DEPARTMENT: San Antonio Police Department
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Anthony Trevino, Interim Chief of Police
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City Wide
SUBJECT:
Approval of two (2) Emergency Municipal Wrecker Services Agreements with Alanis Wrecker Services and Mission Wrecker.
SUMMARY:
This item authorizes the City to enter into two (2) Emergency Wrecker Services Agreements with Alanis Wrecker Services and Mission Wrecker to support the current Municipal Wrecker Service contractors. The term of the contracts will commence on February 22, 2015 and expire on November 30, 2015, with an option to renew for up to three (3) additional months.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The San Antonio Police Department currently contracts with three (3) wrecker companies (Assured, Allied and Texas Towing) for the provision of non-consent wrecker services in the City of San Antonio. The companies perform in six (6) designated zones that are comprised of the City's Police Substation boundaries and geographically cover the entire city limits.
The Municipal Wrecker Service Agreements require contractors to remove from public streets, ways or other public property, vehicles which have been: 1) abandoned; 2) involved in collisions; 3) parked in violation of the law; 4) checked for evidence; and/or 5) belong to prisoners. Contracted tow companies must respond to a request for wrecker services within 30 minutes of being dispatched by the City. Over the last three years, the City has dispatched an average of 44,700 tows annually. In addition to non-consent towing, the tow companies also provide free towing services for all inoperable City vehicles (light, medium and heavy), including tire changes and battery jumps. The contractors provide an average of 5,013 free City tow services a year.
The initial term of the Municipal Wrecker Service Agreements was set to expire on November 30, 2014. However, City Council approved a one-year extension of the Agreements on June 19, 2014. Since the granting of the one-year extension, each contractors has faced challenges in meeting certain contractual requirements, including failing to sustain a monthly response time performance rating of 98%, and, in one case, failing to respond to dispatched calls for service. Additionally, some contractors have had legal and insurance issues that could impact towing services in the future. The Department continues to meet and work with each contractor to address these issues.
To ensure uninterrupted wrecker services throughout the City, City staff is recommending Emergency Wrecker Service Agreements with Alanis Wrecker Services and Mission Wrecker. These companies will provide supplemental towing services as needed to maintain the public safety and safety of the City's police officers.
Alanis and Mission were selected by the Department following careful consideration of potential contractors. These companies were selected because they possessed an adequate numbers of vehicles to perform wrecker services and an adequate number of drivers that are incident management (IM) qualified. They also had the capacity, capability and experience to provide immediate emergency back-up services to the City.
ISSUE:
Emergency Wrecker Services Agreements with Alanis Wrecker Services and Mission Wrecker are necessary to ensure uninterrupted towing services throughout the City and to ensure the continued safety of the public and police officers.
ALTERNATIVES:
The City could forego the approval of these two Emergency Wrecker Service Agreements. However, doing so may leave the Department without an adequate number of tow trucks or tow truck drivers to perform tow services throughout the City.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact to the City. Fees under the Emergency Wrecker Service Agreement will be the same as the fees that are currently paid to the City's tow contractors.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the approval of the Emergency Wrecker Services Agreements to ensure safe, efficient removal of vehicles from the City's streets and thoroughfares.