At the April 17, 2013 City Commission meeting, Resolution No. 2013-28180 (Exhibit A) was passed approving the waiving, by a 5/7th vote, the formal competitive bidding requirements, finding such waiver to be in the City’s best interest, and authorizing the purchase of food and snacks from Publix, Costco, Gordon Foods, and BJ’s Wholesale to be consumed by: a) the City’s Parks and Recreation Department’s participants in their After-School program, summer camps, special events and other programmed activities, and b) other departments and offices citywide, as approved in their respective annual budgets for a period of three (3) years.
At the May 11, 2016 City Commission meeting, Resolution No. 2016-29388 (Exhibit B) was adopted approving the waiver, by a 5/7th vote, of the formal competitive bidding requirements, finding such waiver to be in the City’s best interest, and authorizing the purchase of food and snacks, rides, inflatables and program expenses from certain specified vendors, to be used and consumed by participants of the City’s Parks and Recreation Department’s after-school programs, summer camps, special events and other programmed activities; and providing for said waiver for a period of three (3) years, on a year-to-year basis, in an annual amount not-to-exceed $270,000, contingent upon City Commission approval of the department’s related budget allocation(s) during the adoption of the City’s annual budget.
However, at the September 13, 2017 City Commission meeting, Resolution No. 2017-29976 (Exhibit C) was passed amending Resolution 2016-29388 increasing the annual not-to-exceed amount for program expenses from $270,000 to $435,000 and with this resolution expiring, the Parks and Recreation Department is seeking another bid waiver.
To date, the Department continues to hold various programs and events throughout the year that require the purchase of food, snacks, rides, inflatables and other necessary program expenses. The funds for these items are allocated annually through the department’s approved budget.
Snacks and Food/Program Expenses
As part of the After-School Program, No School Days and Summer Camp curriculum, the Department provides free snacks to all participants (estimated average daily attendance of 1,000 children). These snacks are purchased on a bi-weekly to a monthly basis by the park staff at local grocery or wholesale stores. Aside from the daily programming, food and miscellaneous program expenses are regularly purchased for athletics, seniors, teens and toddler programs and activities such as Thanksgiving, Holiday, Valentine’s Day, New Years and the end of season parties. Additionally, the Department also provides food to Guild for the Blind and to the special needs population programs.
The Department has procedures in place to properly safeguard the delivery and safekeeping of these items. All programmed sites have proper refrigeration as mandated by the Department of Health. The managers at each site are tasked with assuring proper inventory controls and distribution to the children during regular After-School and summer programming along with maintaining the same safeguards and procedures during the other planned events and activities.
Rides and Inflatables
The Parks and Recreation Department holds multiple events for thousands of residents throughout the year that require the rental of rides and inflatables such as:
In the past, staff has found it very difficult to acquire identical quotes from inflatable and ride vendors as not all companies have the same products to offer. These special events are a very important staple in the City and the department would like to offer a variety of inflatable and rides from different local vendors throughout the year (Exhibit D).
The department will work with the respective departments to stay in compliance with the City’s established budgetary, procurement and administrative procedures.