The Torrey Pines Gliderport lease may finally be coming up for a bid soon (It's been 15 years since that's happened). This topic is intended to help the flying community be better involved in that process.

That involvement might include watching for the RFP, bidding on the lease, being members of teams that might bid on the lease, or just providing input to help ensure that whoever gets the lease is more tuned to serving the needs of pilots.

I will update this first post with additional information as it comes in. Please post any thoughts or ideas to this topic.

Thanks!!

==== Helpful Links and Information (last updated: October 5, 2013) ====

• City of San Diego Bids and Contracts Page: http://www.sandiego.gov/purchasing/bids-contracts/index.shtml
   
• DemandStar Listing Page: http://www.demandstar.com/supplier/bids/agency_inc/bid_list.asp?f=search&LP=BB&mi=1487197 *
   
• What's an "RFP"? - Most governments should be very careful about ensuring that they do business in a fair and open manner. This means that they generally try to follow a fair and open process for awarding contracts and leases. This process usually involves making a "public" announcement about upcoming opportunities so everyone has a fair chance to bid on them. I quoted the term "public" because these "public" announcements often aren't quite as publicly accessible as the public might want. You generally have to know where to look. In this case, you have to sign up with a service (DemandStar.com) to get access to the announcements (see the link above for more details). In any case, the government agency usually announces the opportunity in the form of a "Request for Proposals" (RFP). The RFP states what the agency is looking to purchase and it lists various qualifications and other parameters for the kinds of proposals they would like to get. The RFP usually lists a time frame for submission of proposals and it might also list special meetings that the agency holds for questions and answers about the requested purchase. Anyone who is interested in bidding can then put together (write) their own proposal as to how they would fill that purchase request. The proposals often include pricing information, experience, and even key personnel who might be involved. At the end of the submission period, the government agency reviews all of the proposals and chooses one (or sometimes more) "winners" who either get the contract directly or are selected to submit more detailed proposals eventually leading to a further selection and a contract award. The time window for submission proposals can vary. In my experience, it can be from 30 days to 120 days. But it can be shorter, so it's important for anyone interested to keep a watch out for the RFP so they can respond within that time frame. Additionally (very important in this case) people who are interested can begin to form their own ideas and teams even before the RFP is announced. That way they'll be ready to start writing as soon as possible. So in this case, people (or organizations) can begin to think about how they might want to see the Torrey Pines Gliderport operated and managed. They can also begin to seek partnerships that will ensure that their proposal is strong (gives the City a good feeling that they will do a good job). This is all part of bidding on this kind of contract.
   
• How much money is at stake? - The recent Torrey Pines Concessionaires (David Jebb and Robin Marien) have not been very open about disclosing how much money they make. But we can estimate it with ball park accuracy. One of their primary sources of income is tandem flights. They charge $150 for each PG tandem and $200 for each HG tandem. They typically pay the pilot $50 per flight. So that means that the concession keeps about $100 per flight (since most flights are PG flights). So if we assume 10 flights per day (which is probably low on weekends, but high on weekdays), then that's $100 x 10 x 365 days a year ... or $365,000 a year. That's just an estimated income from the tandem flights alone ... after the pilots have already been paid. The concessionaire also makes money from equipment sales, day use fees, annual passes, instruction, and the restaurant. They may even make money from special events held on the property (although neither Robin nor Jebb have been open about disclosing it). It's hard to say how much that adds up to, but it probably more than fills in for the days when there are less than the 10 tandems per day that I used in my estimate. Since there's no cost to the lease, I would guess that the Torrey concessionaire (Robin himself) is keeping between $300,000 and $500,000 a year from that operation. In fact, one time, I did overhear him bragging to someone that he was making a figure somewhere around that range.

* I am not happy that the City of San Diego is now requiring all citizens to go through an outside company ("Onvia DemandStar" in this case) to view what should be a public process conducted on the City's own web site. Isn't that why the taxpayers pay for the City to have a web site ... so they can post information for the public? But that's another battle. For now, if we want to keep on top of this particular lease, we have to go to "demandstar.com" and if we want to view what should be public information we have to register. Note that they only allow you to monitor ONE entity for free. So if you're interested in looking for bid opportunities from 2 different entities (like San Diego and Chula Vista), then you have to pay their $100 registration fee.

Here's a copy of the email announcement I just sent out to members of the Torrey Hawks Hang Gliding Club about the potential RFP:



I encourage all other clubs to send (or post) similar messages informing their members about this opportunity.

Hi Margie,

Thanks. You know almost as well as anyone what we've gone through with that concession over the years!!  

I do have a job that would be very helpful if you don't mind.  

If you go to that link:

   http://www.sandiego.gov/purchasing/bids-contracts/index.shtml

it's got a web site and a phone number for how to get automated RFP information for the City of San Diego. It's through a third-party company (DemandStar), and they want you to sign up for an account to get automated RFP information. It looks like they're trying to charge people for the service in general, but I also think their contract with the City of San Diego may require them to provide free access to people who just want to check the City of San Diego's RFP listings.

So if you wouldn't mind going through the process of registering for the free service and then documenting it here (on this forum) that would be great. You may have to call the phone number for help (I called them this morning and they were pretty friendly). If you give us a good clear description on how to do it, that would empower others to track it as well. I'd like to have lots of eyeballs checking that site so we don't miss the announcement.

Then when you're signed up, please check to see if there are any RFP's posted regarding the Gliderport. Please post anything you find or any updates you get.

That would be a big help for everyone interested in seeing a fair bidding process!!   

Thanks!!

Looking into information regarding RFPs (Request for Proposals) in the city of San Diego, you’ll need to click on this site:
http://www.sandiego.gov/purchasing/bids-contracts/index.shtml


This will take you to a site that the city of San Diego uses for their proposals and bids. There’s a link to a subcontractor who gives out the information. They are called DemandStar and they offer a free service.



The window that comes up after you click on the DemandStar link.

You can choose to register , but they will be looking for a company name. I haven’t found a way to register without a company name


I clicked on Account Info and it took me to the next screen shown below. This is where you can choose to sign up for a free account or pay $100 for an account. I choose the middle one (free).




I went ahead and filled it out with my own information, but I put in a bogus company name. And when it came to answering the other questions regarding information – I just made it up. I’ll hear back from then in the next 48 hours.



You can call them at 1-800-711-1712. Hours: 6am to 4pm Monday - Friday

Wow! Thanks! You really know your way around posting stuff. I don't know how to do what you just did above.

You mean like this kind of stuff?

I'm so clueless I don't even know if I mean that. I did have a snip-it or some such thing on my computer but I couldn't figure it out and just un-installed it.
I feel like I'm loosing the fight with the flu right now in spite of getting the shot. I think being wounded in Viet Nam was even better than this.
Gee but I feel lousy.
I was even doing the obsessive/compulsive routine of wiping my hands with WetOnes that I had added 91% alcohol to each time I got back in the car.

Does the concessionaire pay taxes to the city as a % of income? Is the tax paid private or public? Does the concessionaire pay a tax on income to the city? Or do they just pay a business license and only pay state and federal income taxes?

Margie ... SUPER JOB on posting those instructions!!!   

Bill ... Margie is a professional. Don't try this at home.        
    p.s. Margie's daughter Sonja is an artist and she drew that little laughing rolling icon just for us.

Skydog ... I took the liberty of converting your .tiff file into a .jpeg file. For some reason, my browser doesn't show tiff's directly, and it shows up as a download. But JPEG's, GIF's, and PNG's seem to work. Here's the JPEG version of your TIFF file (THANKS!!):



Joe ... I don't think the concessionaire pays anything more to the City of San Diego in taxes than any other business would. They don't pay the city a dime for the use of that property, but they do have to maintain liability insurance.