City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
Meeting Date: 12/12/11 Item Number: C-4
CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM: Approval of a Contract with IPS Group Inc., for the
Sole-Source Purchase of 1,000 Parking Meters.
Contact Person/Dept.: Gabe Garcia/PW;
Helen Kerstein/PW
Phone Number: (310) 253-5633;
(310) 253-5618
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [X] No []
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [] Attachments: []
Commission Action Required: Yes [] No [X] Date: _______________
Public Notification: (Email) Meetings and Agendas – City Council (12/08/11)
Department Approval:
Charles D. Herbertson (12/01/11)
City Attorney Approval:
Carol Schwab (by H. Baker) (12/07/11)
Chief Financial Officer Approval:
Jeff Muir (12/08/11)
City Manager Approval:
John M. Nachbar (12/08/11)
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Councilapprove a contract for the sole source
purchase of 1,000 parking meters from IPS Group Inc. (IPS) in an amount not to
exceed $550,000 plus on-going fees.
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION:
On September 26, 2011, the City Council considered a presentation by Public
Works Department (Department) staff related to the implementation of certain
recommendations made as part of the Walker Parking Study. One of the
recommendations considered is the update of roughly 166 Downtown parking
meters to new, credit card-accepting technology. On the same evening, the City
Council approved the installation of 352 new parking meters throughout the City.
After reviewing the characteristics of these locations, the Department suggested
installing single/double space meters (rather than multi-space meter stations) at
these new locations. Staff indicated that they anticipated returning by the end of the
year with a final recommendation on a vendor of the new technology, single/double
space credit card-accepting meters for the City Council’s consideration.
Staff’s recommendation results from the efforts since early 2011 to conduct trials of
new technology, single/double space credit card-accepting meters. In March, the
Department began testing IPS meters on Washington Boulevard, Culver Boulevard,
and Cardiff Avenue. Around the same time, the Department began pursuing a trial
of similar technology meters that were under development by another major parking
meter manufacturer, Duncan (the vendor for the City’s multi-space meters and
existing mechanical meters). The Department had hoped to be able to seamlessly
switch between the IPS and Duncan trials and to test the manufacturers against
each other “head-to-head.” However, when the IPS trial concluded in October, after City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
more than six months of discussions, the Duncan meters were still not yet available
for the City to trial.
Culver City Municipal Code Section 3.07.045 states that sole sourcing may be used
“when the requesting department determines, in writing, after conducting a good
faith review of the available sources, that there is only one source for the required
equipment, good, supply or service.” Staffbelieves that IPS is the only company that
can providenew technology, single/double spacecredit card-accepting meters at this
time. Therefore, this purchase qualifies for sole sourcing. In order to avoid further
delays to the purchasing of these new technology meters and given their satisfaction
with the meters that were tested, staff recommends moving forward with a sole
source purchase of IPS meters.
Staff anticipates purchasing 518 of these meters by the end of the year for
Downtown and for the new meter locations approved on September 26. An
additional 482 (for a total of 1,000) are anticipated to be purchased by the end of
2012 for use at other locations throughout the City that are identified based on
priority. Based on discussions with IPS, staff anticipates that this larger purchase
will enable the City to qualify for a negotiated discount if the purchase order is
opened by the end of the current year.
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
In the Fiscal Year 2011/2012 Capital Improvement Program, the City Council set
aside $286,000 for Downtown Parking meter technology upgrades (42100951) and
$450,000 for new parking meter installations (42100949) with additional funds
proposed in Fiscal Year 2012/2013. This funding should be more than sufficient to
purchase the 1,000 meters, which are approximately $500/meter plus tax (not
including poles and housings for new meter installations, which will be contracted
separately).
There are significant on-going costs associated with new technology meters. The
web-based management system and wireless gateway fees are roughly $5.75 per
meter per month in addition to credit card fees of $0.13/transaction. In the City’s
trial, the total cost per meter per month was approximately $10. Thus, once all
1,000 meters are installed, the on-going costs are anticipated to be roughly
$120,000/year. There are sufficient funds to pay for the ongoing fees for Fiscal Year
2011/2012 in accounts 42100951 and 42100949. However, recurring costs for
future years will have to be incorporated into the Department’s budget.
MOTION:
That the City Council:
City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
1) Approve a contract for the sole source purchase of 1,000 parking meters from
IPS Group Inc. (IPS) in an amount not to exceed $550,000 plus on-going
fees; and
2) Authorize the City Attorney to review/prepare the necessary documents; and
3) Authorize the City Manager to execute such documents on behalf of the City.