12-Specifications.pdf

SPECIFICATIONS

SCOPE

Harris County is soliciting offers from qualified vendors for a term contract to maintain, manage and operate various Harris County parking facilities, both lots and garages, for one (1) year beginning approximately February 1, 2026.

MANDATORY PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE AND SITE VISIT

A MANDATORY pre-proposal conference will be held September 16, 2025, 10:00 a.m. CST, local time Houston, TX at the Sheila Jackson Lee Administration Building, 1111 Fannin, Houston, TX 77002. Vendors are to assemble at the front lobby. A MANDATORY SITE VISIT will immediately follow the pre-proposal conference. Attendance is mandatory so that all vendors have a better understanding of the requirements of this RFP. The pre-proposal conference and site visit will not be rescheduled due to tardiness or any other issues that may arise, no exceptions. Persons with disabilities requiring special accommodations should contact the Purchasing Office at (713) 274-4400 at least two (2) days prior to the pre-proposal conference.

It is the responsibility of each vendor to examine the entire Request for Proposal (RFP) package, seek clarification in writing, and review their offer for accuracy before submitting. Questions relating to this RFP must be submitted in writing through Bonfire. The deadline for submission of questions relating to this RFP is listed on the Event schedule within Bonfire of this project. All questions submitted in writing prior to the deadline will be compiled and answered in writing. A copy of all questions and answers will be released as a Public Notice within Bonfire to all firms. The County will not be bound be any information conveyed verbally.

RENEWAL OPTIONS

Harris County may consider four (4) one-year renewal options, renewable one (1) year at a time, based upon the same terms, conditions and pricing as the original year. Renewal is subject to approval by the Harris County Commissioners Court. Once renewal options are exhausted, the contract must be rebid. Harris County reserves the right to rebid at any time as is in its best interest and is not automatically bound to renew.

SPECIFICATIONS

The vendor shall provide the following parking management and facilities services including but not limited to: (a) maintenance, (b) revenue collection and control, (c) parking enforcement and (d) staffing. The County owns eight (8) parking facilities in the scope of this RFP: six (6) garages and six (6) lots. These garages and lots have various levels of access for County employees and/or the public as identified in attachment titled Parking Facility Locations. County employees or their departments pay a monthly fee for non-transferrable parking privileges, on an assigned and non-assigned basis using parking permits or electronically controlled access cards, depending on the facility.

The parking facilities shall be operated and maintained in a manner consistent with that of a first-class project. For purposes of these specifications, a first-class project is one which upholds quality standards expected of premium parking garages and lots in a major metropolitan area.

The vendor shall have experience managing at least two (2) parking facilities with a minimum of one-hundred (100) parking spaces each utilizing a combination of pay on exit, pay-on-foot, and pay-by-phone

Parking Facility Management Services for Harris County technologies. The vendor shall have experience incorporating event parking into a parking facility that is predominantly contract based with a minimum of two-hundred (200) parking spaces per event, for a minimum of two (2) years within the last five (5) years.

Harris County’s parking facilities contain approximately 5,228 parking spaces. The following is a brief description of the facilities:

1. Congress Garage, 1401 Congress Street, a twelve (12) level parking garage that serves contract parkers, jurors, transient parkers, and special event parking. The garage contains approximately 1,842 parking spaces with entry/exit access from La Branch Street and Austin Street. Special event parking shall be allowed after 4:00pm CST on workdays and all day on Saturdays and Sundays.

2. Baker Street Garage, 1200 Baker Street, a below-grade, single-level parking garage that serves contract parkers. The garage contains approximately 188 parking spaces with entry/exit access from Baker Street.

3. Baker Street Lot, 1300 Baker Street, a surface parking lot that serves contract parkers. The lot contains approximately 365 parking spaces with entry/exit access from Baker Street.

4. Triangle Lot, 800 N. San Jacinto Street, a surface parking lot that serves transient parkers. The lot contains approximately 561 parking spaces with entry/exit access from Allen Street.

5. Murworth Lot, 2500 Murworth Drive, a surface parking lot that serves employees during their regular working hours, and special event parking as indicated. The lot contains approximately 564 parking spaces with entry/exit access from Murworth Drive and Lantern Point Street. The vendor shall only be responsible for special events during designated days, evenings and weekends.

6. Annex 44 Parking Lot, 1310 Prairie Street, a surface parking lot that serves employees during regular working hour and special events parking as indicated. The lot contains approximately 45 parking spaces with entry/exit access from Austin Street.

7. Congress Plaza Garage, 1019 Congress Street, a fourteen (14) level parking garage that serves contract parkers. The garage contains approximately 668 parking spaces with entry/exit access from Congress Street.

8. 1111 Main Garage, 1111 Main Street, a six (6) level parking garage, including a basement level and a roof level, that serves contract parkers, guests of County departments, and special event parking. The garage contains approximately 490 parking spaces with entry/exit access from Fannin Street. Special event parking shall be allowed after 4:00pm on workdays and all day on Saturdays and Sundays.

9. Old VMC Lot, 426 Austin, a surface parking lot that serves employees during regular working hours and special events parking as indicated. The lot contains approximately twenty-four (24) parking spaces with entry/exit access from Austin St and Preston St.

10. Old VMC Garage, 426 Austin, a parking garage that serves employees. The garage contains approximately twenty-five (25) parking spaces with entry/exit access from Austin St and Prairie St.

11. 1111 Fannin Garage, 1111 Fannin, a parking garage that serves employees. The garage contains approximately 436 parking spaces with entry/exit access from Dallas St and San Jacinto St.

12. 1115 Congress Lot, 1115 Congress, a surface parking lot that serves employees during regular working hours. The lot contains approximately twenty-two (22) parking spaces with entry/exit access Congress St.

I. GENERAL INFORMATION

A. Utilities - The vendor shall be responsible for the costs of all utilities associated with the operation of the parking facilities. The County shall reimburse the vendor for the costs of this service upon presentation and approval of substantiating documentation.

B. Traffic Control - At the facilities and during the days and times, identified in attachment titled Law Enforcement Officers, the vendor shall provide traffic control officers to safely and efficiently facilitate traffic flow between city streets and County parking facilities.

C. Supplies – The vendor shall be responsible for all miscellaneous supplies necessary for the day-to-day operations of the parking facilities.

D. Subscriptions – The vendor shall be responsible for maintaining subscription services for operating the parking management software/equipment. The county shall reimburse the vendor for the costs of this service upon presentation and approval of substantiating documentation.

E. Routine Maintenance - The vendor shall maintain the parking facilities in good order, condition and repair consistent with that of a first-class project. Should the parking facilities not be properly maintained according to the standards acceptable to the County and that of a platinum project, the County reserves the right, after reasonable notice and opportunity to cure, to clean the parking facilities and/or perform repairs or necessary maintenance activities. The County will deduct the cost of these services from the monthly compensation due to the vendor.

1. Where regular pedestrian ingress and egress to a garage is through an elevator core with landings on each floor of the garage; the current contract holder of the County’s elevator maintenance contract shall be responsible for the cost of maintenance and repair of the elevators and elevator cabs to include floors, walls, handrails, ceiling, lighting, lobby doorsills and openings.

2. The vendor shall be required to remove graffiti from the parking facilities and paint and touch up garage surfaces and fixtures, as necessary. Vendor shall utilize the most recent technology to adequately remove graffiti and paint over damaged areas to ensure that the work is commensurate with that of a platinum project. The County will reimburse the vendor for the costs of this service upon presentation and approval of substantiating documentation.

3. Unless directed in writing by the parking coordinator, which will be designated by Harris County, the vendor shall be responsible for maintaining all equipment associated with parking operations. This includes, but is not limited to, payment machines, entry/exit gate arms, Automatic Vehicle Identification (AVI)/EZ Tag readers, etc. This equipment is owned by Harris County and the approved maintenance of County- owned equipment is a reimbursable expense.

F. Parking Enforcement/Security Services - The vendor shall provide parking enforcement services at the County owned parking facilities listed herein. The vendor shall not be responsible for providing regular security services; however, the vendor shall promptly notify the designated Harris County representative whenever problems or unusual circumstances occur regarding security, security equipment or security issues within the parking facilities.

G. Cleaning - The vendor shall remove all papers, debris, refuse and surface waters and thoroughly sweep paved areas daily. The stairwells and elevators shall be swept and cleaned daily. On an annual basis, garage floors shall be pressure-washed. No garbage or trash shall be permitted to accumulate, except in covered containers of a type approved by the County. The vendor shall provide for regular trash collection services to maintain a clean and safe condition within the parking facilities. Trash receptacles shall be cleaned, as needed. The vendor shall remove all oil and grease deposits from the parking surface on an as-needed basis.

H. Power Sweeping - Periodic power sweeping shall be performed consistent with that of a platinum project. The vendor shall submit a schedule for this maintenance.

I. Steam Cleaning - Steam cleaning shall be performed as necessary. Steam Cleaning shall include all flooring, vertical, overhead surfaces Steam Cleaning. Steam Cleaning shall include all flooring, vertical, overhead surfaces and stairwells. The vendor shall submit a schedule for this maintenance.

J. Entrances - The vendor shall maintain, repair, and replace parking area entrance, exit and directional signs, markers and lights required for safety and consistent with that of a first-class project. The vendor shall periodically paint the curbs within the parking facilities to maintain a clean appearance as well as submit a schedule for this maintenance. Pressure washing entry/exit ways and stairwells as needed.

K. Signage/Lighting - The vendor shall clean, maintain, re-lamp and repair all existing signs in the parking facility, including parking rate signs, directional and other signage related to parking functions. The vendor shall be responsible for the directional signage pertaining to the elevator core, pedestrian only landing areas and elevator lobbies. The vendor may be required by the County to provide additional signage in the parking facilities from time to time, costs subject to the approval of the County before installation. The County shall reimburse the vendor for the costs of such additional signage upon presentation and approval of substantiating documentation.

1. The vendor shall clean lighting fixtures and re-lamp them as needed. The parking facilities shall be kept lighted for security purposes seven (7) days each week and uniformly distributed throughout the parking facility. Light bulbs shall be replaced no later than twenty-four (24) hours from the time of failure. The repair of non-ballasts and fixtures shall be the responsibility of the vendor and must be reported to the designated Harris County representative within one (1) working day of their discovery. The vendor shall submit a schedule for this maintenance.

L. Landscape Maintenance/ Pest Control - The vendor shall keep the parking facilities clear of overgrown bushes, trees, and other plants and maintain any decorative plantings at each location. The vendor shall contract with a qualified pest control company to perform regular and on-call pest control services.

M. Other Services - The County reserves the right to request the vendor to perform other related services, the initial cost of which shall be assumed by the vendor. The cost for these services shall be reimbursed to the vendor upon presentation of substantiating invoices and provided the vendor obtained prior written approval from the County to perform these services at an agreed-upon price. Such services may include but are not limited to the purchase and upgrade of equipment and supplies; the installation, repair and maintenance of materials and equipment;

and the performance of parking services for special events and other activities in connection to the operation of lots and facilities.

N. Rights Reserved - The County reserves the right to perform services in special circumstances, the initial cost of which shall be assumed by the vendor. The cost for these services shall be reimbursed to the vendor upon presentation of substantiating invoices, provided to the vendor from the County to perform these services at an agreed-upon price. Such services may include, but are not limited to, the operation of the parking facilities.

II. VENDOR QUALIFICATIONS

A. Staffing Requirements - The vendor shall provide a staffing schedule to the designated County representative which clearly defines the number of proposed employees by facility, and corresponding work schedules at the commencement of the contract. The vendor shall ensure that all new and or existing employees undergo a pre- employment background check prior to commencement of employment and must be fluent in English. Parking staff are prohibited from performing duties while under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs or, if performance is impaired, while under the influence of lawfully prescribed or over-the-counter drugs. If in the opinion of a County Official, parking staff is suspected of being impaired due to the influence of illegal drugs or lawfully prescribed or over-the-counter drugs or alcohol, they may be rejected at any time during the shift. Parking staff may be subject to random drug and alcohol testing in accordance with the County's regulations.

B. Parking Manager - The vendor shall employ an on-site parking manager to oversee the parking operations of the parking facilities and work cooperatively with County staff. This manager shall maintain a highly visible presence within the parking facilities, including weekends and periods with high usage, and shall be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the parking operations, including but not limited to, daily revenue collection and deposits, supervising, planning, and scheduling all aspects of employee duties, hiring and dismissing of employees, evaluating employee performance, counseling and disciplining employees, investigating and responding to customer complaints, resolving conflicts, and overseeing the operation of the revenue control equipment. The parking manager shall oversee the removal of cash from the parking facilities and ensure that the parking facilities are sufficiently staffed at all times. The parking manager shall be expected to recommend operational enhancements to County staff and to provide revenue forecasts for any proposed parking rate adjustments. The parking manager shall provide the designated Harris County representative staff with updated spreadsheets and usage reports whenever rates, locations or space counts are adjusted.

1. The parking manager shall perform a written performance evaluation of each staff member’s performance at least once during a twelve (12) month period and other required supervisory duties. Said evaluation shall be available for inspection by County staff upon request. A copy of the employee evaluation form shall be submitted with the vendor’s proposal.

2. The parking manager shall be responsible for conducting routine inspections of the parking facilities daily. The daily lot inspections should be documented in the form of a checklist or log and must be available to County staff upon request. These inspections shall include, but not be limited to, lot maintenance, cleanliness, safety hazards, public safety, proper functioning of revenue control equipment, attendant performance, and cash and accounting audits. It is expected that the parking manager shall ensure that all problems within the parking facilities are promptly addressed and corrected.

3. Should the vendor find it necessary or desirable to replace the parking manager following the commencement of the contract, the County shall participate in and have the right to approve or reject the selection of a replacement parking manager. A copy of the daily inspection checklist shall be submitted with the vendor’s proposal.

C. Assistant Parking Manager (or similar function) - The assistant parking manager shall be responsible for supporting the parking manager in all aspects of the parking facilities operations, including but not limited to, overseeing the administration of the parking office, developing procedures, processing paperwork, planning work schedules, reviewing and approving documents, monitoring employee performance and counseling employees, coordinating employee work activities, counting money, investigating revenue discrepancies, auditing employee and customer use of monthly key cards, ensuring that revenues collected are accurately recorded and properly secured, coordinating bank deposits, reviewing and preparing parking revenue reports, conducting parking facility inspections, responding to customer concerns and complaints, and ensuring that the parking facilities are sufficiently staffed at all times.

D. Cashiers/ Customer Service Representative – The cashiers shall collect parking fees in the parking facilities. The responsibilities shall include, but not be limited to, issuing parking tickets, collecting parking fees, completing revenue and shift forms, providing information and directions to the customers, daily sweeping of all parking facilities, including the entrance and exit ramps, picking up trash and debris, sweeping and the garage stairwells, cleaning and maintaining the area immediately surrounding the garage elevator and escalator core, cleaning the parking office, emptying waste baskets, cleaning and emptying ashtrays, touch-up painting, directing traffic and placing and removing directional sign stands, parking barricades and traffic cones. This position will involve heavy interaction with the public.

E. Parking Maintenance Attendants - The parking maintenance attendants shall clean and maintain the parking facilities and parking offices on a daily basis. The responsibilities shall include, but not be limited to, daily sweeping of all parking facilities, including the entrance and exit ramps, picking up trash and debris, sweeping and mopping the garage stairwells, cleaning and maintaining the area immediately surrounding the garage elevator core, cleaning the parking office, emptying waste baskets, cleaning and emptying ashtrays, touch-up painting, directing traffic and placing and removing directional sign stands, parking barricades and traffic cones. This position may involve interaction with the public in directing the public and answering questions. These duties may be performed by cashiers.

F. Parking Enforcement Attendants - The parking enforcement attendants shall monitor the parking system and enforce parking fee collection, ensuring that vehicles parked in the complex have made the appropriate payment for services and issuing violations to vehicles that have not paid. The responsibilities shall include, but not be limited to monitoring parking facilities, verifying parking fees are paid, issuing parking citations, completing reports to include; opens space counts, utilization reports, allocation reports, license plate records and badge audits operating vehicle, reporting maintenance and other related duties.

G. Traffic Control Officers - Traffic control officers shall be licensed Law Enforcement Officers.

These traffic control officers facilitate the efficient flow of traffic between city streets and the County’s parking facilities.

H. Employee Training and Development - The vendor shall provide a formal training program for all new hires to develop their knowledge, skills and abilities for achieving quality work performance. The program should involve classroom and field instruction and encourage employee participation. The training program shall include, but not be limited to, cashier training, reporting procedures, lot maintenance and safety inspections, ticket transactions, professional conduct, customer service and effective communication techniques, dispute handling, emergency procedures, and safety and security measures. The vendor shall provide refresher training courses to existing employees every six months. A copy of the training program manual must be submitted with the proposal.

I. Employee Quality of Service - The vendor shall maintain the highest degree and standards of courtesy on the part of its employees. All employees shall perform assigned duties in an orderly and professional manner. Employees shall always be respectful of others and not engage in profanity or unsafe or illegal behavior. Upon receipt of a written or oral request from the County, the vendor shall remove any employee deemed by the County to be unfit to perform assigned tasks. No such removed employee shall be employed at any other site operated or controlled by the County without written authorization from the County. The vendor shall replace any removed employee within thirty (30) minutes of notification, if recommended by the County.

J. Uniforms and Appearance - The vendor shall furnish all employees with uniforms acceptable to the County consisting of a shirt, and full-length pants and free of rips, holes or tears.

Employees must be attired in clean uniforms bearing the vendor’s company name and be well-groomed at all times in their natural hair color, with shirt tails tucked in and pants belted above the waist line while on duty. Closed toe shoes or athletic shoes shall be worn at all times (sandals and open-toed shoes shall not be permitted). Hats are optional, but no hat shall be worn with any promotion, logo, or advertisement. Hats shall be clean and free of rips, holes or tears. Employees shall wear name tags to clearly identify themselves to the public. Each employee shall be provided a Harris County contractor’s badge which must be worn at all times during the course of employees’ workday while performing duties on Harris County property. Harris County will furnish the initial badge at no cost, however, a cost of twenty dollars $20 for a replacement badge will be at vendor’s expense.

III. REVENUE COLLECTION AND CONTROL

The monthly compensation shall be a fixed monthly management fee for the operation of the parking facilities. Additionally, the vendor shall be reimbursed for budgeted operating expenses.

A. Method of Compensation - The vendor shall be paid a fixed monthly management fee. Any additional costs incurred by the vendor shall be reimbursed upon verification and approval by Harris County. The proposed monthly fee must be accompanied by supporting documentation in the form of a detailed cost breakdown itemizing all operating and maintenance expenses.

Further, this cost breakdown shall contain a sufficient level of detail to clearly justify the compensation requested and be included in the operating budget to be reimbursable.

1. For parking personnel services provided at other County owned or operated parking facilities, which are not included in this contract, the County shall pay the vendor in accordance with the number and hourly rate for each cashier/parking enforcement attendant utilized.

2. Deductions to the monthly management fees may be applied, as presented in monthly management fees, if deemed appropriate by the County.

3. In the event of a declared emergency condition either man-made or natural disaster which requires the closure of a parking facility for three (3) or more consecutive days the County shall pro rate the monthly management fee for that parking facility.

B. Revenue Control, Collection, and Deposit Procedures - This section applies to all revenues including event parking revenues. The vendor shall implement revenue control procedures which account for parking fees collected and deposited, vehicles parked in the facility, tickets issued and collected and lost tickets. Daily reports and logs, which contain the name of the parking personnel who open and close the garages and lots, opening and closing ticket numbers, opening and closing car counts, time of opening and closing, time of change of shifts, and list of overnight vehicles with amount due, shall be maintained. Daily audits shall be conducted by the vendor, in addition to monthly reporting, complete audits, and surprise field audits shall be conducted periodically by the vendor. The vendor shall be required to implement a secure system for collecting and moving cash from the parking facilities to the on-site parking management office and then to the bank for deposit. The vendor shall ensure that all collected revenues are accurately counted and must provide a safe(s) and security devices that will prevent theft or expose pilferage. A copy of the revenue control, collection, and deposit procedures must be included as part of the vendor’s proposal.

C. Bank Deposit of Gross Revenues - The vendor shall deposit all gross revenues collected daily from each parking facility into the vendor’s bank account by the close of the next business day.

The vendor shall always be responsible for the safekeeping of parking revenues, including overnight and weekends, and be held fully responsible for repayment any lost or misplaced monies reported as collected funds until they have been deposited into the bank. The vendor may propose to transport revenues via a vendor contracted armored transport carrier and include that cost as a subcontracted expense item. “Gross revenues” shall include all revenues generated from parking facility operations including but not limited to, parking fees collected from the daily parking automobiles, special events, monthly parking permit revenue, and other revenue as designated by the County.

D. Petty Cash Account - The vendor shall be required to maintain a petty cash account to ensure timely deposits of all gross revenues into the County’s bank account for the purposes of managing daily activities. The petty cash account shall also cover all change or replenishment needed for the parking booths and any automated payment stations.

E. Revenue Control Equipment - The vendor shall enter into a maintenance service contract for preventative maintenance and emergency service of the revenue control equipment. The County shall always have access to the revenue control equipment on-site. The cost of this maintenance contract shall be included in routine maintenance line-item pricing in the BidTable. The vendor shall be required to oversee the operation of the revenue control equipment daily and work closely with the maintenance service vendor and the County to ensure that the equipment is always fully operational. The vendor shall be required to monitor the service and repair of the revenue control equipment, including recording the removal of revenue control equipment parts by the service vendor and maintaining an accurate spare parts inventory. The vendor shall be expected to be thoroughly trained in the proper use of the revenue control equipment and related software as well as have the ability to generate comprehensive reports, including but not limited to, revenue and validation reports, occupancy counts and monitoring, equipment functions, and parking facilities usage counts.

1. The system software shall be capable of providing multiple reports

2. Provide a list of standard reports for review

3. Reports shall include:

a. Validations and number of vehicles for hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly time periods.

b. Validations and number of vehicles for each time with comparisons to historical time periods (e.g. December 2017 vs. December 2018; 1st Quarter 2017 vs. 4th Quarter 2017;

1st Thursday in July vs. 1st Thursday in February).

4. Cumulative revenues and number of vehicles by period (e.g. week-to-date; year-to date).

a. Parking durations (length-of-stay) for hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly time periods.

b. Miscellaneous administrative information: rate structures, limited personnel data including cashier time in/time out, program changes with user identification (ID) and date.

5. Flexibility in adding and modifying reports is a critical requirement.

6. The generator reports shall utilize Standard Query Language (SQL) and allow ad hoc reports.

7. Report layouts must be adjustable and customizable.

8. Report generator shall provide reports in multiple formats including:

a. Microsoft (MS) Excel: Data must be able to be used in EXCEL

b. MS Word

c. MS Access

9. The vendor shall be financially responsible for any damages due to negligence.

F. Performance Based Event Revenue Sharing - Harris County owns parking facilities that sell event parking to sporting and concert events. Event revenue grossed $730,679 in 2022 and $1,182,190 in 2023. Calendar years 2020 and 2021 were affected by COVID and were significantly lower. As of June 2024, the special event revenue has generated $549,271.33. With the largest grossing revenue month being March, the County expects event revenue to be similar to 2022. The County values the event parking revenue stream and wants to develop a program that provides continual growth and improvement. To effectuate this and in addition to the fixed monthly management fee, Harris County will share twenty-five percent (25%) of event parking revenue in excess of $500,000 with the vendor based on the eligible criteria below.

G. Special Event Gross Revenue - The vendor is only eligible for sharing the special event revenue generated over $500,000 annually. Revenue equal to or less than $500,000 annually is not eligible for sharing.

H. Client satisfaction - The vendor shall be considered a satisfactory performer if the County renews the contract for an additional year. If the County or the vendor opts to terminate the contract at the end of the current term, the vendor shall not be eligible for the event share for revenues for that year of the contract.

I. Overall Financial Performance - To ensure the event revenue is not being generated at too high a cost to the overall parking enterprise, the County will evaluate the vendor’s financial performance for event parking based on the ratio of operating expenditures to gross revenue for event parking.

1. To be eligible for the event parking revenue share, the gross revenue of event parking, minus the operating expenses for event parking, divided by the gross revenue of event parking must have a margin greater than the margin which shall be submitted under Item II on the BidTable.

Example: Vendor estimates that gross event parking revenue will be $100,000 and will incur $10,000 in operating expenses. ($100,000-$10,000)/ $100,000 = $90,000/ $100,000 = 90%.

J. Reimbursable (Operating) Expenses - The vendor shall pay the expenses incurred in connection with providing the required services to the extent such expenses are approved by the County, either in the budget or otherwise in writing. These reimbursable expenses include:

1. Costs associated with providing the responsibilities discussed in this RFP.

2. All supplies and materials necessary to operate the devices and equipment.

3. Stationery, miscellaneous office and maintenance supplies, printing of report forms.

4. Maintenance of surface parking lots, garages and pay machines.

5. Installation fees, service and monthly maintenance charges for telephone service.

6. Maintenance of all equipment.

7. Maintenance service contracts, less travel fees.

8. Cost of compliance with laws and regulations.

9. Costs or procuring and maintaining permits, licenses, and professional fees.

10. Bank service charges, credit card merchant fees approved by the county.

11. Service fees (app. i.e.).

K. Non-reimbursable (non-operational) Expenses - Operating expenses shall NOT include expenses or expenditures in connection with:

1. Sales taxes incurred on invoices.

2. Penalties for late payments of invoices.

3. Relocation of employees.

4. Severance for employees.

5. Depreciation of vehicles and equipment.

6. Costs of required bonding.

7. Any suit, action or proceeding in which the vendor is the defendant and has breached the contract awarded as a result of this RFP or has committed a wrongful act (tort) giving rise to such suit, action or proceeding.

8. Any suit, action or proceeding filed or instituted against Harris County by the vendor.

9. Costs incurred due to willful misconduct or gross negligence of the vendor, agents, employees or subcontractors.

10. The vendor’s general home office overhead and capital expenses that are not directly and primarily related to the contract resulting from the RFP.

12. Any income taxes, or any other taxes, owed by the vendor.

12. Any travel-related expenses.

13. Any other costs or expenses incurred by the vendor not directly related to the management and operations of Harris County properties.

14. Uniforms and PPE.

L. Deductions - Upon review of the parking facilities operations and required reports, the County reserves the right to deduct fees from the vendor’s monthly compensation under any of the conditions listed below. These monthly compensation fee deductions do not preclude, minimize, or replace the vendor’s responsibility for ensuring that appropriate corrective actions are taken when necessary and employee reimburses County for loss.

(For the purposes of monthly compensation fee deductions “office employee” is defined as any individual performing duties as a manager, assistant manager, and office clerk. “Field employee” is defined as any individual performing duties as a cashier/public valet attendant/attendant supervisor, parking enforcement attendant, traffic control officer, or cashier and parking lot attendant. “Paperwork” is defined as any documents used by the vendor at the direction of the County to record daily business activities, including but not limited to, payroll records, incident reports, monthly revenue reports, fee collections, parking validations, over-rings and under-rings, and bank deposits.)

$25 shall be deducted for each individual page of paperwork that the vendor processes and fails to submit to the County at the direction of the County.

$25 shall be deducted for each individual page of paperwork that the vendor submits to the County that is not properly completed, missing required information or contains inaccuracies.

$50 shall be deducted for each instance that an office employee or field employee is absent from an assigned work area for reasons of abandonment or personal, non-emergency interest. Such penalty shall not preclude the vendor from initiating the employee disciplinary process.

$50 shall be deducted for each instance that an attempt to contact the vendor during operating hours (within thirty (30) minutes) or non-operating hours (within one (1) hour) is not answered or returned by the vendor.

$50 shall be deducted for each instance that an office employee or field employee rudely interacts with a customer while performing his/her duties.

$200 shall be deducted each time the vendor fails to submit the required monthly summary of lot operations report by the end of the business day on the due date.

$200 shall be deducted for each instance that a field employee fails to adequately anticipate the need for open lanes by not scheduling off-peak period employee breaks, thereby resulting in exiting delays for the public.

$200 shall be deducted for each instance that a field employee engages in activity that detracts from a professional and alert stance while on duty (including, but not limited to drinking alcohol, sleeping, eating meals, maintaining lengthy personal conversations, or holding non-emergency telephone calls). Drinking water, cold drinks and hot beverages is acceptable, but should not be consumed while assisting the traveling public. Such penalty shall not preclude the vendor from initiating the employee disciplinary process.

$500 shall be deducted for each instance that an office employee or field employee commits vandalism or deliberate disabling or defacing of property and equipment (including revenue control equipment) belonging to the County. In addition, the vendor shall be required to return said damaged property to its original condition or better. Such penalty shall not preclude the vendor from initiating the employee disciplinary process or either entity reporting said employee to the appropriate authorities.

theft of County revenues or County property. Such penalty shall not preclude the vendor from initiating the employee disciplinary process or either entity reporting said employee to the appropriate authorities.

theft of property belonging to the parking public, vendors, visitors, or retail tenant employees. Such penalty shall not preclude the vendor from initiating the employee disciplinary process or either entity reporting said employee to the appropriate authorities.

$500 shall be deducted for each instance that improvements, structures, facilities, or additions are made in, to, or upon the parking facility by the vendor without receiving prior written authorization from the County. In addition, the vendor shall be required to return said property to its original condition or better.

Failure to comply with any terms and conditions not included above shall result in liquidated damages of $200 being assessed daily.

The County retains the right to waive or reduce such penalties as assessed under this Section in its reasonable discretion.

IV. PARKING ENFORCEMENT

A. Parking Rates and Hours of Operation - The maximum permissible rates to be charged and the hours of operation are determined by the County and are listed in attachment titled Parking Facility Locations.

1. Parking revenue collection may be paid via pay stations or pay-on-foot or pay-on-exit or a combination thereof to accommodate parking requirements for events. The County understands that the special event parking rates are volatile depending on the attraction.

Instead of implementing a set rate that the vendor must adhere to, the County will authorize the vendor to set special event parking rates based on market conditions to maximize revenue. The vendor must submit the proposed rate to the County’s parking administrator team prior to the event and during for any rate increases/ decreases to remain competitive.

B. Monthly Parking - The parking facilities are to be operated as a public parking facility with the primary focus being the parking needs of County employees and the public using County facilities. Departments may be allocated a number of parking spaces that each department may assign to department staff. Departments may pay for the allocated spaces from their annual funding or may require employees to pay. Vendor will collect payment as appropriate based on each Department’s method. The vendor may set late fees and collections for non-Harris County departmental accounts that are in default. Monthly parking contracts, assignments, or allocations are not transferrable. Monthly parking for entities other than County departments must be approved by Commissioners Court, or the Engineering Departments as designee.

C. Event Parking - Parking shall be made available to the public for sports and other entertainment or public events and the revenues generated from event parking shall be listed as a separate revenue line in the monthly report for each lot and facility operated for the event. Event parking shall not interfere with the daily operations of the facility and employee parking during normal business hours (6:00 a.m. CST – 4:00 p.m. CST).

D. Operations Office - A central office and a records retention area shall be provided by the

County (if not available within the garage facility). A twenty-four (24) hour telephone service shall be maintained for emergency contact with the vendor. The vendor shall provide this number to the designated Harris County representative and notify immediately of any changes.

The vendor shall ensure that the emergency number is answered at all times and that a response to any call shall be provided within thirty (30) minutes.

E. Reserved Spaces - No spaces shall be reserved for patrons or businesses without prior written approval by the County.

F. Restriction on Use - The vendor, in its operation of the parking facilities, shall be subject to all orders, directions or conditions issued by the County, and all Federal, State, and Municipal Laws, Regulations and Codes. Other uses, including but not limited to storage of vehicles, film permit related usage, public and private events, and retail or wholesale commercial activities, are permissible only with a written request to and advance approval by the County.

G. Improvements and Alterations - No equipment upgrades or facility improvements, structures, alterations or additions shall be made in, to or upon the parking facilities by the vendor without the prior written consent of the County.

H. Non-Parking Revenues - The vendor shall not enter into any agreements concerning non-parking uses of the parking facilities without the prior written consent of the County. Non-parking uses include, but are not limited to, product promotions or commercial advertising on County property or on ticket stock. Any revenues generated by such non-parking uses shall be identified and reported each month as part of the total revenue from the parking facilities.

I. Parking Management Office - The parking facilities contain a parking management office in one of the garages in the scope (Currently 1401 Congress). The vendor shall be required to equip the parking management offices with adequate resources, equipment or materials necessary to effectively administer the office. The equipment shall remain the property of the vendor unless costs are reimbursed by the County.

J. Telecommunications Equipment - The vendor shall be responsible for the provision of at least one (1) business telephone for the vendor’s parking management office. The vendor shall be responsible for telecommunication services at the parking facility, the cost of which shall be considered an operating expense. However, long distance telephone charges shall not be reimbursed by the County.

K. Radios, Cell Phones or similar devices – The vendor shall be required to obtain two (2) way radios, cell phones or similar devices to facilitate communications between managers, supervisors, parking staff and the County. Costs associated with the two (2)-way radios shall be at the vendor’s sole expense and such equipment shall remain the property of the vendor. All telecommunication equipment shall be operational during business hours. The vendor shall provide the designated Harris County representative with a phone number providing twenty-four/seven (24/7) access to the vendor. Calls made to the vendor during operating hours must be answered or returned within thirty (30) minutes. Calls during non-operating hours must be returned within one (1) hour.

L. Attendant Booths - The vendor shall maintain any existing booths and advise the County of any recommended repairs or alterations.

V. REPORTING & MEETINGS

A. Lot Operation Start-Up Penalties - The awarded vendor shall be required to commence operation of the parking facilities in accordance with the start-up date agreed upon at the post award meeting. Should the vendor fail to commence operation of the parking facilities in compliance with the start-up date, the County reserves the right to assess the vendor penalties in the amount of $15,000.00 per day.

B. Meetings Between Vendor and County Management - Meetings between the vendor and the designated County representative shall be held, at the direction of the County (at least once per month) at a designated County office, or at another mutually agreed upon site and time. This meeting will review all fundamental operations performance indices and any other key operational issue which the County requests to have presented. Key performance data include all items specified in the maintenance requirements section this should be reported as a summary of parking operations report using the (monthly performance summary) consolidated into a quarterly review document, also a gap analysis between performance level and operational targets will be discussed and reviewed and action items drawn up to close the gaps reviewed at each of these quarterly meetings.

C. Problem and Complaint Abatement – Maintenance of Written Log - The vendor shall resolve any operational problems and/or patron complaints and accurately report these problems and/or complaints to the designated Harris County representative within one (1) business day and follow up with a written report within five (5) days of the incident. The vendor shall maintain a written log of all complaints, injuries and accidents, security problems, damage to the facilities and equipment, and other unusual incidents occurring at the parking facilities. The vendor shall note the location, dates and times, as well as the action taken or the reason for non-action. The written log shall be available for inspection by the County staff at all reasonable times and shall be delivered to the County no later than the tenth day of the calendar month.

D. Reporting Requirements - The vendor shall be required to submit monthly reports as deemed necessary by the County.

E. Invoice Access – The vendor shall provide the County read-only access to the vendor’s system used to generate invoices so that the County may review invoices as needed.

F. Monthly Summary of Parking Operations - A monthly summary of parking operations report shall be delivered to the County no later than the tenth (10th) calendar day of the month following the reporting period. Information to be reported includes, but is not limited to, summaries of all revenues and expenses with appropriate back up documentation (i.e. bank deposit slips for revenues and invoices / receipts for expenses); daily cashier activity reports; a set of parking utilization reports for the parking facilities including but not limited to ticket usage, daily number of transactions, duration of stay, amount paid per transaction, facility occupancies by time of day; permitted non-parking uses and corresponding revenues; monthly management fee, payment due the County, unusual incidents occurring in the garage such as security problems, damage to facilities or equipment, citizen complaints, intercom calls logs, open space counts, utilization and occupancy reports and other actions that are noteworthy but not specifically covered in other reports. The report shall include substantiation or documentation of expenses including receipts, payroll logs, logbooks, and other documentation approved or requested by the County. The report should also include recommendations for revenue enhancements. These reports shall be submitted to the County.

G. Incident Notification - Any occurrences in the parking facility involving fire and law enforcement authorities, reports of personal injury resulting from incident(s) in the parking facilities or unusual circumstances, shall be immediately reported to the County and must be followed by a written incident report within five (5) calendar days of any such incident.

H. Approved Uses of the Parking Facilities Other Than Regular Fee Parking - The vendor shall be required to immediately advise the County, of the nature of any requests for use of the parking facilities other than for regular fee parking. Any such use shall be approved in advance, in writing, by the County.

I. Vendor's Books and Records/Audits and Inspections - After award of the contract, County staff will meet with the vendor to review record keeping methodologies in place and recommend changes, as necessary to ensure adequate reporting to the County.

At any time during normal business hours and as often as the County may deem necessary, the vendor shall make available to the County for examination, all books, ledgers, journals and accounting records which reflect receipts derived from the operation of the garage as well as accounting records pertaining to expenditures relative to the operation and maintenance of the parking facilities.