Traverse City’s 2022 parking procurement: bids, recommendation and approved authorization

What the solicitation requested

Traverse City's parking-management solicitation set a proposal deadline of September 27, 2022. Its cost-and-services table asked vendors to provide pricing for a five-year contract and licenses for up to two license plate readers and LPR software. The cost cells in the retained document are blank, so this record does not supply a bidder's price or a city expenditure. [1]

A later equipment row in the same solicitation asks for a minimum two camera sets and an add-on price for additional units. A separate row asks for at least two sets of associated laptops, citation printers, and other hardware. These are minimum bid requirements and quantity instructions, not an installed-camera count. [1]

What the bid tabulation records

The official bid tabulation due September 27, 2022 records four vendors: Cardinal Tracking, Iparq, T2 Systems and IPS Group. Pricing is split across software, hosting, LPR, hardware and variable charges. T2's entries include $15,665 for LPR software and $66,890 for LPR hardware, continuing onto page 2. The table's Remarks / 5 Years column presents submitted pricing, not a payment record or an awarded contract. Different fixed and variable entries should not be added into supposedly comparable vendor totals. [3]

A staff recommendation with a date discrepancy

A staff memorandum in the October 21, 2022 DDA packet recommends that the DDA Board recommend City Commission execution of a five-year T2 Systems agreement for approximately $260,000. It identifies the Auto Parking System Fund and approvals still required. The memorandum is internally dated September 12, 2022 although it appears in the October 21 packet and describes bids. This date discrepancy is preserved here. The recommendation is not a DDA or City approval, award, executed contract, or expenditure. [4]

A recorded action in draft minutes

Draft October 21, 2022 DDA minutes included in the November 18 packet record a consent-calendar item for a five-year Parking Management Software agreement. The minutes record approval of the consent calendar as presented, with ten affirmative votes, none opposed and two absent. This provides a recorded DDA action beyond the earlier staff recommendation. The minutes' consent item does not itself name T2 or state a dollar amount, and the retained copy is marked Draft. [5]

A later draft account of adoption

A later record supplies an adoption trail: draft November 18 minutes included in the December 16 packet record approval of a consent calendar containing the October 21 minutes, with seven affirmative votes, none opposed and five absent. Because the retained November minutes are also marked Draft, this is a later recorded account of adoption, not a separately certified final copy. [6]

Pay-by-plate guidance describes a different process

The city's parking-information page says that several locations use pay-by-plate and instructs drivers there to enter a license plate number at a pay station instead of a space number. That guidance describes a payment step. It does not say that automated cameras read plates, identify the equipment selected under the 2022 solicitation, or connect parking data to a police network. [2]

Procurement requirements are not implementation proof

The historical solicitation shows capabilities and quantities the city asked bidders to price. It does not establish an award, installation, or police access, and it does not identify a selected vendor, final equipment, completed purchase, retention rule, or sharing practice. Treating a request for proposals as an inventory would erase the decision and contracting steps that may follow a solicitation. [1] [2]

Follow and reproduce the procurement trail

Start with the solicitation’s deadline on PDF page 2, pricing request on page 17, and equipment rows on page 19. Compare the bid tabulation and earlier DDA recommendation with the November 21 City Commission packet, pages 29–31. Read the approved November 21 minutes, pages 2, 4 and 10, for the T2 authorization, vote and December 5 approval date; then the approved December 5 minutes, pages 1–2 and 5, for the adoption account. These records do not establish the executed agreement’s terms, amounts invoiced, equipment accepted, or data-handling practices. [1] [3] [4] [7] [9] [10]

A later recommendation with a higher ceiling

The November 21, 2022 City Commission packet presents a later recommendation to authorize a five-year T2 Systems agreement with a ceiling of $330,000. The accompanying October 24 staff memo breaks that figure into $204,000 for software and related services, $104,000 for adding a second vehicle’s LPR and replacing equipment only if needed, and $22,000 for a testing instance only if needed. This differs from the earlier DDA memorandum’s approximately $260,000 recommendation. The later figure is a proposed spending ceiling with contingent components, not an invoice or proof every component was purchased. [7]

A City Commission authorization in approved minutes

The approved November 21, 2022 City Commission minutes authorize the Mayor and City Clerk to execute a five-year T2 Systems agreement for parking management software services, with a ceiling of $330,000 and funds available in the Auto Parking System Fund. The agreement is subject to approval of substance by the City Manager and form by the City Attorney. Consent item d(2) appears on page 2; page 4 records consent-calendar approval by six affirmative votes, none opposed and one absent, with no items listed as removed. Page 10 bears the deputy clerk’s signature and states that the minutes were approved December 5, 2022. This is an approved authorization record, not the executed agreement or proof of expenditure. [9]

The minutes adoption trail

The approved December 5 minutes provide the adoption trail. Page 1 places approval of the November 21 minutes in consent item d(1), and page 2 records that the amended consent-calendar motion carried. The item listed as removed concerns a volleyball court project, not approval of the minutes. This consent motion gives no roll-call count; the separate 6–0–1 vote on the following page belongs to the volleyball item. Page 5 bears the deputy clerk’s signature and an approval date of December 19, 2022. [10]

Sources

1. City of Traverse City parking management software request for proposals, 2022PDF pp. 2, 17 and 19; deadline, cost-and-services table and equipment rowsSource URL: https://www.traversecitymi.gov/userfiles/filemanager/2a26g8e5rfujmvblsbky
2. City of Traverse City parking rates and payment guidanceHTML section How do I pay for parking at a pay station?Source URL: https://www.traversecitymi.gov/government/city-departments/public-parking/parking-rates-and-payments/paying-for-parking.html
3. Traverse City parking-management software bid tabulation, September 27, 2022PDF pp. 1-2; T2 Systems row continues at top of p. 2 before IPS GroupSource URL: https://www.traversecitymi.gov/userfiles/filemanager/9t288ohhp27zaaub9hjo
4. Traverse City Downtown Development Authority packet, October 21, 2022PDF pp. 23-24, staff recommendation; memo printed September 12, 2022 although in the October 21 packet and describing bidsSource URL: https://traversecitymi.civicweb.net/document/69742/Downtown%20Development%20Authority%20Regular%20Meeting%20.pdf?handle=627CEC319CD04771B32FA445548B2ACE
5. Traverse City DDA packet, 2022-11-18 (included minutes marked Draft)PDF pp. 7–8, Draft October 21 minutes; p. 8 item (d)(3) and consent voteSource URL: https://traversecitymi.civicweb.net/document/71368
6. Traverse City DDA packet, 2022-12-16 (included minutes marked Draft)PDF pp. 13–14, Draft November 18 minutes; p. 14 item (d)(1) and consent voteSource URL: https://traversecitymi.civicweb.net/document/73061
7. Traverse City City Commission packet, November 21, 2022PDF p.29 manager recommendation dated Nov17; pp.30–31 staff memorandum dated Oct24 and conditional cost breakdownSource URL: https://traversecitymi.civicweb.net/document/71653/City%20Commission%20Regular%20Meeting%20-%2021%20Nov%202022.pdf?handle=9B571D5761154D6DB19679CD233AB10E
8. Traverse City City Commission packet, December 5, 2022PDF p.7 submission of November21 minutes; visibly Draft-watermarked p.9 itemd(2), T2 authorization; p.11 consent vote6–0–1 and blank removed-item sectionSource URL: https://traversecitymi.civicweb.net/document/72325/City%20Commission%20Regular%20Meeting%20-%2005%20Dec%202022.pdf?handle=DB32FD00DA1C45299F63E05FC3BF2DAD
9. Traverse City City Commission approved minutes, November 21, 2022PDF p.2 consent d(2), five-year T2 authorization and $330,000 ceiling; p.4 consent vote6-0-1 and empty removed-item section; p.10 deputy clerk signature and Approved: December5,2022Source URL: https://traversecitymi.civicweb.net/document/72275
10. Traverse City City Commission approved minutes, December 5, 2022PDF p.1 consent d(1), approval of November21 minutes; p.2 carried amended consent and volleyball item removed; p.5 deputy clerk signature and Approved: December19,2022Source URL: https://traversecitymi.civicweb.net/document/73230