Gainesville City Commission hears GFR update, questions janitorial services contract, passes single-room occupancy ordinance changes on second reading

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At their June 20 meeting, the Gainesville City Commission heard an update from Gainesville Fire Rescue that showed increasing travel time to calls, questioned the length of a janitorial services contract because it could disadvantage minority and women contractors, awarded funding to an affordable housing project, and passed an ordinance that amended requirements for single-room occupancy residences.

GFR update

During a quarterly update from Gainesville Fire Rescue (GFR), Chief Joe Dixon listed some of the new challenges facing the department. He said that lithium battery fires are becoming “more prominent” and said travel time to respond to calls has gotten higher than the national standard for “multiple reasons… whether it’s the density… [or] because of arterial access, some of the cascading effects come potentially [from] Vision Zero and how we’re able to get there.” He said the lunchtime hour is a busy hour, with more people on the street.

Commissioner Bryan Eastman said a lot of the arterial roads had not been modified to align with Vision Zero standards, adding, “I guess University Avenue is the one that I can think of.”

Dixon replied that University Avenue “is one of our main arteries.”

Commissioner Reina Saco said, “It’s not so much the roads have changed or anything. It’s – we have more people, period.” She acknowledged that speed tables can delay emergency response and said, “I’m glad you’re being involved in the conversation” about redesigning roads.

Dixon said attrition of department personnel has been “relentless” and that the “department is getting younger because we’re losing a lot of seniority,” but a grant has allowed the department to target “underrepresented [local neighbors]” to replace personnel.

Contract for janitorial services

The Commission also took up an item that had been pulled from the consent agenda at Mayor Pro Tem Cynthia Chestnut’s request; Chestnut was chairing the meeting in Mayor Harvey Ward’s absence.

The item was a request for approval of a ranking of firms that responded to a Request for Proposal to award a five-year contract for RTS janitorial services for $822,156.96; the top-ranked firm was American Janitorial Inc.

Chestnut said she asked to pull the item for discussion because “last year I asked, and so did Commissioner Duncan-Walker… for information on minority and women contractors – and a janitorial contract is an area where people can enter pretty readily. But the concern was with the number of years that we are awarding contracts; if you give someone a contract for five years, it really is a deterrent, in my opinion… to other businesses within the community.” She asked Director of Equity and Inclusion Zeriah Folston whether his department was following these contracts carefully.

Folston responded, “Yes, ma’am, and I would recommend that we do pull it and discuss lowering the number from five to some appropriate number to allow others ample opportunities to compete in the future and in this opportunity.”

Saco pointed out that the last contract for RTS janitorial services was also five years, so “that’s the norm.”

City Manager Cynthia Curry said that the Federal Transit Agency allows contracts to be as long as five years, but it doesn’t need to be that long. She said, however, that the current contract expires in September, and if they changed the contract to a different term, they would have to start over with the procurement process. Saco said she worried “about the logistics of it” if they decided to start over with so little time before the current contract expires. She continued, “I think the time for that question was like six months ago.”

Curry said she had spoken to Folston about requiring “more oversight on the checklist – and what’s on the checklist and how it translates into more opportunities for small businesses, and so we’re going to be more in concert to follow these contracts from the Equity and Inclusion Office’s vantage point.”

Chestnut said, “Two years ago, I asked, Commissioner Duncan-Walker asked, that we look at not awarding five-year contracts because no one would ever be able to get in the process to bid. So it’s not like it’s new information to staff. That was our direction.”

Eastman pointed out that the top-ranked company had a “significant margin” of points above the second firm, and no local firms applied. He asked whether they could legally extend the current contract for a year, given the five-year maximum. Chestnut added, “And then I’d like to hear from staff why we awarded it for five years. Whose area is this?”

Curry said her office works “in conjunction with the Office of Equity and Inclusion on small business matters.” She said she had proposed the checklist, and the City Commission had endorsed adding the checklist to the procurement process. The checklist is managed by the Office of Equity and Inclusion. She said she had not micromanaged the process but “should have taken a closer look at this contract” because the Commission had previously expressed a desire to have shorter contracts.

Folston wasn’t sure whether the Commission could change the length of the contract, given that the RFP had been for a five-year contract, but “I think the general theme is… that you guys are going to give us direction to do that for all future opportunities.”

Chestnut: “You want us to give you direction again? We gave those directions two years ago.”

Chestnut responded, “You want us to give you direction again? We gave those directions two years ago.” Folston said he didn’t recall that, but City staff would go back and look at it.

Chestnut asked whether local preference points could be awarded for federal contracts, and the answer was that they could not.

Curry pointed out that longer contracts generally have better pricing and that her goal is to bring the best recommendation to the Commission. She suggested having a policy discussion about the issue at a General Policy Committee (GPC) meeting and said, “I’d like to really put some more thought in because we’re kind of spitballing right now.”

Chestnut said, “I think you see the concern. The concern is, we want to help our community and as many people in the community as possible to have access.” Eastman agreed that the City has a responsibility to support local small businesses, but they also have a responsibility to the taxpayer to get “the best deal that we possibly can with their tax money… And everything in policy is about balance, right?”

Motions

Commissioner Ed Book made a motion to approve the contract as presented “so we can do what it sounds like we need to do.” Eastman seconded the motion, and there was no public comment. The motion passed 6-0, with Ward absent.

Commissioner Desmon Duncan-Walker made a motion to “prepare this conversation for a future GPC that allows the City Manager and the Office of Equity and Inclusion and any other appropriate offices to come forward with recommendations on this issue.” That motion also passed 6-0.

Loan to affordable housing project

During the afternoon session, the Commission approved an 18-year loan with ConnectFree funds to the Hope @ Debra Heights affordable rental housing project for $460,000 with a 1% annual interest rate, 30-year amortization period, and balloon payment at loan termination. The project was chosen over three other applicants.

Saco made a motion to fund the project, and two Commissioners seconded the motion. The motion passed 6-0, with Ward absent.

Single-room occupancy

The Commission also passed an ordinance on second reading that amended requirements for single-room occupancy residences. The details of that ordinance can be found in our article about its first reading . The ordinance passed 6-0, with Ward absent.

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