REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR TOWING SERVICES City of Lynwood Finance and Administration 11330 Bullis Road Lynwood, CA 90262 Due Date for Proposals: Before October 13, 2008
CITY OF LYNWOOD NOTICE REQUESTING PROPOSALS FOR TOWING SERVICES The City of Lynwood is requesting sealed proposals for Towing Services. All proposals must be received by Finance and Administration, 11330 Bullis Road, Lynwood, California, 90262, before October 13, 2008, no later than 5:00 p.m. Proposals received after said time will not be considered. To guard against premature opening, each proposal shall be submitted to Finance and Administration in a sealed envelope plainly marked with the proposal title, bidder name, and time and date of the proposal opening. BACKGROUND The City of Lynwood is located in southeast Los Angeles County, and is surrounded by the communities of South Gate, Downey, Paramount, Compton and unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. The population of Lynwood was estimated to be 73,935 as of January 2005 by the State Department of Finance. The City s location along the Century Freeway (I-105) and Long Beach Freeway (I-710) link the City to other parts of Los Angeles County and Southern California. Based on towing statistics, the City Parking Control Division authorizes 40 to 50 tows per month (i.e. one tow per day average) and the Los Angeles County Sheriff performs an average of 6-7 tows per day. PURPOSE The City of Lynwood is soliciting proposals from interested, highly qualified professional service providers to prepare and submit a comprehensive proposal for Towing Services. The City of Lynwood comprehensive towing services RFP is two-fold. First, it must strive to effectively and efficiently serve the citizens of Lynwood and second, to generate revenues that would allow the City to recover costs associated with providing towing services. The request for proposals does not obligate the City to award a contract or complete the project, and the City reserves the right to cancel the solicitation if it is considered to be in its best interest. GENERAL SCOPE OF SERVICE REQUIRED The company shall provide the City with comprehensive towing services. The requested service should include itemized cost and revenues. A public hearing participation program is anticipated. The company will be expected to work closely with City staff, the general public, and public officials for the duration of the process, and attend all meetings.
The following describes specific minimum components which should be included in the scope of work. The final scope of work is expected to be finalized with the selected towing service provider(s). The City is open to suggestions other than those listed in the proposal, which the company believes would be of value to producing a comprehensive Towing Service RFP that must be completed and adopted by the City Council. A. Prepare a towing services inventory list, including storage yard(s), towing vehicles, associated equipment, employees, operating costs and overhead. B. Provide a franchise fee bid figure for annual increments for a three year contract period. C. Provide revenue sharing bid of gross receipts at a minimum of twenty percent (20%). D. Provide optional revenue proposals and/or sources. E. Provide an itemized fee schedule of all associated towing fees. F. Describe minimum and maximum response times, days and hours of operation. The company should be able to respond to all tows within twenty (20) minutes and should provide towing services seven (7) days a week and twenty-four (24) hours per day. G. Describe your experience with other agencies and provide a list of references with contact person information. H. The towing service provider(s) shall provide correspondence and/or documentation as may be requested and shall attend staff and City Council meetings as required. I. Prepare and present an overall proposed budget with line items for revenues and expenditures. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS Each tow service provider who responds to this Request for Proposals is required to submit the information listed below. Please submit ten (10) copies of all requested materials. A. A cover letter introducing the company and the individual who will be the primary contact person. B. A detailed draft towing service proposal (as discussed above).
C. Describe the company s qualification with emphasis on experience with other municipalities and/or governmental agencies. D. Present logs and reports your company has for the last three (3) years. E. If this a joint bid, explain in detail the responsibilities of each company. F. Identify the principal personnel that will respond to staff and describe their responsibilities. Also, list recent contract on which the principal staff have worked and describe their responsibilities. G. Discuss the approach you use on providing towing services, including the following information: Vehicle Inventory Equipment Inventory Storage capabilities Response Times Compliance with applicable State Laws and documentation Sample of log sheets and reports H. Include a statement that the company has sufficient staff resources and capability to perform the work contained within your proposals within the specified time frames. I. Provide recent project references with names and telephone numbers of contact persons. J. Towing service providers will not be reimbursed for any cost associated with preparation of the Proposal. All proposals will be considered public information. K. Mandatory insurance requirements. The City requires Commercial Liability insurance of not less than $1,000,000, Professional Liability Insurance of not less than $1,000,000, surety bond in the amount of $50,000 and Workers Compensation Insurance as required by the State of California. The City reserves the right to verify that these insurance requirements have been completed prior to entering into any contractual agreement with company. Failure to comply could result in non-award of the contract. L. The signature of an authorized individual to bind the firm. The proposal must be a firm offer for a sixty-day period.
SELECTION PROCESS Each of the proposals received will be evaluated for compliance with the requirements stated in this RFP. Failure to meet these requirements will be cause for eliminating the Agency for further consideration. The City shall not be liable in any way for any cost incurred by any Offer or in the preparation of its proposal in response to this RFP, nor for obtaining any insurance Certificate and/or Surety Bond. The City reserves the right to reject any and all proposals, to waive any technicalities, informalities and irregularities, to accept or reject all part of this proposal, and to be the sole judge of the suitability of the proposals offered. Evaluation of the proposals will be made by a panel of appropriate management staff. In addition to evaluating written proposals, oral interviews may be requested. The eventual recommendation will be made by the City Manager, and the contract will be reviewed and approved by the City Council. Proposals will be evaluated generally on the following criteria, which is neither weighted nor prioritized: A. A high level of professional competence and a proven track record in providing towing services. B. Demonstrations of professional and technical expertise and experience of the principal personnel. C. Relative proximity/location of the dispatch and/or storage facilities to the City of Lynwood, as it is anticipated that a high level of direct interaction and communication with City staff and/or public officials will occur. D. If a joint venture, the track records of team member s experience working together. E. Experience working with the public, as well as citizen committees, in diplomatically crafting standards and/or responding to inquires. F. Quality of Proposal. The proposal should clearly demonstrate the company s understanding of the City s overall objectives in the comprehensive Towing Services. G. Ability to produce and maintain logs and reports. H. Ability to prioritize City requests. I. Ability to listen, be flexible, and follow and/or implement direction.
J. How the company interacts with the general public, city staff, and public officials. K. Revenues to the City associated with franchise fee, percentage of gross receipts, service fees, or other revenue sources. L. Review of references. M. Site visit and tour. PROPOSAL REVIEW AND AWARD SCHEDULE 1. RFP Published/Sent Out: September 11, 2008 2. RFP Published (Newspaper): September 11 & 18, 2008 3. Proposals Due: Before October 13, 2008 at 5:00 p.m. 4. Proposals Evaluated by Staff: October 16, 2008 5. Company Interviews with Staff: October 21, 2008 6. City Manager s Recommendation to Council: November 4, 2008 7. Anticipated Contract Execution Date: November 10, 2008 SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION The City reserves the right to reject any or all proposals. The City will not be liable for nor pay any costs incurred by responding Agencies relating to the preparation of proposals or the making of presentations. Question concerning this request for proposals should be in writing (email preferred) and directed to: Robert S. Torrez, Assistant City Manager Admin. & Comm. Svcs. City of Lynwood 11330 Bullis Road Lynwood, CA 90262 (310) 603-0220, ext.269 (310) 886-0457 fax apotts@lynwood.ca.us Proposals must be received by Finance and Administration before October 13, 2008, no later than 5:00 p.m. The proposing firm must submit one (1) original and nine (9) copies of its proposal in a sealed envelope to: City of Lynwood Finance and Administration 11330 Bullis Road Lynwood, CA 90262