Council narrows rules for police vehicle storage: Northeast auxiliary lots must lie inside division

The City Council voted on March 17 to amend the Request for Proposals (RFP) for official police garages (OPGs), requiring that the auxiliary (secondary) storage lot for the Northeast Division be located inside the Northeast Division boundary rather than outside it.

Councilmember Alex Hernandez introduced the amendment after describing neighborhood concerns that auxiliary lots outside some divisions had created concentrations of storage facilities and related nuisance and crime reports. Hernandez said the RFP as drafted treated divisions differently based on existing configurations and would effectively lock in advantages for current OPG operators. He proposed an amendment to require the Northeast auxiliary lot be within the Northeast Division; Councilmember Goldberg seconded and requested that the rest of the RFP proceed to bidding while staff addresses the Northeast specification if more time is needed.

Detective Carson, the staff representative assigned to the contracts issue, told the council the RFP imed to give bidders guidelines on space needed to store large numbers of impounded vehicles and that zoning constraints drive much of the current configuration; he said some existing OPGs currently store "upwards and above 600 vehicles." Police staff also said primary storage facilities must be within the geographic division they service, but auxiliary locations had been allowed outside division boundaries where zoning made it necessary.

Council action and effect: The council approved Hernandez's amendment and the RFP as amended on a recorded vote (12 ayes). The effect is to require bidders for Northeast Division OPG services to identify an auxiliary lot inside the Northeast Division boundary. Councilmembers said they still want the overall RFP process to proceed promptly; several members urged staff to standardize the RFP language across divisions to avoid inadvertently favoring incumbent operators.

Clarifying details: Staff said the RFP due dates were imminent (bids due mid-2000) and that the primary facility requirement remains in force. The amendment applies only to the Northeast Division auxiliary site requirement; other divisions' specs remain as in the revised RFP but staff committed to clarify variable size and location guidelines to promote open competition.

Ending: The council directed staff to issue the amended RFP and to return on request with clarifications to ensure fairness across divisions.