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CITY OF PALM DESERT
DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
STAFF REPORT
REQUEST: Informational Item Concerning Shopping Cart Retrieval
SUBMITTED BY: Gary Rosenblum, Risk Manager
DATE: August 25, 2005
On May 26, 2005, City Council voted to engage a contractor for six months of shopping
cart retrieval services; therefore, a 14-day request for proposals was posted and
advertised. California Shopping Cart Retrieval Corporation, with headquarters in
Burbank, California, was responsive and provided the lowest bid and was awarded the
contract. An executed contract was received from them on July 25, 2005, and they
began providing cart retrieval service on July 26, 2005.
Their contracted services are as follows:
1. They will seek and retrieve shopping carts through all Palm Desert streets on an
every other day basis. Their service driver is located in the Coachella Valley.
2. In addition to patrolling the streets, the driver will locate and collect carts that
have been identified through the call -in number. The number for City employees
is (818) 563-3070 and for City residents is (800) 252-4613. Plans are underway
to promote this number locally through City methods.
3. They provide a live dispatcher from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. If the dispatcher is on
the phone, the call rolls over to a prompted message center that is checked
every 15 minutes during business hours. The message center takes calls 24/7.
4. They will provide at our request special sweep service 24 hours before parades
and major public events.
5. Contract is for six months per the City Council's directive.
6. Cost is on a "per cart" basis of $4.50 per cart, so we only pay for the service we
use. At 30 carts per week (the number Public Works currently averages for
collection), this is $135 or $3,240 over the six-month contract period.
7. They will provide a detailed monthly accounting of the owner of each cart
collected, the time and day the cart was collected, and the location where the
Informational Item -Shopping Cart Retrieval
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August 25, 2005
cart was picked up. After a few months we will have the data to do a trend
analysis providing information on the locations where carts tend to be left, and
the stores that have the weakest cart retention programs. They will also provide
data on calls made reporting carts.
8. If the progress of the service goes well, we will seek to renew the contract for a
longer time period.
9. Retailers who show weak cart retention programs will be contacted by the City to
request that they improve their programs and reduce the number of carts they
lose into the City streets.
10.As per City Council's directive, no ordinance is being considered at this time.
Submitted By: Departmen ead:
Gary Rosenblum
Risk Manager
Approval:
-i-a,Carlos L. Orteg
City Manager
Paul Gibson
Director of Finance/City Treasurer
Homer Cro
ACM for Dev
ent Services
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