On September 15, 2019, the City Council approved a contract for providing biohazard cleaning services to the most impacted areas of the City, the Downtown and Old Kern neighborhoods. The contract provided for three months of human waste removal and cleanup with two optional three month extensions of contracted services. The program has been praised by residents and downtown businesses alike for its effectiveness. The cumulative nine month program functioned as a trial period from which to measure the merit of such a program.

In order to continue the program, a new request for proposal (RFP) and competitive bidding process has been completed. Similar to the original program, contract services remain based on 4 hours per day, 5 days per week (6:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.) Monday through Friday service schedule. A toll-free hotline is available for citizens to call in requests for service in the removal of human feces and urine. Since the original pilot program was so successful, the new contract provides for a year of service with two optional one-year extensions.

The RFP was released on May 20^th, 2020 with a June 3^rd two-week deadline for submittals to be received. Four respondents submitted complete application proposals. One incomplete application was rejected and not scored. The proposals were rated based on the information provided within their statement of qualifications, the understanding of the project requirements demonstrated within the application, and the bidders experience in cleaning biohazard sites. A summary of all bids received and the score of each application submittal is provided below. Asela Environmental, Inc. (dba Alert Disaster Restoration) was selected as the preferred bidder by all of the RFP raters.

This contract is included within the FY 20/21 Budget, funded through the Public Safety and Vital Services fund. Staff recommends approval of Agreement with Asela Environmental (dba Alert Disaster Restoration) in the amount of $279,760 for contract services to begin on or after June 26, 2020.