In 2018, the Village hired a consulting firm to conduct a downtown parking study and make recommendations on how to improve the downtown parking system. Among those recommendations was the installation of a parking guidance system. Parking improvements were presented to the Board at a Committee-of-the-Whole meeting in January 2019 and the Board directed staff to move forward with implementation of various improvements. The Village has $750,000 allocated in the Parking Fund for downtown parking enhancements.
A Request for Proposals was developed and publicly advertised earlier this year for a parking guidance system, with five proposals received. The base cost is for the guidance system, which will include four signs at the entrances to the Vail Garage displaying how many spaces are available on each level, and LED lights throughout the garage (except level 5) that signify if a space(s) is open. The alternate is for additional directional signage on levels 4 and 5 to direct drivers to where, and how many, additional parking spaces are located.
The five proposals are as follows:
Vendor Base Cost Alternate (Additional Signs)
Quercus $348,132 not provided
ECO Technologies $349,333 $22,000
Q Free $490,444 $4,400
Park Assist $579,611 $3,400
Amano $ 793,638 $16,756
ECO Technologies included new lighting in the Vail Garage in their proposal for an additional $119,675, which includes installation. It should be noted that the Village has allocated funds in the CIP to replace lighting in the Vail Garage in 2021/2022. The ECO LED lighting system requires approximately one-half as many fixtures compared to the current configuration, as the lighting offered by ECO is down the center of the drive aisles and provides significantly enhanced lighting. The parking guidance LED lights and camera based monitoring system are connected to the lighting for power. Although the guidance system can stand alone without the lights, Staff recommends purchasing the lighting since new lighting is planned anyway. A significant benefit of the light fixtures is that they dim to a lower level (but still providing safe lighting levels above the current level in the garage) when there is no movement detected, thus saving energy costs. The Village can adjust the lighting levels with these fixtures to appropriate levels as well, but the lights do provide significantly better lighting to enhance safety. Each of the fixtures/guidance system monitors six parking spaces and is camera based. Since the system is wireless, the infrastructure to operate the system is far less than the other systems, which are not wireless based but rather connected via conduit.
Staff interviewed two firms, ECO Technologies and Park Assist. Although impressed with both firms, Staff recommends ECO Technologies for the following reasons:
1. Pricing;
2. System is wireless and cloud based, thus this system has the least amount of infrastructure;
3. New lighting will greatly enhance the garage and is tied into the parking guidance cameras and lights;
4. Demo lights and guidance system were installed monitoring 36 spaces on the 4th level which provided a first hand opportunity to evaluate the system; and
5. References from others who have this system were positive.
There is an annual fee for software to run the system ($13,000 year 1), which can be offset by savings in electricity with the new light fixtures. Software updates are provided, and this system will provide real time ongoing data to the Village on how each parking space is utilized all day throughout the year.
Recommendation
It is recommended that the Village Board accept the proposal from ECO Technologies and authorize the Village Manager to enter into a contract for a parking guidance system and garage lighting for the Vail Garage, not to exceed $491,000 from the Parking Fund. It is recommended further that the Municipal Parking Fund budget be amended by transferring $491,000 from Parking Fund reserves to account 235-7101-571-50-25.