County Supervisors approved a contract extension for the company that goes around sweeping the streets in County territories.
Sweeping Corporation of America was awarded a 3-year contract in 2020 for $712,000 total ($237,000 per year) to sweep selected streets in unincorporated communities.
The July 9 action by Supervisors extended that original contract for another year with possible annual extensions for another 4 years that would be approved administratively by the Public Works Director.
The original contract was for $237,000 a year and the new one is for $466,000 a year, an increase of over $190,000 a year.
Also, Supervisors authorized a retroactive contract increase that bumped up the first 3-year contract from $237,000 a year to $370,000. The County said this was to bring the contractor up to pay standards with government contracts.
“While preparing for contract renewal,” reads the report from County Engineering’s Josh Rovenstine, “County Counsel determined that contract rates are subject to Prevailing Wage standards.”
So that meant giving the company a significant raise from its contracted amount. “To continue to provide street sweeping services,” Rovenstine’s report said, “an amendment to the prior contract was issued for $80 per curb mile to continue with the monthly sweeping for an estimated cost of $53,221 per month.”
The contract is to sweep some 710 “curb miles” of local streets at an original rate of $32.50 per mile. All of the designated streets were swept monthly except for Pier Avenue in Oceano, which got swept every week.
Pier Avenue is the main entrance to the Oceano Dunes State Park and the beach camping and off highway recreation area of the dunes.
The old contract was for $21,000 a month and the increased rate bumped it up to $53,000 a month ($80 per mile).
This new contract starts at $125 a mile and $38,000 a month. One might think street sweeping is an extra thing government does, but in this case it’s required.
“Routine countywide street sweeping,” Rovenstine said, “is required at targeted locations in order to comply with the mandates of the County’s Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System permit under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. Proper street sweeping significantly reduces the accumulation of trash, sediment, and organic materials and prevents them from entering the County-maintained storm drains and natural watersheds. Along with the mandated sweeping, the County sweeps areas of concern by the public, including bike lanes on high-traffic roads.”
But this new contract will mean streets will get swept less often.
“This contract,” Rovenstine said, “will result in maintaining the total curb miles swept but will reduce the frequency of the sweeping, except on Pier Avenue, to either bi-monthly or quarterly, depending on the areas of need. The proposed reduction in frequency will reduce impacts to the Road Fund while maintaining permit compliance. Additional sweeping, as needed, may be performed by County staff and/or contract contingencies.”
Those contingencies have been budgeted at $25,000 a year with the new contract. So the annual contract could top $490,000 a year if the contingency gets eaten up too.
The money for street sweeping comes out of the County’s Roads Budget, which Rovenstine said will take a hit.
“The financial impact of this increase [$193,389],” Rovenstine said, “is a reduction in funding available for standard roads maintenance projects.”
