TO:
Honorable Mayor Powell and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
David N. Carmany, City Manager
FROM:
Bruce Moe, Finance Director
Gwen Eng, General Services Manager
SUBJECT: Title
Grant Funded Purchase of One Replacement Sewer Jetter Truck for the Public Works Department from Plumbers Depot Inc. in the Amount of $287,430.96.
APPROVE
Body
____________________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the City Council:
a) Waive formal bidding per Municipal Code Section 2.36.150 (cooperative purchasing); and b) Authorize the City Manager to award an order for one CNG (compressed natural gas) sewer jetter truck to Plumbers Depot Inc. in the amount of $287,430.96.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: The total cost to purchase this vehicle is $287,430.96, which is funded by AB 2766 (Motor Vehicle Registration Fee) Subvention Fund. By using these funds, the City takes advantage of grant monies and lessens the impact on the Fleet Management Fund.
DISCUSSION:
The fiscal year (FY) 2012-2013 budget includes the replacement of 61 vehicles in the City's fleet. The list includes a wide variety of vehicles that need to be replaced in order to maintain service levels, reduce repair costs and provide for cost-effective fleet operations. The list represents several "catch-up" years when the fleet was not actively replaced due to budget constraints. Where possible and practical, alternative fuel vehicles have been selected, with eight such vehicles on the list replacing traditional fuel vehicles.
This recommended purchase is for a replacement CNG sewer jetter truck, which will be used by the Public Works Department - Utilities Division for routine sewer and storm drain maintenance. Jetter trucks are utilized by City crews to clean sewer pipes through the use of high pressure water streams which scour the inside of pipes, cuts roots and removes debris blockages. The current unit, purchased in 1991, has aged to the point where the high-pressure water pump operates at half of its peak efficiency. In addition, the truck itself requires constant maintenance and repairs, and is no longer economically feasible to maintain. There are 88 miles of sewer pipe in the City that are scheduled to be cleaned twice per year. Proper maintenance reduces the occurrence of sewer backups.
Additionally, the City's storm water permit from the State Water Board requires that the City control the bacteria levels at all storm system outfalls. The only method to meet this requirement is to clean the storm pipes of all debris and sediment that create bacteria. This new unit will be used for this purpose. There are 14 miles of storm drain pipe in the City, which will be placed on a maintenance schedule.
Whenever practical, the City "piggybacks" onto contracts which are economically advantageous. In this case, Plumbers Depot Inc. has offered the City pricing from two competitively bid contracts, which when combined, meet the specifications for our sewer jetter truck.
The first contract is with the City of Santa Monica for the base vehicle, which was awarded in 2010, with a vehicle cost of $251,360 (2010 pricing is still in effect), which includes delivery. The City of Santa Monica issued a formal bid in April 2010 for three sewer jetter trucks and received eleven responses from seven vendors. Of those responses, the City of Santa Monica awarded an order to the lowest responsive bidder, Plumbers Depot Inc. Staff recommends utilizing the Santa Monica bid to obtain the desired base vehicle since staff would have followed the exact same steps to obtain prices for this vehicle; consequently, it is unlikely that there would be an advantage gained by requesting formal bids.
The second contract is with the County of Los Angeles, which was for a different base vehicle, but which also enumerated optional equipment required for the Manhattan Beach truck. This optional equipment, which includes an aluminum shroud, automatic level wind for the hose reel, wireless pendant control and vertical exhaust, totals $22,711.00. These options may be added to the Santa Monica base vehicle, which will then meet the City of Manhattan Beach specifications.
Based on these available piggyback opportunities, staff recommends City Council award an order to Plumbers Depot Inc. in the amount of $287,430.96 for the purchase of one sewer jetter truck. The price includes the trade-in of the old vehicle #524 in the amount of $10,000. If this vehicle were sold at auction, the estimated value is between $7,500 and $9,500 based on recent advertisements for commercial trucks. If this purchase is approved, the new vehicle will be placed into service in approximately seven months.