Finance Committee recommends rebid of fleet maintenance contract with $450,000 annual cap

The Finance Committee on May 27 recommended rebidding the municipality—s fleet maintenance contract and set an annual authorized not-to-exceed amount of $450,000, the committee chairman said.

The recommendation came after staff described the existing program, which the presenter said has been in place since 2012 and has been more cost-effective than restoring the city—s prior in-house mechanic shop. "This is the renewal recommendation for our fleet maintenance program. We've had this program in place since 2012," Mr. Tiddington, a staff member, told the committee.

Committee members were told the city has previously used three-year contracts with one-year renewals and that the contract—s final extension expires at the end of this year, requiring a rebid. "We had 3 year contracts with 5 year renewals ... the final extension is up at the end of this year, so it needs to be rebid," Mr. Tiddington said. He recommended rebidding with an annual authorized not-to-exceed amount of $450,000 and added that actual annual costs "can fluctuate depending on the year and depending on the age of the fleet, but we try to stay as consistent as possible."

Committee members asked how bidders are chosen and what the contract covers. Mr. Tiddington said staff typically solicits bids from three to five companies and usually receives one or two responses. He described the contracted firm as a management company that tracks expenses and preventive-maintenance schedules; department heads may still send vehicles to preferred, local providers for service. "If we have a place that we have a good arrangement with, such as Sirius down the street ... department heads do have the ability to send them to a preferred place," Mr. Tiddington said, adding that Sirius is not the overall management company in his example.

On specialty equipment, a committee member asked whether ambulances and fire rigs were included. Mr. Tiddington said the management firm would track repairs and schedules for specialty vehicles but acknowledged there are "very few places" that can service that equipment and that fire vehicles typically have designated service providers. Routine work covered by the program, he said, is "more in line with routine oil changes, brakes, mechanical parts," which make up the large majority of needs.

When asked how many vehicles the program would manage, Mr. Tiddington said he could provide an exact number later; he offered an approximate figure in the meeting, saying the fleet was "between a 200 maybe," and cited about 13 police cruisers and six or seven fire vehicles. The precise fleet count and a final bid schedule were not specified at the meeting.

After discussion, Mrs. Westfall moved to "move forward" with the rebid and Mr. Schilling seconded; the committee gave a unanimous recommendation to proceed. No emergency legislation was requested, and staff indicated they would advertise the rebid and return with additional details.

The committee—s recommendation is advisory and directs procurement staff to proceed with preparing the request for proposals; a formal contract award will require subsequent action by the governing body.