Occupying a land area of approximately 6.6 square miles, the Town is home to approximately 30,000 residents and over 1,146 businesses. Within that area, the Town requires independent contractors to patrol the Town seeking out litter that accumulates in any Town-owned area. The qualified contractor must have the capability to manage its operations independently and require minimal interference from Town staff. The overall goal is to maintain all Town-owned property in a professional, clean, and neat appearance for the enjoyment of our residents.

The Town issued Invitation to Bid (“ITB”) 2018-12 for Litter Control Services for Rights-of-Way & Town Parks on December 15, 2017. The solicitation received four bids, however, the solicitation was ultimately canceled due to the lowest bids coming in significantly overbudget. Bidders were also confused about what was to be included in the bid line-items. As a result, the bid amounts were not a like-to-like comparison of the cost of services. The ITB was revised to add clarity to the bid line-items, and staff conducted a non-mandatory pre-bid conference to address any remaining confusion with the ITB.

This contract has been revised from its previous iteration, as ITB 2012-29, to provide for maximum flexibility and the addition of performance metrics designed to keep contractors on task with the goal of the contract. The contractor is expected to work with Town staff to develop routes and a work plan designed with the goal of minimizing litter and other associated waste from remaining in any park or right-of-way for a period of longer than 24 hours. The Town expects the Contractor to have the flexibility to address issues that may arise during performance of the work that requires immediate remedial action. Finally, the number of crews the Town requires is expected to rise and fall with the level of service the Town anticipates providing in a fiscal year.

As for performance metrics, Town staff has revised the contract to be more in line with other performance-based contracts such as the Grounds Maintenance Contracts or the Tree Trimming Contracts, which requireweekly reports, adherence to certain performance standards, performance penalties for faults in the work, and regularly conducted inspections.A pre-commencement contract expectationwalkthrough with all contractor staff performing services will be held by Town staff.This contract also features GPS tracking of vehicles that provides real-time data and historical data for the Town's review. The contractor is required to submit a digital file containing GPS historical data with each monthly invoice. The expectation is that with more robust accountability provisions, the contractor is disincentivized from failing to meet our service standards.

On June 20, 2018, the Town issued ITB 2018-12R for Litter Control Services for Rights-of-Way & Town Parks. The Scope of Work consists of furnishing all labor, materials, machinery, tools, means of transportation, supplies, equipment, and services necessary for the litter/debris pick-up and disposal from the Town's ROW and parks daily, between the hours of 8:00AM through 4:00PM. The Scope also includes emergency on-call service on an as-needed basis and litter/debris handling for special events.

The ITB was posted to DemandStar, where it was advertised to 309 vendors, Public Purchase, where it was advertised to 91 vendors, and posted in the Government Center Lobby.

To qualify for award, prospective Proposers were required to:
1. Possess a minimum of three (3) years of experience performing litter control services; and
2. Must provide one (1) verifiable client reference demonstrating completion of at least one (1) contract for services of similar scope and value performed within the last three (3) years.

On the date of the bid opening, July 6, 2018, we received three (3) bids from the following Bidders:
1. Kita Corp. - $70,000/year
2. SFM - $76,459.60/year
3. Superior Landscaping & Lawn Service, Inc. (“Superior”) - $154,854.00/year

Included in the bid amount is the cost of one (1) one-man crew, special events pick-up and disposal, and emergency litter pick-up and disposal estimated over the course of a year. The actual contract amount will depend on the Town's budget and our litter needs for each of these services.

Procurement performed a due diligence review of the proposals for responsiveness and found that both Kita Corp. and SFM met all the minimum requirements within the solicitation. Both submittals were complete and included all the necessary supporting documentation. Furthermore, the submittals met the minimum qualifications and Procurement did not find any significant issues had come up in their past performance that would indicate Kita Corp. or SFM was incapable of performing the work. With Kita Corp.'s bid being complete and no issues with their qualifications or past performance, Procurement concluded that Kita Corp. was the lowest responsive and responsible bidder for this solicitation.

Kita Corp. is a small business with a total of five (5) employees. The company has successfully completed another litter control contract for the City of Fort Lauderdale in which the company was responsible for the removal of litter in all city-owned parking lots. However, due to the small size of the company and the slight difference in price, Procurement recommended awarding a contract to SFM as well to serve as a secondary contractor in the event Kita Corp. is non-responsive or otherwise unable to perform under the contract.