CITY SAVING MONEY FROM NEW JANITORIAL SERVICE
By Alexa Valentina Hemken – The Lagonian

Foster City’s City Council approved a contract for janitorial services with Little Giant that will cut costs in half over a three year period.
Starting in November and ending in Oct. 2013, Little Giant Building Maintenance, Inc will charge Foster City $66,000 a year for its services. The previous contract with U.S. Building Services cost $126,000.

The contract is for city facilities, including the Library, Recreation Center, Senior Wing, Police and Fire stations, and the Vibe Teen Center. Maintenance standards will remain the same.

The City received six bids for the services, and Little Giant’s was “significantly lower” than the rest, according to a report to the Council by Parks and Recreation Director Kevin Miller.

“After meeting with the company president, the low bid submitted was justified by the company’s ability to deploy staff in coordination with another of their locally serviced facilities,” said the report.

The company has been servicing Visa International on Metro Center Blvd since 1994, according to company officials, and the company also served the Foster Enterprise buildings on Gateway Drive about three years ago.

The City would have seen additional savings of approximately 22 to 47 percent if maintenance service standards had been reduced. However, the impact would have been negative, said the report by Parks and Recreation Director Miller. It would have included “noticeable smell in restrooms after heavy use on a non-service day,” more stains, smelly trash receptacles and an overall negative general appearance of City facilities.