TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Bruce Moe, City Manager
FROM:
Erick Lee, Public Works Director
Sean Roberts, Field Operations Manager
Nicky Petroff, Sr. Management Analyst
SUBJECT:Title
Consideration of Insourcing Pressure Washing and Other Related Services for Maintenance of the Downtown Manhattan Beach and the North Manhattan Beach Business Improvement Districts (Public Works Director Lee).
(Estimated Time: 30 Mins.)
A) ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 23-0152
B) APPROPRIATE FUNDS
C) APPROVE POSITIONS
Body
_________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt Resolution No. 23-0152 to approve positions consisting of one full-time supervisor and three full-time maintenance employees to perform pressure washing and other related services for maintenance of the Downtown Manhattan Beach and the North Manhattan Beach Business Improvement Districts and;
2. Appropriate $389,942 from various funds to insource pressure washing services for the remainder of Fiscal Year (FY) 2023-2024.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
In order to insource pressure washing services, the addition of one full-time supervisor and three full-time maintenance employees is required. Establishing the net new positions will cost approximately $385,614 annually. The prorated appropriation amount of the new positions for the remainder of this fiscal year is $224,942. Additionally, there will be a one-time cost of approximately $165,000 to purchase three new vehicles for this workgroup.
The Public Works Department’s annual operating budget is normally sufficient to fund the provision of street sweeping and pressure washing services. However, the costs associated with this line of the City’s business have increased significantly this fiscal year. On October 17, 2023, the City Council approved a new five year agreement with SCA of LA, LLC for street sweeping services only. That contract was for an annual total of approximately $713,000. In comparison, the City previously contracted with Athens Services for both street sweeping and pressure washing services and paid approximately $640,000 per year for both services combined. Because this aspect of the department’s remaining adopted FY 2023-2024 budget has been fully allocated to the street sweeping services, funds for the proposed insourcing are not available; thus, an appropriation of $389,942 is necessary to fund the prorated cost of the four new positions and purchase the vehicles in this fiscal year. Future years will be budgeted accordingly for the insourcing of pressure washing services.
The FY 2023-2024 costs will be allocated across various funds as follows:
|
General Fund |
$31,717 |
|
Street Lighting/Landscape Fund |
22,887 |
|
Storm Drain Fund |
88,612 |
|
Parking Fund |
157,086 |
|
County Lots Fund |
54,275 |
|
State Pier & Parking Lots Fund |
33,000 |
|
Building Maintenance & Operations Fund |
2,364 |
|
Total |
$389,942 |
Costs dedicated to the provision of porter and maintenance support services for the Downtown Business and Professional Association (DBPA) Farmer’s Market are estimated to total $20,000 per year. Once a reimbursement agreement is secured between the City and DBPA for these services and projected revenues are accounted for, the net annual costs for insourcing these services would be reduced from $385,614 to approximately $365,614.
BACKGROUND:
The City has historically contracted for pressure washing services for The Strand, parking lots, Downtown Streetscape, the North Manhattan Beach Business District, the Pier, Metlox Plaza, Manhattan Arts Center, City Hall, Police & Fire Facility, and related trash enclosures. Additional pressure washing services are also provided on an as-needed basis after the City’s special events. As referenced in this report, “pressure washing services” also refers to trash collection, graffiti removal, and porter service.
On September 1, 2018, the City awarded a five-year agreement to Athens Services for street sweeping and pressure washing services. The agreement also included the option for two two-year extensions on the condition that any extensions must be by mutual consent. On June 22, 2023, Athens advised the City that it would no longer provide services after the original agreement expired on August 31, 2023. Given the short notice provided, the City requested that Athens develop a proposal to extend status quo services for 90-120 days. Athens was willing to continue providing services specified under the original agreement for a period not to exceed three months, provided that the City approved significant rate increases. The total monthly cost for all services was proposed at $135,023, a 136% increase over the then-current pricing. (The proposed monthly costs were broken down by $56,338 for street sweeping and $78,685 for pressure washing). Over the proposed three month period, these costs would exceed $400,000.
In an effort to reduce costs, staff negotiated with Athens to provide street sweeping services only. Athens was agreeable to only providing street sweeping services. On August 1, 2023, the City Council approved Amendment No. 1 to the Athens agreement, extending the term of street sweeping services through November 30, 2023. The City also temporarily insourced pressure washing service with existing Public Works crews working overtime for a period of 90 days, starting on September 1, 2023. Existing crews were also supplemented with temporary part-time staff to assist with providing regular and routine Field Operations services.
DISCUSSION:
On July 13, 2023, staff solicited Street Sweeping and Pressure Washing services (RFP #1314-24) through OpenGov, a public bid notification system. Two proposal responses were received on August 21, 2023.
The responses included one proposal for street sweeping (from SCA of CA, LLC) and one proposal for pressure washing (J&R Mobile Pressure Washing LLC). The proposal for pressure washing was disqualified from the process due to its failure to submit a complete proposal. Therefore, On August 24, 2023, staff re-bid the work under Pressure Washing RFP #1316-24. Two proposal responses were received on September 14, 2023, from Los Angeles Pressure Washing Inc. and Socal Property Services.
Los Angeles Pressure Washing Inc. proposed annual costs of over $900,000. Socal Property Services also responded to the RFP but was disqualified from the process due to its failure to submit a complete proposal. However, the costs proposed by Socal Property Services were over $3,800,000 per year.
Based on the proposals received from Athens Services and Los Angeles Pressure Washing Inc., staff determined that the private sector market rate for pressure washing services is over $900,000 per year and that re-bidding this work again would likely result in proposals that would certainly exceed $500,000 per year. Therefore, in order to maximize the availability of City services and minimize unnecessary expenditures, staff developed a plan to insource pressure washing services on a long-term basis. This plan largely relates to establishing a new work group in Public Works consisting of one Maintenance Supervisor, two Maintenance Worker I/II’s, and one Maintenance Assistant. The establishment of this team would allow Public Works to insource pressure washing services at an annual cost of approximately $385,614. Additional upfront expenditures of approximately $165,000 would also be required to procure three trucks for this team’s utilization.
|
Position |
Annual Salary and Benefits Costs |
|
Maintenance Supervisor |
$144,875 |
|
Maintenance Worker I/II |
$88,930 |
|
Maintenance Worker I/II |
$88,930 |
|
Maintenance Assistant |
$62,879 |
|
Total |
$385,614 |
|
VehicleCosts |
|
|
F250 or Similar |
$60,000 |
|
F250 or Similar |
$60,000 |
|
Toyota Tacoma or Similar |
$45,000 |
|
Total |
$165,000 |
Besides providing traditional pressure washing and maintenance services previously provided by contract vendors, insourcing these services will also allow the City to enhance service levels and improve the cleanliness of the Business Districts throughout the entire day. Porter services would be provided from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM on weekdays, which is a significant extension of services (approximately eight hours more each day than contractors have provided), and will ensure that litter pickup, trash collection, and graffiti removal services are provided in these areas in a more intentional and consistent manner.
Moreover, the insourcing plan will allow the Public Works Department to further its ability to maintain City parks at a higher level with greater attention to detail. Besides overseeing pressure washing operations, the proposed Maintenance Supervisor will also become the Public Works Department’s designated supervisor over park maintenance. This will allow the department to take a more proactive approach to irrigation and landscape maintenance, trash/graffiti removal, and more timely repairs of play equipment, fencing, etc., in the parks.
Historically, Athens Services has provided porter and maintenance support services to the DBPA for its Farmer's Market events on Tuesdays. Like the City’s contract, Athens has advised the DBPA that it will no longer provide these services after November 30, 2023. The proposed insourcing staffing model provides services to the DBPA’s Farmer's Market with City staff resources on Tuesdays. The DBPA supports this arrangement and will work with the City on a separate agreement to reimburse the City for the services provided to the DBPA if City Council approves the in-house solution.
PUBLIC OUTREACH: Staff has contacted the DBPA and the North Manhattan Beach Business Improvement District to provide information about the proposed insourcing plan. Both groups are supportive of staff’s recommendation.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The City has reviewed the proposed activity for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that the activity is not a “Project” as defined under Section 15378 of the State CEQA Guidelines; therefore, pursuant to Section 15060(c)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines the activity is not subject to CEQA. Thus, no environmental review is necessary.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has reviewed this report and determined that no additional legal analysis is necessary.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution No. 23-0152
2. PowerPoint Presentation