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Council approves shuttle contract with RMA Coach LLC, contingent on attorney review
Summary
After detailed questions about start date, fuel-surcharge language, insurance proofs and app reliability, the Friendship Heights council approved the shuttle-service contract with RMA Coach LLC, subject to manager/attorney/mayor discussions resolving open points.
The Friendship Heights Village Council voted Dec. 14 to approve a contract for shuttle services with RMA Coach LLC, contingent on the village manager, village attorney and mayor resolving several contractual details before the mayor signs.
Mayor Melanie White moved to approve the contract, describing it as the implementation of a proposal the council approved at a prior meeting. Council discussion focused on a set of issues circulated in advance by Councilman Roy Schafer, including: specifying a start date, clarifying fuel-surcharge language (regular gasoline versus diesel), requiring continuing proof of insurance rather than only an initial certificate, attaching the operational timetable/schedule to the contract, and how to handle penalties for extended outages of a mobile app the contractor will supply.
Village Manager Mansfield said the timetable and schedule will be appended as exhibits and that the firm had been given a provisional start date in discussion. Council members asked that counsel and staff ensure clarity on buyout/termination-for-convenience terms and the method for valuing a vehicle purchase if the village exercises that option.
Some council members urged caution about strict app-penalty language because mobile-app outages can be caused by multiple third parties (internet providers, WMATA platform issues). Councilman R urged consideration of a modest remedy for extended app outages because the app is a community-valued feature.
Councilman Schafer asked that his suggested edits be incorporated; village staff agreed to consult the village attorney and the contractor and to finalize contract language before the mayor signs. The council approved a motion to authorize final mayoral signature contingent on those discussions and on incorporating agreed edits.
Next steps: Village staff will confer with the attorney and contractor to resolve the enumerated points and then proceed to mayoral signature; council asked staff to circulate the revised contract language to members prior to execution.
Background: The contract implements a five-year shuttle-service arrangement previously approved as a proposal; the current action authorized execution of the service contract with attention to operational and legal clarifications.
