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Committee readies RFP for snow removal; members press for vendor performance records and teeth in contracts
Summary
The committee said it would issue a request for proposals for school snow removal that will allow evaluation beyond lowest bid, and members urged including past performance documentation and stronger enforcement measures to avoid repeat problems.
New Haven Public Schools will issue an RFP for snow removal services that is intended to evaluate vendors on multiple criteria rather than simply awarding work to the lowest bidder, district staff told the Finance & Operations Committee.
The RFP is scheduled to post next Monday, staff said. The district will divide service zones and explore emergency-standby arrangements for vendor nonperformance; staff said the city’s Parks Department and Department of Public Works assisted with fall landscaping and start-of-school needs but are unlikely to have capacity to perform school snow removal concurrently with street work during major storms.
Committee members pressed for stronger documentation of past vendor performance to inform bidding and for contractual provisions that allow the district to bar chronically underperforming vendors. “We need to find a way and stop talking about it and stop these folks from even placing a bid,” said Miss Downer, citing past change orders, missed obligations, and equipment shortfalls. Members asked procurement and corporation counsel whether prior performance summaries and documented complaints presented to the board could be applied in procurement evaluations.
District staff said evaluation criteria are being developed and that procurement will confirm what is legally permissible in terms of excluding bidders or factoring past performance into scoring. The RFP process will include zone delineation and expectations about emergency contingency planning; staff said they will work with procurement to include mechanisms for performance evaluation and documentation.
