that are all available under the contract with the current vendor.
Two examples of service providers determined not to meet the City’s requirements are Exeloo and Throne Labs. Exeloo, a New Zealand based company with a sales office in San Luis Obispo, sells each unit in the $150,000-$165,000 range. This price is for the unit itself and excludes installation cost, monthly consumable material cost (toilet paper, floor disinfectant and hand soap), monthly telecommunication fee, and maintenance/repair. Though this unit is being sold as a self-cleaning automated toilet, the company representative recommended that City staff would need to maintain the unit to ensure cleanliness, thus increasing the overall cost for the City.
2 City Council, February 02, 2021; SR #11843,
https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/1/agendas-minutes-reports/reports/city-manager-reports- cmrs/year-archive/2021/id-11843-%5b79976%5d.pdf
Staff also reached out to Throne Labs, a Virginia based start-up, that provides portable restrooms that can be rented. These restrooms do not require connections to water, sewer, or electricity. Restrooms can be moved to different locations and are similar to conventional porta potties requiring refilling the fresh water supply and pumping out the waste. To access a Throne Labs restroom, a person needs to have a smartphone to download the Throne Labs application or obtain a Tap Card. The vendor uses smartphone and Tap Card data for information collection and tracking purposes. Once inside, the restroom automatically opens after 10 minutes. Units rely on solar power. Fixed costs include renting the unit ($4,000/month) and subscribing to 4-5 cleanings per day ($3,500/month). The fixed annual cost is $90,000 per unit. Unlike APTs, this restroom does not automatically clean itself after each use, and additional cleanings would increase the variable cost. The vendor requires a minimum quantity order of 15 units, resulting in an annual cost of $1,350,000. A Throne Labs representative was unable to confirm that Throne Labs restrooms meet Americans With Disabilities Act standards, or comply with the California Building Code.
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
The leasing cost of the single APT in the final year of the current contract is $298.70 per day.
For the five-year contract extension, the Contractor is increasing the current daily rate with an annual increase of nine percent for the first two years to account for increased maintenance and operational costs. This is the first time in 25 years that the contractor has increased costs for maintenance and operation above the Consumer Price Index (CPI). For the three years thereafter, the contract includes an annual cost escalation based on CPI, but limited to a five percent maximum. An APT also incurs small communication and telephone charges. Staff used 2023 annual phone costs, with a five percent maximum annual cost escalation for each subsequent year to calculate an estimated annual phone charge. The estimated annual contract total covers monthly rental costs, monthly telephone charges and annual escalation costs. See the table below for the breakdown of charges and estimated annual totals:
Due to the removal of one APT from the current contract, the cost of providing APT to the public will be significantly lower going forward. The 2019 five-year contract was in the amount of $1,053,924, while the proposed five-year extension is in the not-to-exceed amount of $685,655. The Public Works Department will have enough funding for the first year of the new Contract TermDaily Rate ($) Annual increase Days Leased Annual Lease Cost ($) Est. Annual Phone Cost ($) Est. Annual Total ($)Year 1 325.58 9.00% 366* 119,162.28 1,365.00 120,527.28Year 2 354.89 9.00% 365 129,534.85 1,487.85 131,022.70Year 3 372.63 5.00% 365 136,009.95 1,562.24 137,572.19Year 4 391.26 5.00% 365 142,809.90 1,640.35 144,450.25Year 5 410.82 5.00% 366* 150,360.12 1,722.37 152,082.49 * Denotes leap year Total Lease Only Cost ($) Total 5-year Cost ($)** Assumes maximum CPI increase 677,877.10 685,654.92 ∗∗****
contract, while funding for years two through five will be subject to appropriation of funds through the annual budget process.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Stakeholder engagement is not applicable to this contract extension to continue existing services.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This project is categorically exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under Sections 15301 and 15302 of the CEQA Guidelines as repair, maintenance and alteration of an existing facility and no further environmental review is necessary.
ATTACHMENT
Attachment A: Amended and Restated Rental Agreement C20175026A APPROVED BY:
Brad Eggleston, Director Public Works/City Engineer