Item #22 Police Tow Contract Renewal for Consideration and Discussion OCOPP
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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
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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
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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