8g. Memo
New Unified Pest Management Contract
COMMISSION AGENDA MEMORANDUM Item No. 8g ACTION ITEM Date of Meeting November 14, 2023 DATE: July 7, 2023 TO: Stephen P. Metruck, Executive Director FROM: Tino Petterson, Unified Pest Management Airport Operations SUBJECT: New Unified Pest Management Contract Amount of this request: $7,000,000 Total estimated contract cost: $7,000,000 ACTION REQUESTED Requesting Commission authorization for the Executive Director to competitively bid and execute a Unified Pest Management (UPM) contract with a duration of up to five years, not to exceed value of $7,000,000. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Port operates a Unified Pest Management (UPM) Program that coordinates pest control measures across the airport to reduce and eliminate root causes of pest activity before pest issues become health and safety concerns and centralizes pest reporting for all airport tenants. The UPM program was created in 2013 and has grown substantially. I n 2016, pest populations both increased and became more visible. This surge required the Port to increase pest control services and contract value to address growing pest concerns holistically. The pest outbreak was effectively managed by mid-2019, although some areas still require regular attention. Pest reporting declined from 2019 through 2022, likely driven by a reduction of pests and by Covid impacts on operations, passenger volumes, waste stream volumes, and staffing numbers. As operations increase to pre-Covid levels pest reporting began to rise and is expected to continue increasing. Only through outreach, education, and preventative measures will the number continue to go down, maintaining a healthy and safe airport. Funding for the current contract will expire on May 31, 2024. The new contract will maintain a similar level of service and the value is estimated at $7,000,000 for the next 5 years. Services will include the same scope of work to cover all airport locations and maintaining proactive pest control helps prevent future outbreaks and keeps costs lower. Template revised January 10, 2019. COMMISSION AGENDA – Action Item No. 8g Page 2 of 5 Meeting Date: November 14, 2023 JUSTIFICATION Requested funds will allow for a continuity of efforts already underway through May 31, 2029. Prior to the implementation of the UPM program in 2013, airport tenants contracted their pest control services independently, with little information available to the Port by which to determine the type and magnitude of concern the tenants faced or what kind of control methods their contactors were using to address them. Today the UPM program has 100% enrollment of all concessions and airline tenants. UPM gives the Port the ability to track all pest reports at the airport to better manage the needed action. The UPM Working Group is comprised of many Port departments, including Airport Dining and Retail, Port Construction Services, Aviation Maintenance, Environmental, and Facilities and Infrastructure to better remediate pest issues by addressing items that contribute to the problem, such as small openings that need to be sealed off to prevent pest access. Pest issues are reported to UPM through a safety hotline (206-787-SAFE). Call-in data are used to identify problem areas, determine best practices, and monitor contractor response times. Consequently, the Port’s unified program has been successful in tracking and identifying where pest hotspots are and what contributing factors need to be addressed promptly. The program continuity is necessary to monitor and control pests as the airport continues to get busier and generate more activity and waste. UPM effectiveness is evaluated annually to monitor and analyze pest activity as influenced by passenger volumes, new construction activity, and compliance of higher sanitation standards. The new contract will service all existing and new airport square footage. Increased passenger volume and construction activity at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) drove the necessity for expanding pest management level of services to maintain a healthy and safe environment. Construction across the airport, specifically the new A Concourse Expansion, C Concourse Expansion, Baggage Optimization, South Satellite, and Perimeter Road Work has been disturbing habitat, requiring additional pest monitoring. Additionally, significant increases in passenger traffic post-Covid has led to an increase in waste generation, sanitation challenges, and a rapid increase in certain pest populations, requiring diligent control measures. Maintaining the current level of service will address these factors, while still providing adequate pest control in conjunction with Port oversight to improve tenant sanitation and waste stream challenges. The Port hired a full-time UPM Coordinator in 2022 to oversee and coordinate airport pest control, allowing the Port to reduce some contracted services while maintaining current levels of proactive control and oversight. The UPM Working Group, with broad departmental representation, along with the Portcontracted pest control service provider, have worked aggressively over the past 5 years to respond to and keep pest issues under control. In 2023, the Working Group evaluated and reprioritized Port and tenant responsibilities to reduce pest attractants responsible for increasing pest numbers. Under UPM, the Port provides services to tenants on a cost recovery basis under Template revised June 27, 2019 (Diversity in Contracting). COMMISSION AGENDA – Action Item No. 8g Page 3 of 5 Meeting Date: November 14, 2023 Airport Tariffs. The UPM tariff is evaluated annually to recover costs and increased for benefits of UPM. This holistic approach to pest control has been much more successful than treating spaces independently, which does not address root problems and has led to moving pest problems between spaces. It is critical that the Port continue current efforts to ensure the ongoing health and safety of the traveling public and airport employees. DETAILS In early 2018, the pest contractor responded to many more emergency call outs beyond the proactive work they had been doing. By May 2018 it became clear that one technician per day could not handle all pest management needs and 24/7 coverage was justified. With a rise in pest complaints/sightings by the public and an increase of complaints to King County Public Health and Washington Department of Labor and Industry it was urgent that the contractor increase resources and technologies immediately, raising the cost of the contract well past its original scope and budget. Since the contract increase and proactive 24/7 pest response there have been no additional complaints issued by King County Public Health. For the areas serviced today, rodent numbers declined under the higher level of control efforts and increased implementation of sanitation audit results. The existing level of effort was required to reach greater than 90 percent eradication, and the current goal of the UPM is to prevent another population uptick in other pest population in the absence of rodents and in rodents themselves due to their high reproduction rates. The Port audits tenant spaces to further improve sanitation and seal off all pest entry points. Sanitation audits were added to the scope of the current pest control contract in 2019. Tracking call-in data, pest data, and condition data (collected from sanitation audits and other Port inspections) allows the Port to more efficiently allocate resources to eliminate conditions conducive to pests. The goal was to reduce costs of the UPM program even with additional building square footage over next 5 years by hiring a fulltime Port UPM Coordinator, improving airport sanitation, and reducing pest attractants and access. UPM Efforts to-date: • Updated Pest Hazard data entry and location (Safety Events) in Veoci. • Hired a new Unified Pest Management Coordinator for Airport Operations. • Equipped more areas above drop ceilings with additional control methods. • Provided guidance and training on best practices to reduce opportunities for pests. • Stricter sanitation audits of tenant spaces. • Increased pest control vender presence to 24/7. • Aviation Maintenance secured pest access points into the terminal. • Pest remediation at construction sites. Template revised June 27, 2019 (Diversity in Contracting). COMMISSION AGENDA – Action Item No. 8g Page 4 of 5 Meeting Date: November 14, 2023 ALTERNATIVES AND IMPLICATIONS CONSIDERED Alternative 1 – Do not renew the existing contract. The current contract will run out of funds in June 2024. Pest services would end until there was time to get a new contract in place, which could take several months. Cost Implications: $0 Pros: (1) None. Cons: (1) The current Pest control contract would end, pest numbers would increase and the health and safety of passengers and those working at the airport would be compromised. (2) The Port will receive more notices from King County Public Health and Washington Department of Labor and Industries regarding pest-related complaints. This is not the recommended alternative. Alternative 2 – Create our own Integrated Pest Management Team to do the work done by our previous contractors (Rentokil, Sprague). This work would include monthly services, pest safety events, weekly follow ups, sanitation audits, treatments, etc. Cost Implications: $ 850,000 per year Pros: (1) System created in Veoci to collect and document all data. (2) Reduce the current budget about 15%. (3) Sustain current levels of rodent and insect control currently in place. (4) 24/7 coverage. (5) Additional personnel for snow (ramp task force). Cons: (1) Port retains 100% of the liability and responsibility. (2) Independent contractor maintains industry awareness of pest controls and practices. (3) Port would not have certification and licensing of this work prior to the current service contract expiration. This is not the recommended alternative for 2024. Alternative 3 – Competitively bid/start a New Unified Pest Management Contract by June 1, 2024- May 2029 using existing scope of work. Cost Implications: $7,000,000 ($1,400,000 per year) Template revised June 27, 2019 (Diversity in Contracting). COMMISSION AGENDA – Action Item No. 8g Page 5 of 5 Meeting Date: November 14, 2023 Pros: (1) Sustains the level of rodent abatement and insect control currently in place through May 2029. (2) Airport will maintain oversight of pest control actions taking place with all required data to make the best management decisions in correcting issues. (3) Current lease agreements remain in effect without renegotiation. Cons: (1) None. This is the recommended alternative. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS In 2018 our baseline was approved for $5,000,000 over a 5-year period. However, in April 2019 an emergency action request was approved for $7,000,000 (additional $2,000,000) to help control an unprecedented pest issue, by Increasing the services and reducing the reaction time to these events. As we’ve become more proactive and our response times improve, our pest populations have diminished allowing the return to the 2018 baseline, ($1M/Year X 5 years). ATTACHMENTS TO THIS REQUEST (1) Presentation PREVIOUS COMMISSION ACTIONS OR BRIEFINGS (1) April 23, 2019 – The Commission authorization for the Executive Director to execute a new contract for an estimated value of $7,000,000 for Unified Pest Management at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. This action requests increased contract authority compared to the $5,000,000 Unified Pest Management authorization of November 13, 2018. (2) November 13, 2018 – The Commission authorized to: (1) increase the value of the current Unified Pest Management contract at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport by $550,000 to continue current services from January 2019 through June 2019; and (2) competitively bid and execution of new 5-year follow-on contract (commencing on or about July 1, 2019, and continuing through June 30, 2024) for 5 years for a base year and additional four 1-year options for an estimated amount of $5,000,000. (3) September 8, 2015 – The Commission authorized execution of contract for commercial pest management services at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport’s main terminal, North and South Satellites, parking garage, and several other Port-owned buildings at the Airport. The total estimated cost of the contract(s) is $1,200,000 for a 5-year contract. Template revised June 27, 2019 (Diversity in Contracting).
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