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Staff Report
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Report To: General Government Committee
Date of Meeting: June 1, 2020 Report Number: OPD-002-20
Submitted By:
Reviewed By:
File Number:
Stephen Brake, Acting Director of Operations
Andrew C. Allison, CAO
Report Subject: Winter Control Services
Recommendations:
1. That Report OPD-002-20 be received;
Resolution#: GG-136-20
By-law Number:
2. That Council support the cancellation of Tender CL2020-13 for Winter Control
Services; and
3. That Council approve the issuance of a tender for the replacement of four end of
service life combination plow trucks that were previously requested in the 2019 and
2020 Capital Budget submissions.
Municipality of Clarington
Report OPD-002-20
Report Overview
Page 2
Report OPD-001-20 addressed the option of contracting out future snowplow routes. Based
on the direction of Council staff prepared the tender and have subsequently received bids for
the provision of the service. This report provides the results of Tender CL2020-13 for Winter
Control Services.
1 Background
1.1 At the regular meeting of January 20, 2020, Council approved Resolution C-022-20 that
directed staff to issue a tender for the contracting out of two snow plow routes to
commence on November 1, 2020.
1.2 The Resolution also directed staff to add additional routes to the snow plowing contract
each year as existing combination trucks reached the end of their service life and are
scheduled for replacement.
1.3 Given that two replacement combination snow plow trucks were included in the 2020
capital budget submission, the tender was developed with the requirement to provide four
combination trucks to plow winter routes.
1.4 Tender specifications for the contracted service were prepared by the Operations
Department and provided to the Purchasing Services Division. The scope of work
included the plowing of four winter control routes or approximately 100 kilometers of
Class 2-5 roadway. The tender also requested bids on a number of other supplementary
winter control service items for possible future use but they were not to be included in the
final bid summary.
1.5 On April 16, 2020, Request for Tender CL2020-13 was issued by the Purchasing
Services Division and advertised electronically on the Municipality's website. Notification
of the availability of the document was also placed on the Ontario Public Buyer's
Association website.
1.6 Seventeen companies downloaded the tender document.
2 Analysis
2.1 The tender closed on May 6, 2020.
2.2 Five submissions were received in response to the tender call. The bids were reviewed
and tabulated by the Purchasing Services Division (see Attachment 1). Four
Municipality of Clarington Page 3
Report OPD-002-20
submissions were deemed compliant and one was deemed non -complaint due to the
limited experience of the bidder for the completion of similar work in the past.
2.3 The twelve companies that downloaded the tender document but did not submit a bid
were contacted by the Purchasing Services Division to find out why they chose not to bid.
The responses were as follows:
• Two companies were manufacturer/suppliers
• Two companies prefer a different pricing structure (by the hour). The tender
provided payment by the km.
• Two companies cannot handle the tender due to current plans/workload
• One company cannot meet delivery/completion deadlines
• One company was not interested in the scope of work as it was outside their
focus
• One company was not interested in the supplementary sidewalk clearing portion
of the tender
• Three companies have not responded to the request for information
2.4 The results were forwarded by the Purchasing Services Division to the Operations
Department for review and consideration. The low, compliant bid is from Todd Brothers
Contracting Limited for $3,387,148.61 (Net HST Rebate).
2.5 The tender bid amount provides for the supply of four Combination Units (Sand/Salt/Plow
Trucks) and licensed experienced operators to carry out the salting and plowing work
required. Costs requested were based on an estimated annual number of 22 winter call -
outs per year over a nine-year contract term that would expire on March 31, 2029.
2.6 The annual cost per truck for the contracted service has been calculated to be
$94,087.46. It should be noted that this amount is considerably higher than the
estimated in-house annual snow plowing cost of $66,894.78 per truck that was previously
outlined on Table 1 of Operations Department Report OPD-001-20.
2.7 The resulting cost differential represents an increase of $27,192.68 per truck or
$108,770.72 per year for the four initial contracted routes.
2.8 The annual contracted cost of $94,087.46 per truck is also significantly higher than the
highest average operating cost per route of $74,285.71 for similar contracted services
Municipality of Clarington Page 4
Report OPD-002-20
that were received from Clarington's neighbouring municipalities. Details on this rate
were provided on Table 2 in Operations Department Report OPD-001-20.
2.9 After review and analysis of the bid by the Operations Department it is respectfully
recommended that the tender call for Winter Control Services be cancelled. While it is
not exactly clear why the submitted bids were considerably higher than what was
anticipated the reasoning could include Clarington's geographic location, present market
conditions or the general timing of the bid process.
3 Concurrence
3.1 This report has been reviewed by the Manager of Purchasing who concurs with the
recommendations.
4 Conclusion
4.1 The primary benefit of considering the contracting out of snow plow routes was to
achieve savings through the reduction of in-house costs related to the initial purchase of
vehicles, the servicing of equipment and the amount of staff overtime incurred. Prior to
tendering, it was envisioned that the service delivery model could potentially create good
public value through the optimization of the Operations Department fleet. Although the
costs are not sustainable at this time, staff will revisit the model again in another two to
three years to further refine service levels and as other combination snow plow trucks
come due for replacement.
4.2 The creation of other winter control efficiencies within the Operations Department is
currently underway. These efforts include a major review change to a hierarchal design
of snow plow routes, the introduction of shifts for staff and the implementation of a new
protocol to initiate winter control responses. If implemented, these changes can be
expected to greatly reduce overtime costs for the upcoming 2020/2021 winter control
season.
4.3 Currently staff are investigating a potential partnership with one of the local academic
institutions to work with our GIS software and undertake a snowplow route optimization.
By adding a digital element to our process, it is anticipated that at least some level of
efficiency will be identified. Other jurisdictions have undertaken similar projects which
have led to more effective use of staff time and reduced the overall equipment need.
Municipality of Clarington
Report OPD-002-20
Page 5
4.4 As a means to continue providing a satisfactory level of in-house winter control service, it
is respectfully recommended that staff be given the approval to issue a tender for the
replacement of four end of service life combination trucks that were previously requested
in the 2019 and 2020 capital budgets.
Staff Contact: Stephen Brake, Acting Director of Operations, 905-263-2291 extension 2903 or
sbrake clarington.net
Attachment:
Attachment 1 — Summary of Bid Results
Interested Parties:
There are no interested parties to be notified of Council's decision.
Municipality of Clarington
Attachment 1 to
Report OPD-002-20
Municipality of Clarington
Summary of Bid Results
Tender CL2020-13
Winter Control Services
Bidder
One -Year
Total Bid
(Net HST Rebate)
Potential Nine -Year
Total Bid
(Net HST Rebate)
Forest Ridge Landscaping Inc.
$330,007.68
$2,970,069.12
Todd Brothers
$376,349.85
$3,387,148.61
ROA Inc.
$527,644.28
$4,748,798.55
Miller Paving
$554,083.20
$4,986,748.80
Fairview Trucking Inc.
$558,979.55
$5,030,815.91