Richard P. McLaughlin
Chief of Police
MEMORANDUM
TO: The Mayor and City Council
VIA: Marty Flemion
City Administrator
VIA: William Goddard
Deputy City Administrator
FROM: Richard P. McLaughlin
Chief of Police
DATE: May 18, 2017
SUBJECT: Contract Award for Towing Services
Introduction
The Laurel Police Department is a full-service, law enforcement agency within the State of Maryland and the primary law enforcement responder within the Laurel city limits. We have had a towing service contract in place for an extended period of time. We recently published a request for proposal to surrounding tow companies. Our current 3 providers were personally notified, 1 of which declined any further participation. A notice was published in the March 2, 2017 edition of the Laurel Leader, stating that the deadline for submissions was April 17, 2017 at 4:00 PM.
As a result of the RFP, 5 tow companies expressed an interest in providing towing services to the City of Laurel / Laurel Police Department, each of these businesses were provided an overview of the Towing Program and the mandated requirements.
Inspections were conducted of all the interested towing companies, which included inspections of their facilities, vehicles, and cleanliness of storage/office space, payment options (PG code), record keeping process, and meeting with management to discuss expectations of services provided.
Contract Award Recommendation for Towing Services
Page 2
The 5 companies that expressed interest were:
· Automated Support Towing & Recovery - Old Gunpowder Road Laurel, Maryland
· Hofmann Brothers Towing, Inc. – Sandy Spring Laurel, Maryland
· Lenny’s Towing – Kit Kat Road Elkridge, Maryland
· Morton’s Towing & Recovery – Washington Street, South Laurel, Maryland (AA)
· Past and Present – Academy Lane Laurel, Maryland
As a result of the inspections and overall review, in order to maintain our current rotational call list, it recommended that the following 3 towing companies be awarded a City of Laurel Towing Services Contract for a period of 2 years effective July 1, 2017. The recommendations are based upon the results of the inspections and compliance with our guidelines.
· Automated Support Towing & Recovery
· Hofmann Brothers Towing, Inc.
· Morton’s Towing and Recovery
I am requesting execution of the Towing Contracts with the above providers for a period of 2 years.