City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the City Council approve an agreement with Duncan Parking
Technologies (Duncan) to purchase and install pay-by-space parking meters on
Main Street in Downtown Culver City and approval of a related budget amendment.
A budget amendment requires a four-fifths vote.
BACKGROUND:
Over the past several months, staff from the Public Works Department evaluated
new parking technologies used by other municipalities and determined that pay-by-
space parking meters are becoming more commonly used in cities nationwide and
internationally in lieu of traditional individual space coin operated parking meters.
At its October 13, 2008 meeting, the City Council authorized the Public Works
Department to solicit proposals from qualified firms to commence with a pilot
program by implementing pay-by-space parking meters on Main Street. As part of
the pilot program, twenty (20) existing single space meters will be replaced by two
pay-by-space meters (one meter on each side of the street). During the pilot
program staff will evaluate the effectiveness of pay-by-space parking meters based
on the following parameters:
• Convenience and flexibility with multiple payment options
Meeting Date: 02/09/09 Item Number: A-5
AGENDA ITEM: FOUR-FIFTHS VOTE: Approval of an Agreement with Duncan
Parking Technologies to Purchase and Install Pay-by-Space Parking Meters on
Main Street in Downtown Culver City and Approval of a Related Budget
Amendment.
Contact Person/Dept.:
Eric Mirzaian-Public Works
Phone Number:
(310) 253-6410
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [] No [X]
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [X] Attachments: []
Public Notification: Master E-Mail Notification List (02/04/09); Duncan Parking
Technologies; Digital Payment Technologies; Metric Parking, Inc.; MacKay Meters, Inc.;
IPS Group, Inc.; Parkeon, Inc.; Cale Parking Systems USA, Inc.; via letter on February
2, 2009; Downtown Business Association via email on February 2, 2009.
Department Approval:
Charles D. Herbertson (01/29/09)
City Attorney Approval:
Carol Schwab (by H. Baker) (02/03/09)
Chief Financial Officer Approval:
Jeff Muir (by N. Kimball) (02/04/09)
City Manager Approval:
City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
• Enhanced parking enforcement
• Reduced downtime and maintenance costs
• Reduced revenue loss
• Enhanced data collection
• Increase in parking turnover
• Promotion of better urban design with two pay stations rather than twenty
single space meters
DISCUSSION:
On November 14, 2008, a Request for Proposal (RFP) was released to qualified
firms that provide and install pay-by-space meters and was advertised on the City’s
website. On January 8, 2009, Staff received proposals from the following firms:
Duncan Parking Technologies; Digital Payment Technologies; Metric Parking, Inc.;
MacKay Meters, Inc.; IPS Group, Inc.; Parkeon, Inc.; Cale Parking Systems USA,
Inc. The proposals received by these firms are summarized below:
Meter Pricing Duncan Digital Metric MacKay IPS* Parkeon Cale****__
Meters (2) $12,130 $13,400 $14,000 $18,918 $15,496 $15,000
Installation $1,000 $1,500 $1,000 $2,990 $500
Training $3,720 $2,500 included included
Warranty included included included $1,176
Software $4,600 $13,400 |1010|st
Yr Annual Fee** $3,556 $1,800 $359 $1,155 $2,868 $1,320
Accessories *** $9,380 $16,103 $500____
TOTAL $34,386 $35,303 $28,759 $20,073 ---- $21,354 $18,496
* No cost information is included for IPS Group, Inc. due to the fact they did not meet
the requirements of the RFP by proposing accessories and options for single space
meters.
** This fee includes annual monitoring fees for credit card transactions and software
registration.
*** Accessories include handheld citation devices, technician ID cards and optional
features.
**** Cale Parking Systems USA, Inc. submitted their proposal one day after the
proposal due date.
Staff is requesting Council approve an agreement with Duncan Parking
Technologies at a not-to-exceed cost of $34,386 plus a 15% contingency. The
range in proposal amounts above is attributed to the various features and options
offered by the different vendors. Duncan’s cost includes $7,000 for the purchase of City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
in-ground parking sensors that will reset parking times to zero when vehicles leave a
parking space. This feature will increase parking turnover and not allow motorists to
piggyback on previously purchased time. Duncan’s method is unique in the sense
that it will reset time automatically through wireless communication once a vehicle
leaves a parking space with time left. The wireless technology eliminates the need
for paper receipts which in turn simplifies meter operation and reduces meter
maintenance and operating costs. Other companies proposed technology would
prevent meter feeding by the use of validation codes on printed receipts and not
through wireless communication. Thus, their meters do not automatically reset and
time remaining on the meter after the original parker vacates the spot could be
utilized unless there is an attempt to purchase additional time by a new parker. In
that case, the meter would reset to zero. An additional benefit of this sensor
technology is that it will increase parking turnover on the street and thus increase
parking availability for customers. It has been observed that employees of the
businesses on Main Street park their vehicles on the street and continuously feed
money into the existing meters. (This has also been a problem in other areas of the
City where parking meters are located.) The new technology will not allow vehicles
to park beyond the two hour limit, thus essentially eliminating meter feeding.
Staff’s original estimate for the pilot program was $22,000. This broad estimate was
based on average costs of various models of pay-by-space meters and did not
include specific costs such as warranty, annual monitoring fees and certain optional
features. One of the parameters that will be analyzed during the pilot program will
be the payback period of these meters (the length of time it will take to recover the
initial capital outlay through anticipated revenue increases and reduced maintenance
costs). After evaluation of all proposals received, Duncan’s proposal was found to
come closest to meeting a majority of the RFP requirements in terms of desired
capabilities and options including aesthetics of the meters, report generation,
maintenance notifications and sensor technology. Most importantly amongst these
factors, Duncan’s meters are smaller and more aesthetically pleasing for installation
in the public right-of-way than all but one other company (Digital) and their meters
are the only ones to offer wireless communication that automatically resets the
meter when a car vacates the parking space.
A substantial portion of this contract consists of services (installation, training,
technical support, warranty service) and, therefore, is not subject to formal bidding
requirements per Culver City Municipal Code Section 3.07.070.
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
Funding is available in the Parking Meter Equipment Capital Improvement Project
fund (42100376) in the amount of $34,639 to fund the pilot program. The City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
contingency amount of $5,158 will need to be funded from the Parking Meter
Reserve Fund, which has sufficient funding, and thus will require a budget
amendment.
A budget amendment requires a 4/5
th
vote
ATTACHMENTS:
None
MOTION:
That the City Council:
1. Approve an agreement with Duncan Parking Technologies to purchase and
install pay-by-space parking meters and all applicable accessories and
options on Main Street at a cost not to exceed $34,386; and,
2. Authorize the Public Works Director/City Engineer to negotiate change
orders, if necessary, not to exceed $5,158 (15% contingency) and to
authorize the necessary budget amendment (a budget amendment requires a
4/5
th
vote); and,
3. Authorize the City Attorney to review/prepare the necessary documents; and,
4. Authorize the City Manager to execute such documents on behalf of the City.