Brown’s Salvage of Denham Springs will likely sign into a contract later this week making them the University’s official wrecking service, according to Gary Graham, director of the Office of Parking, Traffic and Transportation.
“We’ve accepted a bid contingent on them meeting all specifications,” Graham said. “Brown’s Salvage was actually the only one to bid. I was a little surprised at that with as much effort as we made.”
The bid by Brown’s established a $98.50 fee for non-University owned vehicles towed to the University impound lot on campus. University owned vehicles will be charged $75 when needed to be towed to repair shops on or off campus. In previous contracts, University owned vehicles were not charged at all for towing.
“[The bid] was a little higher than we expected, but it is what it is,” Graham said. “That was the second time putting the bid out. The first time we put it out, it was [a bid for] $200, and that was way off the chart.”
The previous contract was between the University and Guy’s Towing Service, Inc. Non-University vehicles were charged a $48 fee per tow, not including additional charges, according to the contract.
Guy’s Towing declined to renew its contract for an additional year when it expired June 30. After losing money on the contract, Guy’s put out a $200 bid knowing it would be declined.
“When they sent out the contract to renew, we said we were not going to renew it,” said Burt King, owner of Guy’s Towing. “We didn’t want to because we couldn’t afford to lose any more money.”
Once the new contract is signed, Brown’s Salvage will be the University’s official wrecking service until June 30, 2009.
After June, Brown’s will have the option of renewing the existing contract for two additional 12-month periods if they so choose.
Michael Smith, coordinator at the University Purchasing Office, said the contract is not quite drawn up yet.
“They are not finished [with the contract] yet. The bid is still under review,” Smith said. “We are still waiting on some licensing information from the bidders, and we are hoping to have a contract in place sometime this week.”
Smith said the contract will be structured directly from Brown’s bid.
“We have to get the proper licensing information in place,” Smith said. “If they have everything in place and meet the specifications, we have to inspect their yard and make sure they have the proper licensing. But assuming that they meet the requirements, they will get the contract.”
Russell Brown, owner of Brown’s Salvage, hopes to start its contract strong by offering free roadside assistance for students.
“We are going to help students to the best of our abilities,” Brown said. “When we are on site, we are going to provide some free roadside assistance. If someone’s battery is dead, we can give them a jump. If they’ve locked their doors, we’ll have a lock kit on site also. If we have someone with a flat, we’ll go over there with our truck, change the tire and be on our way.”
—-Contact Tyler Harvey at [email protected]