CITY OF NORTH LAUDERDALE

PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT

 

TO:                 Mayor and City Commission

 

FROM:           Richard D. Sala, City Manager

 

BY:                  Michael Sargis, Parks and Recreation Director

 

DATE:            October 25, 2007

 

SUBJECT:     Report on Vending Machine “Request For Proposal” (RFP)

 

As reported at the July 17, 2007 Commission meeting, the Parks and Recreation Department released a Non-Drink Vending Snack Machine RFP 06-07-292, which was advertised from July 18th thru August 17th.  The purpose of the bid was to find a non-drink snack vendor who would be able to supply service as well as a decent commission to the City.  While the primary purpose of the RFP was a snack vendor, the vendor also had the opportunity to provide ATM Machines and Video Games.

 

To assure that as many vendors as possible had the opportunity to submit a bid, staff contacted every snack vending machine company listed in the phone book and invited them to submit a proposal.  The following are the vendors who received an RFP:

 

South Florida Vending                       Accurate Vending                  Family Vending

One Stop Vending                              Paramount Vending               American Vending

Krip Vending (current vendor)          Gold Coast Vending

Jeff’s Vending (took 3 packets)

 

While 10 bids were distributed only 1 bid (Gold Coast Vending) was returned within the time frame permitted in the RFP.

 

At the July 17 meeting, the Commission stressed that while a cash commission was important, they also wanted prices to remain as cost efficient as possible for the employees and public using the machines.  Based on the one bid that was submitted, in order for the City to receive a cash commission, the vendor would need to charge between $0.70 and $0.85 per item.  This was a cost increase of about $0.30 to $0.40 cents per item.

 

Since the RFP process didn’t solicit as many proposals as anticipated, staff has developed the following three (3) options and would like to seek Commission’s feedback and direction tonight to select one option.

 

1 – The City enters into an agreement with the only bidder that responded to the RFP and let the vendor charge the fees outlined above.

 

2 – City staff could solicit as many vendors as possible to try to get the best possible deal – however, this can be a very time consuming process. Also, since most vendors didn’t respond to the RFP, there are no guarantees that they would respond to a direct invitation.

 

3 – The City could purchase the vending machines and run the service ourselves.  Since the money collected from the other vending contracts (Ice Cream and Coca Cola) benefit the Parks and Recreation Department, this could be done by Recreation Staff.  The staff would already be working and no additional man hours will be needed to complete this task, therefore there is no additional costs associated with stocking the machines.  This process in turn would result in 100% of the profit coming to the City.  The City of Margate currently operates their own vending machines.

 

We look forward to Commission’s discussion and direction in selecting one of the options mentioned above so that we can move forward with this project.

 

Thank you.