HLCS Custodial Services RFP.docx.pdf

Houghton Lake Community Schools

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)

CUSTODIAL SERVICES CONTRACT

Optional Pre Bid Meeting: Friday, March 15, 2024 (3:30 PM)

Optional Walk of Facilities: Friday, March 15, 2024 (4:00 PM)

Deadlines for Questions: Thursday, March 21, 2024

Bid Due Date & Time: Monday, April 1, 2024 (4:00PM)

Bid Opening: Tuesday, April 2, 2024 (3:30PM)

Address for Pre Bid Meeting: 4433 W Houghton Lake Dr. Houghton Lake, MI 48629 (In the Board of Education meeting room)

Direct questions or correspondence regarding this RFP:

Ben Williams, Superintendent williamsb@hlcsk12.net

George Rieger, Director of Facilities riegerg@hlcsk12.net

Questions are Welcome Prior to the Pre Bid Meeting via email

Please Do NOT Walk our Facilities prior to March 15, 2024 mailto:williamsb@hlcsk12.net mailto:riegerg@hlcsk12.net

Houghton Lake Community Schools - Home of the Bobcats

March 8, 2024

To: Prospective Bidder

Subject: Request for Proposal

Section 1 – Bid Instructions

Houghton Lake Community Schools is accepting quotations to provide custodial services to the District. This request for proposal is for a 3 year contract period for which we are seeking guaranteed pricing for July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2027. The District reserves the right to renew the contract for three (3) additional years. Renewal(s) will depend on pricing and level of service received during contract period.

BID DUE DATE: If you desire to bid on these services, please submit your Proposal no later than 4:00 p.m., Monday, April 1st. Bids will be opened at 4433 W Houghton Lake Dr. Houghton Lake, MI 48629 in the district office on Tuesday, April 2, 2024 at 3:30pm. Mail, email or hand-deliver your sealed bid to: Superintendent Ben Williams, at the same address above, or via email at williamsb@hlcsk12.net

Your bid must be received before the bid opening date and time, when all bids will be publicly opened and read aloud. No fax, verbal, or telephone quotations will be accepted. The District is not responsible for late, lost, misdirected, damaged, incomplete, illegible or postage-due mail bids.

BID COPIES: Each Bidder must submit with the signed original Proposal, 2 complete copies of the signed original Proposal. Each Proposal must be an original hard copy, and signed by an authorized member of the Bidder’s company. This member should be the highest-ranking officer at the local level. If the Bid is emailed, one signed copy is sufficient.

OPTIONAL PRE BID MEETING AND WALK OF FACILITIES: All prospective Bidders will be afforded the opportunity to attend a pre-bid meeting. The purpose of the meeting is to provide for questions and answers as required to clarify the requirements and specifications contained in the RFP.

The pre-bid meeting will be on Friday, March 15, 2024 at 3:30pm. The facilities walk will follow the pre-bid meeting at 4:00pm.

QUESTIONS: Questions should be directed to Ben Williams or George Rieger via email before or after the pre-bid meeting, or during the question/answer period during the pre-bid meeting. Please do not ask questions on the walk of facilities. Instead, write them down and we will respond to these and all questions in addendum format in writing. Questions may be asked via email until 4:00pm Thursday, March 21, 2024

RFP/PROPOSAL INFORMATION CONTROL: The following process described is intended to ensure that all prospective Bidders have equal access to information relative to the RFP. As part of the RFP preparation (which may have included previous discussions with selected prospective Bidders), every effort has been made to provide prospective Bidders with adequate disclosure. Each Bidder shall prepare their Proposal based only on the information contained in the RFP, notwithstanding any mailto:williamsb@hlcsk12.net information that may have been previously provided. A prospective Bidder noting any inconsistency between the information contained in the RFP and any information previously provided should request clarification. No information communicated, either verbally or in writing, to or from a Bidder shall be effective unless confirmed by written communication contained in the RFP, an addendum to the RFP, a request for clarification or written response thereto, or in the Proposal.

ADDENDA TO THE RFP: Should it become necessary to revise any part of the RFP, notice of the revision will be given in the form of an addendum to all prospective Bidders on record as having received the RFP. Each Bidder must acknowledge receipt of addenda, but the failure of a Bidder to receive or acknowledge receipt of any addendum, shall not relieve the Bidder of the responsibility for complying with the terms thereof. Acknowledgment shall consist, minimally, of returning a signed copy of all addenda cover sheets as part of the Proposal by the RFP closing date and time. All addenda shall become a part of the RFP. Acknowledgment of all addenda received must be submitted by the RFP closing date and time.

RESERVATION OF RIGHTS: The District reserves the right to accept or reject any or all Proposals not withdrawn before the opening date and to waive any irregularity or informality in the Proposal process. The District reserves the right to conduct discussions, request additional information and accept revisions of Proposals from any or all Bidders. The District reserves the right to negotiate with the Bidder whose proposal is deemed strongest. The District reserves the right to make such investigations as deemed prudent to determine Bidder's qualifications and eligibility.

Section 2 - Requirements

FACILITIES: The District consists of 3 main school buildings servicing a pre-K – 12 education model. One small Headstart Building, an Athletic Field House, and Bus Garage/Office make up the other buildings covered in this RFP. The list of Buildings, addresses and Gross Square Footage for each is attached and will be used in the contract for the initial bid price.

SCHEDULE: The District is providing a list of the start and ending times of each school as well as the current lunch and breakfast schedules. The school reserves the right to change these times. Daytime expected hours of coverage are also included and daytime task requirements are part of the Specification section. Daytime workers, and/or grounds personnel are expected to clean and salt sidewalks during inclement weather one hour prior to the start of school.

COVER LETTER: Please prepare on the company's business letterhead an executive letter from the leader of the Contracted Organization with authorized signature. This should be limited to a brief narrative highlighting the Proposal and should be aimed at non-technical personnel.

LEADERSHIP REQUIREMENTS: The Contractor will be responsible for On Site Management.

The amount of time spent in the District by On Site Management needs to be delineated on the staffing form and will be used as part of our evaluation process. One supervisory position must be part of the proposal, and this can be a working supervisor, or a management supervisor. Please list the Leadership program you propose for this contract and delineate their production vs. supervisory time on the staffing form.

TRANSITION PLAN: The Contractor must provide precise plans for each step in assuming management control and describe its ability to commit the staff personnel and resources required to develop a quick and effective transition into the responsibilities of this contract. A statement of the Contractor's management philosophy, Mission and/or Vision should be included. All Start Up Costs associated with this contract shall be part of the bid price.

CURRENT CUSTODIAL CARE ARRANGEMENT: Under the current custodial services agreement, there are 11 full time FTE assigned to handle the district’s daily cleaning and grounds upkeep needs. These 11 FTE each work 8 paid hours per day, and these are 12 month positions.

2 FTEs are day time custodians, one at the Jr Sr High School and one at Collins Elementary School.

There are 7.5 FTEs of evening custodians, 3.5 dedicated to Collins Elementary School, and 4 dedicated to the Jr Sr High School, with some of those personnel driving over to clean the Bus garage, Headstart and Community Education buildings as part of their daily work. The District currently has 1.5 FTEs of grounds keepers, who manage all campus grass cutting and weed whipping, athletic field cutting and painting, and seasonally manage leaf removal, and snow removal and salting of the school sidewalks.

Snow removal and salting of all parking lots is managed by a local Plow company and not to be included in your proposal. The Supervisor is a working supervisor and counts as one of the FTEs who works the evening shift. With supporting rationale, your proposal may reflect different levels of coverage than the above.

Under the present agreement, the District owns all lawn care equipment, tractors, gators, pick up trucks, leaf blowers, field painting equipment, and salt spreaders for grounds care. The District also owns all custodial cleaning equipment, to include newer riding floor scrubbers, walk behind floor scrubbers, rolling custodial cleaning carts with all cleaning equipment, vacuums, rolling trash cans, and large rolling trash buggies to manage daily cleaning and trash removal.

You may structure your proposal one of two ways. You may propose supplying labor only, with the understanding that your staff will utilize our District owned equipment. You may also propose a comprehensive package, which includes your company providing all necessary grounds and custodial machines, implements, and cleaning equipment. The district reserves the right to consider both types of bids and select the bid that reflects the best value and commitment to maintaining optimal cleanliness and appearance of our campuses and grounds.

Each proposal must include a staffing table for each facility including shift times, hours and starting pay rates to complete the daily, weekly and monthly cleaning requirements during the school year. All hours are NOT to include lunch breaks, or off the clock breaks, only productive and supervisory time. Staffing is NOT to include Substitute or Fill In Staffing, only regular staffing scheduled to be in the buildings. Staffing is expected to be at School Year Levels starting Labor Day until the Last Day of School.

On all In Service and Snow Days, coverage will be expected to continue full staff on first shift (offices, commons, restrooms, and snow removal), and second shift coverage for all events and to clean after any usage to ensure the schools are ready for service the following day.

Spring, Summer and Winter Schedules may reflect reduced staffing levels, but the District will expect coverage throughout the summer for all regular cleaning and events as listed in the Specifications as well as the required break work. Team Cleaning is allowed on breaks; not all schools must be covered at all times, but staff is expected to remain on the designated shift of service agreed upon with the District, unless the District grants an exception. No day shall be left uncovered year round except for the noted holidays. While the Contractor will determine the level of staffing needed during breaks, ALL specifications are to be completed during the actual breaks and in the case of summer, two weeks prior to Labor Day. Cleaning of Athletic areas will continue throughout winter and spring breaks as well as Summer during the month of August.

Staffing schedules will be evaluated as part of the bid process. These are to be utilized as minimum staffing levels to achieve the specifications. If cleaning specifications are not being met, payroll records may be accessed at any time during the contract for the most recent two months of service to ensure those staffing levels are being met consistently. If the payroll record audit demonstrates a shortage of staffing of over 5% on any given week for the entire district, or 10% on any given week for the school in question, (excluding non student day and break schedule reductions), the District may fine the Contractor up to $1000.00 per week during that two month period. This is to ensure the Contractor’s commitment to providing accurate data in the bid for anticipated staffing levels, and to ensure the Contractor’s commitment to meeting bid specifications. This audit will only be conducted if the cleaning specifications are not being met.

Should there be a significant staffing issue on any particular week, detailed cleaning may be caught up on weekends so the work doesn’t get behind. It is the Contractor’s responsibility to keep up on all tasks so as not to fall behind on detail cleaning. Detail cleaning includes any items on the weekly schedule.

These are not billable events, simply an acceptable way to keep up with an unexpected staffing illness or transitions. However, any items listed as daily are expected to be completed daily. Missing a Day Shift or Missing a Building is not acceptable, and will result in a $200.00 or $500.00 fine respectively. Please list in your proposal your Substitute/Backup Staffing Plan for the District to prevent short staffing.

As with any cleaning personnel, mistakes may be made. The intent of the above penalties is to prevent a lowering of the specifications or completely missing daily frequencies as a result of short staffing.

The District is expecting to receive what was bid as a minimal staffing level. If the Contractor finds it needs to put in more time to achieve the Specification levels, then the Contractor must do so at no additional charge to the District. It is the responsibility of the Contractor to be a professional and bid the work accurately. Should the Contractor find it can provide less hours to achieve the Specification levels, then it shall negotiate an agreed upon savings at the end of each anniversary date, benefiting both groups as an incentive to be more cost efficient and share the savings.

WAGES: The Contractor is to provide the starting wages for each position on the staffing worksheet for Day, Evening, Grounds, and Supervisor positions. The District reserves the right to check the wages at any time through accessing payroll records to ensure the Contractor’s employees are indeed being paid the starting wage listed in the Bid document. Wages have a direct correlation to retention and will be evaluated as such in the proposal evaluation. Failure to provide the starting wage to employees upon their hire in that position can result in a fine up to $500.00/week to the Contractor to be taken off their monthly billing. Once again, the intent is simply to ensure the Contractor is indeed stating accurate wages in their bid.

BENEFITS, INCENTIVES, INCREASES: The Contractor is to Provide a Detailed Outline of all Benefit Packages (including number of employees who qualify, coverage’s, copays and deductibles), Financial Incentives and Increase Schedules for their Staff. These will be used in the evaluation processes as the District recognizes motivated employees to increase retention. Additionally, it is the Contractor’s obligation to stay within all State and Federal mandated wage and benefit programs.

HUMAN RESOURCES SUPPORT: The Contractor shall provide the Human Resource structure that will support this District in acquiring good candidates for hire and describe the interview, selection, and screening process. All new hires must be FBI fingerprinted with results minimally meeting the State of Michigan requirements for staff placed in Public Schools, and a 5 Panel Drug Test Result that came back negative BEFORE they are to be placed working at the District. Other Minimal levels of screening are listed in the Specification and Contract language. Please provide your Human Resources Program in your proposal.

SAFETY: The Contractor shall use a proactive safety program for its employees and operations at the schools, as well as comply with all District safety rules that apply to custodial services operations. The contractor shall include the corporate safety program in the proposal.

TRAINING PROGRAMS: The proposal shall include a description of training programs used for ALL levels that will be employed by the District, and will be expected to comply with all MIOSHA/OSHA training to schedule.

EQUIPMENT PURCHASE: Presently, the district owns all cleaning equipment and materials, as well as lawn care equipment. If the selected Contractor bids labor only, and additional cleaning machines or grounds equipment are necessary, the district and Contractor will discuss what the needs are and the District reserves the right to rent or purchase the equipment necessary to get the work completed.

If the selected Contractor’s bid is a comprehensive custodial package that includes supplying all equipment, the Contractor will be responsible for sourcing all of the necessary equipment and also ensuring that it is maintained and repaired in such a manner that ensures frequency of cleaning specifications are maintained and the quality is not compromised due to equipment neglect or failure.

It is understood and agreed that the District shall in no way be responsible for any theft, disappearances or other misappropriation of any equipment to be supplied by the contractor, nor for the theft, disappearance, or other misappropriation of any supplies or any other property of the contractor.

CONSUMABLE SUPPLIES: The District currently provides all Toilet Paper, Paper Toweling, Soap, Trash Can Liners, Air Fresheners, Hand Sanitizer, Sanitary Products, Ice Melt, Light Bulbs, Chalk, Dry Erase Cleaner, etc. for use in the District. The Contractor may be asked to provide pricing for said items as well as receiving, storing and inventory for said items in each building. Alternatively, the Contractor can include providing all consumable supplies as part of their bid.

CLEANING SUPPLIES: All Cleaning Chemicals, Small Tools, Microfiber, Mops, Dust Mops, Laundry, Mop Buckets, Vacuums, and Carts are presently owned and supplied by the District. The Contractor may be asked to provide pricing for said items as well as receiving, storing and inventory for said items in each building. Alternatively, the Contractor can include providing all cleaning supplies as part of their bid.

OPERATING STATEMENT: The Contractor shall submit a complete estimated operating statement for the proposed contract period(s), indicating the following estimated costs by category.

● Salaries and Wages for this Contract

● FUTA and Tax Estimates for this Contract

● General Liability and Workers Compensation Insurance for this Contract

● Hourly Increases Prorated over 3 Years for this Contract

● Health Benefits Paid by Employer for this Contract

● Annual Vacation/Holiday/Personal Day Budgets for this Contract

● Training and Motivation Program Costs for this Contract

● Repair and Replacement of Equipment for this Contract (not required for Labor only bids)

● Direct Management Costs Expenses for this Contract

● Indirect Management and Administration Expenses for this Contract

● Operating Profit for this Contract

CONTRACT REQUIREMENT: The Contractor will incorporate the above information into a working 3-year contract proposal that meets the terms set forth in this RFP. If chosen, the District and Contractor will finalize any outstanding language in the proposed contract.

CONTRACTOR’S EXPERIENCE AND CAPABILITIES: The Proposal must include a description of the general background, experience and qualification of the Contractor in K-12 locations. The Contractor must list at least three operations presently serviced that is similar in nature to that of the District's within the State of Michigan. One of these references must be for a PK-12 complete District with Custodial Service contract needs similar to this District within the State of Michigan.

List the Square Footage of the Districts that the Contractor is responsible for cleaning, the number of FTE’s servicing that District and the period of time the Contractor has served the District. This information shall include the names, titles, addresses, and telephone numbers of individuals who are in a position to evaluate the general quality of the operation at their facilities. More references are welcome.

Section 3 – Evaluation Criteria

Contract award will be based upon a comprehensive review and analysis of the Proposals that best meet the needs of the District. The specific evaluation criteria will include the following and is listed in order of importance to the District:

● Overall Sustainability of the Program – Likelihood of a Successful Transition and Consistent Performance to the Specifications for three to six+ years of expected contract length. The analysis of these criteria takes into consideration the entire proposal documentation as a sum of its parts.

● Price VALUE measured against the Sustainability over time, a contract that does not go well or has to end early is much more expensive than doing it right the first time

● Employee Wage, Benefit and Incentive Structure to promote Employee Retention and Satisfaction

● Past Experience in custodial service operations of a similar nature with References supporting positive, problem solving, result oriented relationships

● Staffing Levels Reasonable to Specification Completion

● Contract Exceptions are Reasonable and Negotiable

Section 4 – School Facility List

1. Jr Sr High School - 4433 W Houghton Lake Dr. Houghton Lake, MI 48629 490 Students, 138,100 sq feet, Instructional time is from 8:00am until 3:00pm, Breakfast Time is from 7:40am until 8:00am. Lunch Time runs from 10:45 until 12:10pm (2 separate lunches), Required Daily Custodial coverage is from 6:30am until 3:00pm.

Evening custodial is 2:30pm until 11:00pm.

2. Collins Elementary School - 4451 W Houghton Lake Dr. Houghton Lake. MI 48629 550 Students, 98,226 sq feet, Instructional time is from 8:00am until 3:00pm, Breakfast Time is from 7:45am until 9am (staggered, some grades eat in classrooms and some in cafeteria), Lunch Time runs from 10:50am until 12:30pm, Required Daily Custodial coverage is from 6:30am until 3:00pm. Evening custodial is 2:30pm until 11:00pm

3. Bus Garage/Maintenance Building - 4433 W Houghton Lake Dr. Houghton Lake, MI 48629 20 staff, 500 sq feet, In operation from 5:00am until 5:00pm, Day coverage is not necessary. Only night cleaning is required.

4. Athletic Field House – Located on the Jr Sr High Campus. 500 sq feet (two restrooms).

Cleaning is only required during Fall Sports and Spring Sports seasons, and is required daily after practices, and after home sporting events.

5. Community Education - 179 Cloverleaf Lane Houghton Lake, MI 48629 7 staff, 8,832 sq feet, 8:00am until 3:00pm is the instructional day. No daily coverage is necessary, but nightly cleaning is required

6. Administration Offices – (Included in the Jr Sr High School) Same cleaning schedule.

Custodial Services RFP Checklist

Schedule – Checklist of Proposal Responses Due (return with proposal)

Refer to

Page

Complete Incomplete Reason for Incomplete

2 Copies of Proposal, or via email Addenda Acknowledgments Cover Letter Leadership Program Transition Plan Staffing Schedule Filled Out Starting Wages Filled Out in Staffing Plan, See Attached Benefits, Incentives, Increases Outlined Human Resources Structure Safety Program Training Program Cleaning Supply Program Operating Statement and proposed Contract References Price Page Familial Disclosure Form Notarized

Notes by Bid Selection Committee:

DISTRICT WIDE CUSTODIAL SERVICES PROPOSAL PRICE PAGE

Year One, July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2025 $___________________

Year Two, July 1, 2025 - June 30, 2026 $___________________

Year Three, July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027 $___________________

Printed Name of Executive Official Date

Signature of Executive Official Date

Affidavit of Bidder – Familial Relationships Form

The undersigned, the owner or authorized officer of ________________ (the “Bidder”), pursuant to the familial disclosure requirement provided in the Houghton Lake Community Schools (the “School District”) advertisement for Custodial Services bids, hereby represent and warrant, except as provided below, that no familial relationships exist between the bidder(s) or any employee of _________________, and any member of the Board of Education of the School District or the Superintendent of the School’s District.

List any Familial Relationships:

BIDDER: _________________________

By: ___________________

Its: _______________________________

STATE OF MICHIGAN )

) ss.

COUNTY OF Roscommon )

The instrument was acknowledged before me on the _____ day of _____________, 2011, by

, Notary Public

______________________ County, Michigan

My Commission Expires: __________________

Acting in the County of: __________________