TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Talyn Mirzakhanian, City Manager
FROM:
Mark Leyman, Parks and Recreation Director
Onyx Jones, Interim Finance Director
Mario Hernandez, Purchasing Supervisor
Linda Robb, Management Analyst
SUBJECT:Title
Consideration of a Resolution to Approve an Agreement with M.S. Tours, Inc. DBA Main Street Tours for Charter Bus Services in an Amount up to $100,000 Per Year and Not-to-Exceed $300,000 over Three Years (Parks and Recreation Director Leyman).
ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 24-0140
Body
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RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt Resolution No. 24-0140 approving an agreement with M.S. Tours, Inc. DBA Main Street Tours for charter bus services in an amount up to $100,000 per year and not to exceed $300,000 over three years.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
The current funding for charter bus services in the Parks and Recreation budget is $73,725, sufficient for the rest of Fiscal Year (FY) 2025. If approved, future FY budgets will account for $100,000 annually. Expenditures for charter bus services under this contract are not-to-exceed $100,000 annually, allowing for growth in programming over the next three years, as well as unanticipated events.
BACKGROUND:
The City provides year-round bus excursions for the Older Adult Program, Recreation and Teen Center Camp field trips, beach shuttle service, and swim team field trips for the Aquatics program. Recreation, Teen Center, and Aquatics day-trips are typically five to ten hours in duration, with the majority of trips occurring during the summer camp season. Older Adult Program trips consist of day trips and occasional overnight trips with itineraries provided by the contractor. The Older Adult Program typically schedules one trip a month. Some trips require bus transportation only and other trips include meals, activity tickets and planned, guided activities. The City has provided bus excursion programs for over 30 years and averages approximately 45 trips annually.
Most recently, and for the period between 2018 and June 2024, the City contracted with Main Street Tours for these services. In July 2024, the City entered into a shorter-term agreement with Corporate Coach Charter & Tours, Inc. to provide summer bus trips and to bridge the gap until a longer-term agreement could be put in place. At that time, Corporate Coach Charter was chosen for the summer because they were the lowest hourly bidder and no preplanned trips organized by the vendor were necessary.
DISCUSSION:
On March 20, 2024, staff solicited Charter Bus Services Request for Proposals (RFP) #1321-24 through OpenGov, a public bid notification system. Five proposal responses were received on April 23, 2024. The scope of work consists of charter bus services for youth, older adult and aquatics program activities and excursions.
The evaluation criteria for this service contract and vendor selection are based on several factors including: pricing, ability to perform the requirements, itineraries, staffing, equipment, and references.
Proposal Results:
VENDOR PRICE SCORE
1. Main Street Tours $175/hour 34
2. Corporate Coach Charter $160/hour 21
3. Intermex $190/hour Disqualified
4. American Transportation $199/hour Not interviewed
5. Transportation Connection Inc. $334/hour Not interviewed
The three companies with the lowest hourly rate bids were invited to an interview with Purchasing and Parks and Recreation staff. Intermex did not attend the interview and was therefore disqualified. Although Corporate Coach Charter submitted the lowest hourly proposal, this vendor does not offer pre-planned itineraries fully organized by the vendor. Main Street Tours was the only company responding with a catalog of trips with preplanned itineraries, including transportation, attraction tickets, meals, and tour guides. Based on the criteria above, Main Street Tours demonstrated a clear understanding of the scope of work for each required service and was selected as the lowest responsible bidder. Staff recommends the approval of a three-year term agreement. The agreement also authorizes the City Manager to extend the term of the contract for two additional one-year periods.
PUBLIC OUTREACH:
This request for proposals was advertised on the City’s website as well as OpenGov, a public bid notification board.
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 approved the agreement as to form.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution No. 24-0140
2. Agreement - M.S. Tours, Inc. DBA Main Street Tours
3. Vendor Comparison