Posting Language
Title
Authorize execution of a contract for detectable, cast-iron warning plates with Mar-Bal, Inc., for a term of five years in an amount not to exceed $450,000.
[Note: This solicitation was reviewed for subcontracting opportunities in accordance with City Code Chapter 2-9B (Minority Owned and Women Owned Business Enterprise Procurement Program). For the goods required for this solicitation, there were no subcontracting opportunities; therefore, no subcontracting goals were established].
Body
Lead Department
Financial Services Department.
Client Department(s)
Transportation and Public Works Department.
Fiscal Note
Funding in the amount of $90,000 is available in the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Operating Budget of the Transportation and Public Works Department.
Funding for the remaining contract term is contingent upon available funding in future budgets.
Purchasing Language:
The Financial Services Department issued an Invitation for Bids (IFB) 6200 MLJ1017 for these goods. The solicitation was issued on August 3, 2023, and closed on September 21, 2023. Of the four offers received, the recommended contractor submitted the lowest responsive offer. A complete solicitation package, including a tabulation of the bids received, is available for viewing on the City’s Financial Services website, Austin Finance Online. This information is currently found at https://financeonline.austintexas.gov/afo/account_services/solicitation/solicitation_details.cfm?sid=138914.
For More Information:
Direct questions regarding this Recommendation for Council Action to the Financial Services Department - Central Procurement at: FSDCentralProcurementRCAs@austintexas.gov or 512-974-2500. Respondents to the solicitation and their Agents should direct all questions to the Authorized Contact Person identified in the solicitation.
Additional Backup Information:
This contract will provide the Transportation and Public Works Department, Street and Bridge Operations division with a supply of detectable warning plates. Detectable warning plates were first required in 1973 in response to the requirements of the Rehabilitation Act and then the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990. Detectable warning plates are built in or applied to walking surfaces or elements to warn of hazards on a circulation path.
The plates consist of small, truncated warning surfaces on hazardous vehicle ways, transit platform edges, and curb ramps. The cast iron detectable warning plates are permanently set into concrete during the construction of ADA ramps throughout the City.
This contract will replace a contract which expired on November 11, 2023. The requested authorization amounts for the contract were determined using departmental estimates and historical spending. The recommended contractor is not the previous provider of these goods.
If a contract is not secured, the City will not be able to comply with required ADA standards which provide visually impaired pedestrians with an alert to the presence of hazards in the line of travel.