Resolution 2020-31515 RESOLUTION NO. 2020-31515
A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF
MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO
NEGOTIATE AMENDMENT NO 1 TO THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
AGREEMENT WITH TRACKSTAR INTERNATIONAL INC FOR AUTOMATIC
VEHICLE LOCATION (AVL) SYSTEMS HARDWARE, RELATED
SOFTWARE, AND SERVICES; SAID AMENDMENT REPLACING THE
ESTABLISHED CONTRACT VALUE, IN THE AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED
$140,000 ANNUALLY, WITH THE ANNUAL AMOUNT APPROPRIATED
THROUGH THE CITY'S ANNUAL BUDGETING PROCESS; AND FURTHER
AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE FINAL
NEGOTIATED AMENDMENT.
WHEREAS, as a result of its research, the City identified an alternate AVL system
through Trackstar International, Inc. ("Trackstar"), the awarded vendor from the City of Fort
Lauderdale's competitive solicitation; and
WHEREAS, after the pilot test of four (4) City Departments (Police, Parking, Code
Compliance, and Fleet), City staff recommended usage of Trackstar's AVL system for its
ability to maximize hardware capabilities, high configurable software functionalities and ease
of use, enhanced geo-fencing, administrative and reporting features, backward compatibility
with existing hardware, and faster browser response time; and
WHEREAS, based on the staff recommendation, the City has accessed the City of
Fort Lauderdale's contract for the purchase of devices, maintenance, and support of all its
AVL devices Citywide (approximately 1,085 vehicles); and
WHEREAS, Resolution 2018-30523, authorized the City Manager to execute a three
year agreement for the purchase of Trackstar International Inc.'s AVL system hardware,
software and services, for an amount not to exceed $368,000 for fiscal year 2019 and an
amount not to exceed $140,000 for the remaining contract years; and
WHEREAS, on November 1, 2018, the City and Track Start International, Inc.
executed a three year agreement with an expiration date of October 31, 2021 (the
"Agreement"); and
WHEREAS, while other vendors offer cloud-based services only, Trackstar's
software and data reside behind the City's firewall and the City remains in possession of the
data, thereby protecting the information from potential hackers; and
WHEREAS, Trackstar offers Retro Geo Fence, which allows end users to go back in
time to see which vehicles were in a certain area at a given time, rather than running reports
for all City vehicles at a given date and time; and
WHEREAS, many vendors offer "plug & play" devices that testing has revealed does
not offer tracking reliability, is not easily customizable, and can only report when the vehicle
is turned on; and
WHEREAS, as all AVL devices are vendor-specific, changing to a new AVL system
would require the removal of all devices from each City vehicle, resetting the device to
factory specifications, then downloading new vendor programming/software into the device
and re-installing it into each vehicle, a time-consuming and labor-intensive effort to
implement across all City departments; and
WHEREAS, in order to provide City Staff with authority to purchase needed AVL
devices during the term, which may exceed the current approved contractual limit, but
without exceeding the annual budgeted amount for these services, the approval of the City
Commission is required; and
WHEREAS, prior to the October 31, 2021 expiration date of the Agreement, staff will
conduct an analysis in order to identify the most cost-effective option for acquiring these AVL
services.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION
OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, that the Mayor and City Commission hereby
authorize the City Manager to negotiate Amendment No 1 to the Professional Services
Agreement with Trackstar International Inc. for Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) Systems
hardware, related software, and services; said Amendment replacing the established contract
value, in the amount not to exceed $140,000 annually, with the annual amount appropriated
through the City's annual budgeting process; and further authorize the City Manager to
execute the final negotiated amendment.
PASSED and ADOPTED this / day of 49‘C4P1.--
2020.
ATTEST:
Mayor
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City lerk
IACORP ORATED;
APPROVED AS TO
FORM & LANGUAGE
& FOR EXECUTION
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MIAMI BEACH
COMMISSION MEMORANDUM
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Commission
FROM: Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager
DATE: December 9, 2020
SUBJECT:A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF
MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO
NEGOTIATE AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
AGREEMENT WITH TRACKSTAR INTERNATIONAL INC FOR AUTOMATIC
VEHICLE LOCATION (AVL) SYSTEMS HARDWARE, RELATED
SOFTWARE, AND SERVICES; SAID AMENDMENT REPLACING THE
ESTABLISHED CONTRACT VALUE, IN THE AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED
$140,000 ANNUALLY, WITH THE ANNUAL AMOUNT APPROPRIATED
THROUGH THE CITY'S ANNUAL BUDGETING PROCESS; AND FURTHER
AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE FINAL
NEGOTIATED AMENDMENT.
RECOMMENDATION
After review of the staff recommendation, the City Manager recommends that the Mayor and
City Commission adopt this resolution to execute Amendment #1 to the agreement for
Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) systems hardware, related software, and services; said
amendment replacing the established not to exceed amount of $140,000 annually with the
amount appropriated through the City's annual budgeting process.
ANALYSIS
On October 29, 2013, Trackstar was awarded a competitively bid contract with the City of Fort
Lauderdale. On February 9, 2016, the Fleet Department initiated a pilot program to test the
Trackstar system. After the testing period, Trackstar's AVL system was recommended by the
Fleet Department staff based on its ability to maximize hardware capabilities, high configurable
software functionalities and ease of use, enhanced geo-fencing, administrative and reporting
features, backward compatibility with existing hardware, and faster browser response time. In
addition, the conversion to the Trackstar system resulted in a savings of approximately
$135,850 yearly, a significant reduction in monthly, combined license and telecom expenses.
Therefore, on May 19, 2016, the City Manager approved for the City to access the awarded
contract from the City of Fort Lauderdale and has been utilizing it for the purchase of devices,
maintenance, and support of all AVL devices Citywide.
In an effort to continue the support and maintenance of the AVL system, the Procurement
Department conducted research and determined that there were no contracts available to
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continue piggybacking of the existing system from Trackstar. At the time, the Fleet Department
conducted further market research and determined that it was in the City's best interest to
continue with the Trackstar system based on the following:
While other vendors offer cloud-based services only, Trackstar's software and data reside
behind the City's firewall and the City remains in possession of the data; thus, protecting the
information from potential hackers. Also, Trackstar offers Retro Geo Fence, which allows end
users to go back in time to see which vehicles were in a certain area at a given time, rather than
running reports for all City vehicles at a given date and time. Additionally, Trackstar works with a
wide range of AVL hardware vendors, including: Sierra Wireless, Cradle Point, Airlink, Telenav,
and CalAmp (our current devices).
Many vendors offer "plug & play" devices as opposed to the hard-wired Trackstar devices.
Testing has revealed that "plug & play" devices do not offer tracking reliability, are not as easily
customizable and can only report when the vehicle is turned on. These "plug & play" devices
use the vehicle diagnostic port (there is only one) which is currently used by the fuel
management system in the City's case. This would require the purchase and installation of a
specialized cable to allow two devices to use the one diagnostic port which could result in
interference and potential signal loss with the vehicle computer communication capabilities.
This also offers easy access for operators to tamper with the equipment, unplugging the device,
thus rendering it inoperable, and unable to report.
As all AVL devices are programmed to be vendor specific, changing to a new AVL system
would require the removal of all devices from each City vehicle, resetting the device to factory
specifications, then downloading new vendor programming/software into the device and re-
installing it into each vehicle. This is not easily accomplished and requires a great deal of labor,
expense and loss of time for every City Department. Case in point, the changeover in mid-
February of 2016 from RSI devices to Trackstar took over five (5) weeks for the City's then
fleet of 850 vehicles; causing disruption to all City departments. The current fleet is
approximately 1,085 vehicles. Therefore, due to the benefits of upgrading the devices and
maintaining the current system, as stated, herein, the Administration seeks authority to continue
to utilize Trackstar's superior AVL system. On October 17, 2018, the City Commission
approved Resolution 2018-30523, authorizing the City Manager to execute a two-year
agreement for the purchase of Trackstar International Inc.'s AVL system hardware, software and
services. The initial projected FY19 costs of $368,000 (and $140,000 annually thereafter)
covered the licensing and approximately 1,100 devices, meant to accommodate the existing
fleet as well as limited number of spare, pre-programmed devices to expedite the replacement
of the soon to be obsolete "third generation" (3G) devices to "fourth generation" (4G) devices.
However, as a result of the deferral of a number of vehicle replacements from FY20 to FY21, a
significant number of older vehicles previously targeted for replacement required the installation
of the 4G devices meant for their replacements.
If current levels of vehicle replacement funding remain available in the coming years,the City will
continue to make significant reductions in its fleet gasoline consumption and CO2 greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions. With an anticipated green fleet of 564 HEVs and 25 EVs by 2025, it's
projected that a reduction of approximately 3.3 million Lbs. of CO2 GHG emissions per year will
be achieved, by 2025, from the decreased annual gasoline consumption of approximately
187,000 gallons, equivalent to a 24.4% reduction. Since all new vehicles need to be provided
with AVL systems, the corresponding funding should be appropriated as part of the City's annual
vehicle replacement budgeting process.
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Prior to the October 31, 2021 expiration of the existing agreement, staff will conduct an analysis
in order to identify the most cost-effective option for acquiring these AVL services; including, but
not limited to, issuing a competitive solicitation or identifying any publicly solicited agreements
by other public agencies or national cooperatives.
Amount(s)/Account(s):
The cost associated with the purchase, maintenance, and software will be appropriated through the
City's annual vehicle replacement budgeting process. Grant funding will not be utilized.
Applicable Area
Citywide
Is this a "Residents Right Does this item utilize G.O.
to Know" item. pursuant to Bond Funds?
City Code Section 2-14?
No No
Legislative Tracking_
Fleet Management
ATTACHMENTS:
Description
D Resolution
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