JEA is working toward a plan to install GPS equipment in its fleet of vehicles and equipment to bring more accountability and efficiency to the public utility.
The next round of demonstrations with three applicants is scheduled Nov. 21 to determine which company will be awarded the contract for the almost $1.5 million project.
JEA originally selected Mississippi-based SkyGuard for the project, which bid $1,419,090.
But shortly after JEA made the decision to award the contract to SkyGuard, part of the company was purchased by Wireless Matrix, also a bidder for the contract.
JEA deemed SkyGuard “no longer capable of performing JEA’s GPS services” because it no longer owned the solution that it offered in its bid.
Also, the other two companies, SageQuest and Utility Associates, filed complaints with the JEA stating that they were not being judged to the same standard as SkyGuard.
The president of Utility Associates said he hopes that the complaint won’t affect the judging for the contract.
“To be fair, we would hope that they could change their review committee to a group that hasn’t been exposed to our complaint,” said Ted Davis, president of Utility Associates.
“We think that we have the best product, and that’s why we are continuing with the process,” he said.
Stuart Kerr, vice president of sales and marketing for SageQuest, was equally confident about the abilities of his company’s product.
“We want to do what’s right for JEA. We’ve been at it for a while and we want to make it work for them. I think we have the best solution for them,” said Kerr.
Ohio-based SageQuest will supply the first demonstration of the day at 10:30 a.m. and its bid of $1,841,514 was originally the lowest bid after SkyGuard.
It will be followed by Georgia-based Utility Associates at 2 p.m. It bid $1,992,930.
Wireless Matrix, located in Herndon, Va., declined to participate in the demonstration. The company bid $2,054,320 for the contract, which was the highest bid. Wireless Matrix did not respond to requests for comment.
The project will allow the JEA to track factors that include location of vehicles, daily mileage, track average and maximum speeds, track ignition off-time, proximity of vehicles to other vehicles, and an alert for when the system loses communication with the vehicle user.
356-2466