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Home My WebLink AboutItem #22 Police Tow Contract Renewal for Consideration and Discussion OCOPP tlarida AGENDA ITEM COVER SHEET Meeting Date: December 6, 2016 Item # 47 / Reviewed By: A� Contact Name: Deputy Chief Plasencia Department Director: C. ;�•„�Irf� Contact Number: 407-905-3160 City Manager: R. Fran. ' Subject: Police Tow Contract Renewal Consideration/Discussion Background Summary: The City of Ocoee entered into a towing contract on March 1, 2014, with three tow companies, which were selected to participate in the contract on a rotation basis. The three tow companies are Ace Towing, Car Store Towing, and Sly's Towing. The contracts are set to expire on 02/28/2017; however, each contains two one-year automatic extensions. Based on an assessment of the companies' performance and the contractual requirements, two of the companies have been operating in a satisfactory manner with minor issues. The third company, Ace Towing, has had significant delays in responding to requests and their facilities are further outside of the contractual requirements in comparison with the two other vendors. Attached is a tow contract status report offered for Commission consideration. Issue: Should the Honorable Mayor and Board of City Commissioners allow the contract with all three tow companies to automatically renew, renew select contracts only, or re-bid the contract? Recommendations Staff recommends the automatic renewal of two of the contracts, specifically Sly's Towing and Car Store Towing. Attachments: Tow contract report. Financial Impact: None Type of Item: (please mark with an "x Public Hearing For Clerk's Dept Use: Ordinance First Reading Consent Agenda Ordinance Second Reading Public Headng Resolution X Regular Agenda Commission Approval X Discussion&Direction Original Document/Contract Attached for Execution by City Clerk Original Document/Contract Held by Department for Execution Reviewed by City Attorney x N/A Reviewed by Finance Dept. N/A Reviewed by Q N/A t ocoee florida Mayor Rusty Johnson To: Chief Charles Brown Commissioners John Grogan From: Lieutenant Bill Wagne District 1 Rosemary Wilsen Date: October 17, 2016 Dishlct 2 District 3Firsrne` RE: Tow Contract Report Joel F.Keller District 4 CBy Manager The City of Ocoee utilizes a tow rotation and has contracts with three tow Robert D.Frank companies; Ace Towing, the Car Store Towing, and Sly's Towing. These contracts Police Chief were initiated on 03/01/2014 and expire on 02/28/2017. Each contract has two Charles J.Brown automatic one year contract extensions. Prior to the automatic extension of these contracts, the following information is offered for your consideration. According to the contract, tow companies are required to arrive on scene within 30 minutes of receiving the request for service. The importance of response times and meeting the contractual time limits cannot be understated as it directly impacts police service availability, officer and citizen safety. The longer a roadway is blocked with a crash or disabled vehicles, the greater the probability of secondary crashes occurring due to traffic backups and changes in traffic patterns. While roadways are blocked, officers are required to remain on scene and thus are unavailable to respond to other citizen calls for services or emergencies. For the most part, the tow companies were responsive to the request for service; however, on five occasions Ace Towing did not answer their telephones when the dispatch center was attempting to request a tow at the request of an officer. The following table details the performance of all three tow companies as it relates to the timeliness of their personnel responding to scenes over the last year. Company Tows Late arrives Late arrival % Ace Towing 160 34 21 Car Store 178 21 11 Sly's Towing 175 5 2 The tow contracts require each contracted tow company to maintain a secure storage facility, have detailed record keeping, and establishes equipment requirements. On November 16, 2016, 1 inspected each of the contracted tow City of Ocoee Police Department• Records Division • 646 Ocoee Commerce Parkway • Ocoee, Florida 34761 Phone: (407) 905-3162 • Fax: (407) 905-3153 •www.ocoee.org t I ocoee Florida company facilities and equipment to determine compliance with the contract. The following are the deficiencies noted. Mayor Rusty Johnson Ace Towing: Commissioners John Grogan At the time of inspection, the storage yard has overgrown grass and vehicles were District 1 P g Y gr g parked in a manner that did not allow complete walking access around all vehicles. Rosemary'Nilsen The security camera that covered the location where police requested towed cars District were stored was not operative. There was only one light on the property, which did Richard Firstner not provide adequate lighting to the storage yard. Mind Joel F.Keller The secure storage area did not have requisite ventilation. Most troubling was the District 4 condition of the secure storing facilities. The area was not free of obstructions or City Manager debris. A large metal storage box, several tires, a golf cart and a boat were located Robert D.Frank in the secure area. The presence of these items prevented the required two bays Police Chief from being available. These items blocked easy access to a vehicle currently stored Charles J.Brown with Ace for evidence processing. Most troubling was the vehicle stored in secure storage for a death case, had one of the car doors open. Ocoee Police Crime Scene Investigations Technician stated the doors were closed upon completion of her examination. Ace personnel could not, at the time of the inspection, provide video to show who opened and left open the door to the vehicle. Ace Towing did not have the any of the required eight vehicle skates necessary to move vehicles around in secure storage. The required fee schedule for towed vehicles was not prominently displayed as required. There was no notification log on hand and an inspection of the computer software to verify tow data validity could not be done on site. 1 was referred to an off-site location in Orlando. Ace's towing vehicle, which was inspected, lacked the required charged five pound fire extinguisher and only had about 10 of the 50 pounds of sand required on the truck. Car Store Towing: At the time of the inspection, the storage yard did not have adequate lighting, with only two lights on the five acre property. The storage yard also had some small depressions that were capable of holding water. The secure storage area was found to be in compliance with all of the contractual requirements. Car Store only had two of the eight required vehicles skates necessary to move vehicles around in secure storage. City of Ocoee Police Department• Records Division • 646 Ocoee Commerce Parkway• Ocoee, Florida 34761 Phone: (407) 905-3162 • Fax: (407) 905-3153•www.ocoee.org t J ocoee florida The required fee schedule for towed vehicles was displayed as required. There was a notification log on hand and an inspection of the computer software to verify tow Mayor data validity was accomplished on site. Rusty Johnson Commissioners Car Store's towing vehicle, which was also inspected, was missing a crow bar, John DlstsIctt 1 Grogan snatch block and an adequate flashlight. Rosemary Wllsen Sly's TDWin Districts g: Richard Firstner The storage yard and the secured storage area were found to be in compliance with District 3 all contractual requirements. Sly's Towing only had two of the eight required Joel F.Keller vehicles skates necessary to move vehicles around in secure storage. District 4 City Manager The required fee schedule for towed vehicles was not prominently displayed as Robert D.Frank required. A notification log was not present; however, Sly's Towing utilizes Police Chief computer software to track all of its tows, which contains the information. An Charles J.Brown inspection of the computer software to verify tow data validity was accomplished on site. Sly's towing vehicle was also inspected and found to be in full compliance. City of Ocoee Police Department• Records Division • 646 Ocoee Commerce Parkway • Ocoee, Florida 34761 Phone: (407) 905-3162 • Fax: (407) 905-3153 •www.ocoee.org