Iowa City enters agreement with Block by Block, enhanced metropolitan cleaning service

In an effort to advance its Safe and Clean Downtown initiative, the Iowa City Downtown District has petitioned the city of Iowa City to enter a contract with Block by Block, a national firm specializing in cleaning, safety, and hospitality services in downtown districts. Block by Block currently services cities such as Des Moines, Milwaukee, Grand Rapids and South Bend, which have provided “positive feedback” on the company. “We did visit the Des Moines operation to tour their facilities and check out their operations and get a lay of the land downtown, and were impressed by their work maintaining the downtown district there,” said Darian Nagle-Gamm, Iowa City director of Transportation Services.

The new contract comes after years of ICDD and the transportation department searching for “the right partner” to provide thorough cleaning services. “The services that will be provided will be enhanced over what we had with our previous contractee,” said Ms. Nagle-Gamm, referring to ABM Industries, calling their work “substandard.” Block by Block services would include trash, litter and bodily fluid removal, weed control, manual mechanical cleaning, graffiti removal and detail cleaning, with the addition of hospitality and ambassador services. “(Ambassador services) include everything from public relations checks with the businesses, reporting referrals for quality of life issues, working with the downtown police liaison…we want them to represent this community with pride,” said Ms. Nagle-Gamm. “That’s not something that we’ve had before, so we’re really excited about that potential opportunity.” Downtown ambassadors will be equipped to capture and report daily metrics of provided services, incidents, and maintenance issues. “Collecting that data will allow us to get a real picture of what’s happening downtown – what our janitorial needs are, what our safety needs are, and be more strategic with how we allocate those resources throughout the downtown,” said Ms. Nagle-Gamm.

Contract fee more than double of previous janitorial service

The three-year contract starts at $710,000/year, with the city footing 86% of the bill and ICDD 14%. Renewal periods would not exceed 1.5%, said Ms. Nagle-Gamm, and financing would come from the city’s parking and general funds. Previously, the city was paying ABM Industries $320,000/year, making Block by Block’s contract “more than a 50% increase,” said mayor pro tem Mazahir Salih, who closely questioned the differences between the previous contractee’s services versus those of Block by Block. “I will say that this is an enormous amount of money. When I go into the parking ramps, I’ll be using my sniffer to see if bodily fluid smells are still there,” said Mayor Bruce Teague, which elicited a chuckle from the other council members. The proposal would include 260 hours a week of downtown cleaning, and an additional 168 hours a week to clean parking garages, approximately seven days a week and 16 hours a day, including early morning and late evening hours. A full-time, on-site operations manager would be hired to oversee daily operations, and staff, vehicles and equipment will be recognizable with ICDD branding. “You’re going to see an enhanced level of visibility and professionalism that we didn’t have before,” said Ms. Nagle-Gamm. The city will also lease a vacant space in the Court Street Transportation Center to the Downtown District at a below-market rate to serve as Block by Block’s primary office location. “All revenue that comes into that facility is earmarked for transit, so it will also be supporting transit,” said Ms. Nagle-Gamm.

Emphasis on staff

“I think the greatest value of this new contract with Block by Block is, they really focus on the staff, and they invest in their staff. So ultimately, those staff members really take pride in the place. And I think that’s something we can agree that will be a major benefit to the community,” said Betsy Potter, executive director of ICDD. Block by Block pays its employees $18.50 - $35/hour and includes benefits such as health care, dental insurance, paid vacations, free life insurance, 401k, birthday pay, and recognition and rewards programs. “It’s going to help attract people who can help support our downtown, in a greater way than maybe our previous contracts had,” said Ms. Nagle-Gamm, adding that the company hires locally. The city’s contract with ABM Industries expired April 1 and Block by Block’s services are contracted for June 1, which means transportation staff will be picking up the slack in the interim, said Ms. Nagle-Gamm. “I’m excited for this,” said council member Andrew Dunn. “I think it’s going to greatly increase the lived experience of our residents, visitors, our workers and business owners downtown.” Council member Megan Alter liked the fact that ambassador services will include evening escorts to parking ramps and other parking spaces, and noted that when she visited Grand Rapids, Michigan – one of Block by Block’s clients – the city was extremely clean. “The fact that this (plan) is already self-contained in this enterprise fund is a real testament to staff and to the collaboration to figure out ways to make things better, and pay for them in spite of all that we’re facing,” she said. Council members voted 6-0 to authorize the city manager to enter into and sign an agreement with Block by Block, with council member Laura Bergus absent. “(This) will hopefully make downtown safer, cleaner, and more welcoming,” said Ms. Potter.