The city has hired its third cleaning service in five months.
The first two janitorial companies failed to provide the city with
adequate insurance in case they stopped cleaning the city’s 199,000
square feet of buildings.
Gilroy – The city has hired its third cleaning service in five months.
The first two janitorial companies failed to provide the city with adequate insurance in case they stopped cleaning the city’s 199,000 square feet of buildings.
A third company has “stepped up to the plate,” though, according to Assistant City Administrator Anna Jatczak.
Pacific Maintenance Company was the third lowest bidder and has provided a letter of intent from a surety company to the city so Gilroy can recoup any financial losses it could incur if the newest custodial service abandons its pro-rated contract for $159,949.
“The third try is the charm,” Jatczak said.
The original project term was for one year, beginning July 1, 2007, and it went to Madrigals Cleaning Service. The city rescinded that bid in the middle of July, and then Commercial Custodial Services stepped in and has since failed to supply the city with the necessary performance bond. Pacific Maintenance Company will take over for seven months, beginning Dec. 1, because it has provided the bond.
All of this is quite unusual, Jatczak said.
“This has never been a problem in the past,” she said. “It has opened our eyes that maybe in more competitive markets like janitorial or landscape – where smaller companies are in the forefront – we maybe want to add [a surety bond] as a requirement in the bid package.”
Because such a requirement does not exist yet, Jatczak said she made sure to ask Pacific Maintenance Company to provide a letter of guarantee before recommending them to the City Council. Normally a contractor has to provide a performance bond after the council approves its contract, not during the bidding.
“Rather than going forward again to council with a bid that may or may not fall through, I wanted to get a sense that this third company could hold their own,” Jatczak said.
If it does hold its own during its seven-month stint, then Pacific Maintenance Company could extend the deal for two additional one-year terms.
