2-RFI-2025-002 Zoo PARCS.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES

Procurement Division

RFI-2025-002: Zoo PARCS

Issued: September 12, 2025 Closes: September 26, 2025

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Request for Information Zoo PARCS

Issued On: September 12, 2025 Closes On: September 26, 2025

RFI-2025-002: Zoo PARCS

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1 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 Table of Contents 2 Information Summary Sheet 3 Purpose

3.1 Format of Virtual Discussion

4 Request

4.1 Scope of Work

4.2 Script for Virtual Discussions

5 RFI Process & Administration

5.1 Schedule

5.2 Asking Questions

5.3 County’s Right to Amend or Cancel

5.4 Americans With Disabilities Act & Reasonable Accommodations

5.5 Commitment to Ensuring Racial Equity in Milwaukee County

5.6 Disclosure of Information

2 INFORMATION SUMMARY SHEET

Title: Zoo Parking System

Number: RFI – 2025 – 002

Issuing Department:

Milwaukee County Zoo & DAS - IMSD represented by The Department of Administrative Services, Procurement Division

Issue Date: September 12, 2025

9:00 AM CST

Virtual Discussions Held September 17 – 26, 2025 Via Microsoft Teams

Close Date: September 26, 2025

4:00 PM CST

Point of Contact:

Lael MacLellan, CPPB, NIGP-CPP Department of Administrative Services, Procurement Division

633 W. Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 901

Phone: 414-278-4129 Email: Lael.MacLellan@milwaukeecountywi.gov mailto:Lael.MacLellan@milwaukeecountywi.gov

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3 PURPOSE

A Request for Information (“RFI”) is a way for Milwaukee County to gather information. The County wants to hear from suppliers who have experience providing parking access and revenue control systems (“PARCS”). The County plans to schedule virtual strategy discussions with interested Suppliers with experience providing PARCS solutions that can be integrated into an established point-of-sale system/software.

We’re looking for ideas and information that can help us understand costs and requirements to purchase and install a PARCS system. The purpose of this request is to gather information from Suppliers so we can plan better for the future.

This is a great chance to introduce your entity and products/services, share what your knowledge, and give us your advice.

We’re also asking for your help to estimate how much the requested goods/services might cost. If you can, please give us an estimated, non-binding cost for your product or service. Please explain anything we might need to know about the cost you provide, like any assumptions you made when you calculated your costs, or an information you may need from the County to create a more accurate quote.

An RFI is not a competitive bidding process, and it won’t result in a contract. This request is only for gathering information. It isn’t a commitment by the County to enter a contract or relationship with any of the responding Suppliers.

Participating won’t give you an advantage in future contracts, and there’s no penalty if you decide not to respond. The County won’t score or critique any responses, and we won’t pay for any information submitted. Participation in this process is completely optional.

If the County decides to issue a formal request for bids in the future, it will follow the County’s normal procurement process.

Any contract will be awarded later through that process, not based on this document or anything contained in it.

3.1 FORMAT OF VIRTUAL DISCUSSION

The County is NOT requesting a formal written response to these questions or topics (as is common in most traditional RFIs). All information will be collected via the informal discussion held virtually by Microsoft Teams. Discussions which will be performed on a 1-on-1 basis between each Supplier and the County (not as a group meeting). The County anticipates spending about 1-hour on each call.

The discussions will be led by the Point of Contact identified in the Information Summary Sheet. Suppliers will be permitted 5-10 minutes to introduce their company for context. The remainder of the time will be spent discussing the Supplier’s answers to the questions provided in Section 4.2: Script for Virtual Discussions

The County:

• Intends to use information gathered from these discussions to help ensure that any future solicitation is fair and open and provides the information necessary for Suppliers to be able to provide accurate proposals.

• Plans to schedule discussions with the first five (5) Suppliers to submit a request but reserves the right to hold additional discussions in order to capture diverse Supplier perspectives.

• Will not reimburse the Supplier for any expenses incurred responding to this RFI.

• Does not have any requirements of who can attend the meeting, or their role/position. The Supplier can select the best person(s) to attend.

• Will answer Suppliers’ general procurement questions but will not answer any questions about the project or any future solicitations.

• Will take note of any Supplier questions to ensure that they are answered proactively in any future solicitation document.

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4 REQUEST

4.1 SCOPE OF WORK

In 2024, the Milwaukee County Zoo (the “Zoo”) issued an RFP for a new best-in-class, all-in-one Software-as-a-Service (“SaaS”) Zoo Management System (“ZMS”). The RFP was awarded to Gateway Ticketing Systems, Inc on July 23, 2024.

The contract with Gateway is still in negotiations.

The Zoo also sought to improve its front entrance to increase safety and eliminate long waits to access the parking lot. RFP WZ017401: Milwaukee County Zoo – Front Entrance Reconfiguration was issued on May 22, 2024, seeking proposals for the planning and design of the Zoo's front entrance reconfiguration. The Milwaukee County Zoo’s current entrance configuration simultaneously issues both parking and admission tickets upon arrival when first entering the campus of Bluemound Road. The Zoo would like to maintain issuing both parking and admission tickets, however the intention is to optimize the flow of vehicular and pedestrian traffic, ultimately ushering patrons in and out of the Zoo more efficiently, safely, and effectively. The reconfiguration will focus on three major areas: Visitor entry and exit into and out of the parking lot, Parking and admission ticketing processes, Staff workspace and facilities. The goal of the front entrance project is to allow free-flow traffic into he Zoo in order to prevent traffic congestion on Bluemound road and while entering the Zoo premises.

As part of the Capital Project, the Zoo, the Department of Administrative Services – Information Management Services Division (“DAS-IMSD”), and the County’s construction manager for the project, the Concord Group, are exploring parking solutions and options which can integrate with the ZMS (Gateway) and the Zoological Society’s membership platform, Tessitura, to create a streamlined and seamless experience for guests, including entry and parking.

The Zoo seeks input from potential Suppliers regarding the following goods and services to design and install a new

PARCS:

• Parking Management Software, including:

o Licenses and monthly fees, including hosting fees;

o Modules and system functionality;

o Integration with Gateway Zoo Management Software (“ZMS”).

o Parking stations and hardware, including:

o Entrance and exit stations;

o Parking arms and barrier gates;

o Other hardware and consumables.

• Support and maintenance, including:

o Software implementation (installation, configuration, testing);

o Hardware installation and testing;

o Other services or labor (such as project management).

• The following products and services are not required at this time:

o Power and data lines to parking lanes;

o Concrete islands and bollards;

o High-speed internet connections.

4.2 SCRIPT FOR VIRTUAL DISCUSSIONS

A written response to these questions is not required. The County will conduct virtual discussions with interested Suppliers

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If you choose to respond to this RFI, you don’t need to give the County any proprietary or confidential information in your response. If you think the County needs to know information that is proprietary or confidential to understand your products and services, please let us know during virtual discussions if any information discussed is proprietary or confidential.

4.2.1. Is the Scope of Work clear, accurate, and understandable? If not:

4.2.1.1. What information do we need to provide or what critical things do you need to know about our current environment?

4.2.1.2. What information do we need to provide or what critical things do you need to know about our future state requirements (for example, are there any goals, objectives, or desired items that we haven’t thought of or should consider?

4.2.2. Could your entity propose or bid on this project based on the Scope of Work? If not:

4.2.2.1. What does the County need to change?

4.2.2.2. What potential market factors, changes, or concerns would reduce your interest in bidding on this opportunity, or cause you to no-bid?

4.2.3. Please share any information about your entity’s background, experience, and product / service offerings we should know to better understand the market for the products/services requested and make an informed purchasing decision.

4.2.4. What would be the ‘best’ way for the County to collect and compare costing information from suppliers, to allow the State to compare proposals ‘apples-to-apples’. Could you provide us with an example(s) of a costing templates that you would recommend using?

4.2.5. What estimated cost or cost range do you believe reasonably reflects what you might charge for the Scope of Work identified in this RFI?

4.2.6. What products and services are included in that cost range? How would you propose to structure the costs to Milwaukee County for the requested services? Why?

4.2.7. What factors would make this venture profitable to you?

4.2.8. Do you see any areas of concern in the Scope of Work that would increase your costs? If so, what are they?

4.2.9. Do you have recommendations for improving the Scope of Work to limit cost increases?

5 RFI PROCESS & ADMINISTRATION

5.1 SCHEDULE

The RFI schedule is available in the Information Summary Sheet. The schedule is based upon the best available knowledge as of the date this RFI is issued. The County may, at its discretion, delay or shift the schedule of this RFI as appropriate.

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Any changes made to the RFI schedule will be publicly posted through the Bonfire Portal prior to the closing date of this

RFI.

5.2 ASKING QUESTIONS

Please submit questions or requests for clarification regarding this RFI using the Bonfire Portal. Please be as clear and as specific as possible when asking a question or requesting clarification. Responses to all questions and inquiries received by the County will be posted on the RFI’s Project Board on the Bonfire website.

5.3 COUNTY’S RIGHT TO AMEND OR CANCEL

Milwaukee County reserves the right to amend or cancel this RFI at any time and for any reason, if amendment or cancellation is in the best interest of the County. If it is necessary to clarify, revise, or cancel this RFI, amendments will be posted to the RFI’s Project Board on the Bonfire Portal. It is the responsibility of Suppliers to check the Bonfire Portal regularly for any amendments prior to the RFI’s closing date and time.

5.4 AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT & REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS

If a Supplier or any employee or representative of a Supplier needs accommodations, the Supplier should contact the RFI Administrator as soon as possible to discuss reasonable accommodations. DAS-Procurement will provide reasonable accommodations, including provision of informational material in an alternative format, for individuals with disabilities.

5.5 COMMITMENT TO ENSURING RACIAL EQUITY IN MILWAUKEE COUNTY

In 2019, the Milwaukee County Executive signed a resolution declaring racism a public health crisis in Milwaukee County and established a vision for the County to become the healthiest County in Wisconsin through the achievement of racial equity. In support of this vision, the County requests that vendor partners agree to collaborate with the County in achieving racial equity for our constituents and commit to improving racial equity within Milwaukee County. Suppliers are encouraged to demonstrate the ways in which they can contribute to this vision in their responses.

5.6 DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION

Solicitation opportunities will be publicly advertised as required by law and County ordinance.

Milwaukee County is required by law to respond to all Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) and Wisconsin Public Records Law (“Open Records”) requests. In submitting information, data, comments, or reactions to this RFI, Suppliers acknowledge that such information constitutes a “record” for purposes of Wis. Stat. §19.21, et. seq., and that such information is subject to Open Records requests.

Suppliers are advised that in complying FOIA and Open Records requests, the County presumes the right “of complete public access, consistent with the conduct of government business.” Denial of access is considered contrary to the public interest and will only be denied in exceptional instances.

Records are closed or confidential only if specifically stated in law. This RFI is not a competitive solicitation, and Suppliers are not required to disclose confidential, proprietary, or trade secret information in response to the RFI.