A break-in or car careening into the living room can be scary enough for business or homeowners, but if it happens in the wee hours it can be doubly so as they have to worry about how to deal with the gaping hole before the sun comes up.
For more than two decades, Longmont has offered them a way to gain some peace of mind before they can begin to pick up the pieces. Through its on-call emergency board up service, the city dispatches someone to, as the name suggests, board up the hole until more permanent repairs can be made. And right now, the city is taking bids for providers of the service.
Longmont Emergency Communications Manager Kristine Mason has been with the city for 24 years and said there has always been an emergency board up service during her tenure. It could be employed for any number of circumstances from smash-and-grab burglaries to fires to car crashes, she said.
“It’s a security thing,” Mason said. “We don’t have the manpower on the street to have an officer stand by and guard a business for the rest of the night.”
While the service isn’t one that is frequently needed, Mason said it is typically used at least once a quarter.
The city contract for the service is awarded on a one-year basis with four options to renew, said Pam Roeding, a procurement specialist in the city’s Purchasing Department.
Among the key requirements is that a company or individual is able to respond within two hours, but that’s not the only guideline for would-be members of the “boarder” patrol. For example, emergency repairs must be made using bolts, not nails.
While being able to respond within two hours keeps the door open to companies from outside city limits, Mason said the city likes to promote and support local businesses whenever it can.
The city also often picks more than one provider, so there is ample response capability in the case of a catastrophe, Roeding said.
Bids are being accepted until Nov. 19. Learn more and see the full scope of requirements here.
