BOARD MEETING DATE: October 5, 2007
AGENDA NO. 5

PROPOSAL:

Execute Contract for Security Guard Services at Diamond Bar
Headquarters

SYNOPSIS:

The current contract for Diamond Bar headquarters’ security guard services expires October 31, 2007. On May 4, 2007, the Board approved a change to AQMD’s contracting policy that provided additional points in the proposal evaluation process as an incentive for janitorial, security guard, and landscape services contractors to provide affordable health insurance to their full-time employees. The RFP to solicit proposals from firms interested in providing security guard services for the next three-year period was re-released May 18, 2007. At the direction of the Administrative Committee, this action is to execute a contract with Contact Security Inc., through October 31, 2010, for an amount not to exceed $1,421,830. This contract will require an additional appropriation of $25,100 to the FY 2007-08 Budget; funding will be requested in successive fiscal years.

COMMITTEE:

Administrative, September 14, 2007, Recommended for Approval

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:

1. Authorize the Chairman to execute a three-year contract with Contact Security Inc., for security guard services at a three-year cost of $1,421,830.
2. Appropriate $25,100 from the Undesignated Fund Balance to District General – Professional and Special Services in the FY 2007-08 Budget to supplement the amount budgeted this fiscal year for this contract.

Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Executive Officer

Background

AQMD contracts with a security guard service to provide armed and unarmed security guards at the Diamond Bar headquarters. In anticipation of the expiration of the contract with Contact Security, Inc., an RFP to solicit proposals to provide guard services for the next three-year period was released on February 2, 2007. However, on May 4, 2007, the Board revised AQMD’s contracting policy to provide an incentive for janitorial, security guard, and landscape contractors to provide medical benefits for their employees. The RFP for security guard services was re -released on May 18, 2007, with the new 10-point incentive for firms that offered employees a specified level of medical insurance.

In addition to routine guard services, AQMD requires occasional enhanced services to provide adequate coverage for highly attended conferences, certain Board meetings, and other types of special events. While it is difficult to anticipate what these special-need costs will be, experience indicates they typically increase guard costs by about five percent. As a consequence, the costs listed in this Board letter include an added five percent beyond proposal costs submitted as a contingency amount to meet special-occasion needs.

Outreach

In accordance with AQMD’s Procurement Policy and Procedure, a public notice advertising the RFP and inviting bids was published in the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register, the San Bernardino Sun, and Riverside County Press Enterprise newspapers to leverage the most cost-effective method of outreach to the entire South Coast Basin.

Additionally, potential bidders may have been notified utilizing AQMD’s own electronic listing of certified minority vendors. Notice of the RFP has been mailed to the Black and Latino Legislative Caucuses and various minority chambers of commerce and business associations, and placed on the Internet at AQMD’s Web site (http://www.aqmd.gov/). Information was also available on AQMD’s bidder’s 24-hour telephone message line (909) 396-2724.

Proposal Evaluation

Ninety-one copies of the RFP were mailed out and 27 vendors attended the June 7, 2007, mandatory bidders’ conference. Eleven proposals were received when final bidding closed at 2:00 p.m., June 20, 2007. Eight proposals were complete and met RFP requirements.

The panel that evaluated proposals included a Security Department Senior Investigator for Ralphs Grocery Company and three AQMD employees—a Business Services Manager, a Building Maintenance Manager, and a Risk Manager. Of these four panel members, two are Caucasian and two are Hispanic; one is female and three are male. The panel evaluated the eight qualified and responsive proposals based on criteria specified in the RFP, which included cost, understanding of the requirements, contractor qualifications, and client references.

The current contractor, Contact Security Inc., submitted the only proposal, as one of four options the firm presented, that included medical insurance for the contractor’s full-time employees at the level specified by the Board for receiving additional points. However, since the contractor qualified for the maximum number of additional points permitted under AQMD’s Board-adopted policy—which is 15 points—as both a small business (10 points) and a local business (5 points), no added points could be awarded to the option that included provision of medical insurance for the contractor’s employees (shown below and on Attachment A as Contact Security Inc. - option 4).

Contact Security’s four options are:

1. Pay increases for guards of $0.50 per hour in both the second and third years of the contract (i.e., guards, whose last increase was September 2006, would have their first pay increase in October 2008).
2. Pay increases of 25¢ per hour midyear in the first year of the contract and 25¢ per hour increases every six months throughout the remainder of the contract.
3. Pay increases of 50¢ per hour in the second and third years of the contract (as in option 1) and one week of paid vacation.
4. Pay increases of 50¢ per hour in the second and third years of the contract (as in option 1 and 3) and medical insurance coverage that meets criteria specified in AQMD’s contracting policy for earning additional points in the evaluation process.

Attachment A summarizes scores of the qualified bids, including Contact Security’s four options. The Administrative Committee, on September 14, 2007, selected option four proposed by Contact Security, Inc., which includes medical insurance coverage for the firm’s full-time employees.

Resource Impacts

The three-year cost of the option selected by the Administrative Committee is $1,421,830: $300,463 for the remainder of FY 2007-08; $466,166 for FY 2008-09; $489,456 for FY 2009-10; and $165,745 for the portion of the contract that falls in FY 2010-11. An additional appropriation of $25,100 is needed for the current fiscal year. Since this will be a three-year contract, continuing funding will need to be included in the budgets for each of the remaining fiscal years of the contract.

Attachment
Security Guard Services Bid Evaluation Summary

ATTACHMENT A

SECURITY GUARD SERVICES
BID EVALUATION SUMMARY