Report to Mayor and City Council
Wednesday, July 05, 2023
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER APPROVAL OF THE PURCHASE OF ONE NEW ELECTRIC POWERED FORD 2023 TRANSIT CARGO VAN PREVIOUSLY APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL ON MARCH 7, 2023 (CITY COUNCIL)
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I. SUMMARY
The Public Works Department is seeking approval to purchase a new electric Ford Transit Cargo Van (W9C) T-350 148" Med RF 9500 GVWR RWD (Van) which was previously presented for Council approval at the March 7, 2023, City Council Meeting (Exhibit 2). The amount that was presented and approved by the City Council on said date was based on an estimate quote from the supplier which did not include the sales tax and tire charges and ultimately resulted in staff being unable to purchase the two Vans. Consequently, staff proceeded with procuring one of the Vans due to the immediate needs of the Custodial operations.
With anticipated supply chain delays impacting the availability of a few of our current fleet purchases, staff has obtained an updated quote for the second Van in the amount of $61,836.95 (Exhibit 3) in order to secure our purchase with the vendor who has one Van available at this time.
The Purchasing Manager has waived the bidding requirements and requirement to enter into a contract, as permitted under the Carson Municipal Code Section 2611(g) (bidding) and Section 2605(b) (Exhibit 5).
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
TAKE the following actions:
1. WAIVE the formal bidding procedures as defined by the Carson Municipal
Code, Section 2610; and
2. AUTHORIZE the Purchasing Manager to issue a Purchase Order in the
amount not to exceed $61,836.95 for purchase of one new electric powered Ford 2023 Transit Cargo Van (W9C) T-350 148” Med RF 9500 GVWR RWD.
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III. ALTERNATIVES
TAKE another action the City Council deems appropriate, and consistent with the requirements of the law.
IV. BACKGROUND
Section 2611(g) of the City’s Municipal Code (“CMC”) allows City, through its Purchasing Manager, to dispense with competitive bidding processes to purchase materials, supplies, equipment, or services by utilizing a cooperative purchasing program engaged in by any local, county, State, or Federal public entity or entities, even if the contracts and implementing agreements entered into by the participating entity or association under those cooperative purchasing programs were not entered into pursuant to a process that resulted in the contract being awarded to the lowest responsible and responsive bidder under CMC 2610(i); provided, that the selected bidder was selected in compliance with the competitive bidding or proposal process requirements of any participating entity or association within three years of City’s approval of the City contract entered into with the selected bidder via cooperative purchasing. The City Council has made a determination that the benefits to City of utilizing cooperative purchasing outweigh any incremental higher price that may be paid by City in certain instances as a result of not soliciting directly utilizing the lowest responsible and responsive bidder standard under CMC 2610(i).
Sourcewell is a cooperative purchasing agency established to allow participating municipal agencies to reduce the cost of procurement by leveraging the benefits of contract purchasing. Through solicitations, Sourcewell contracts bring considerable value and efficiencies to members through nationally leveraged contracted suppliers with access to the highest quality products and brands. Each solicitation and RFP contain language, which includes all qualified customers in all fifty states. Sourcewell contract purchasing solutions are reviewed by the Sourcewell Board of Directors and awarded on the members' behalf. The City of Carson (ID# 38521) is a member of Sourcewell.
The Public Works Fleet Maintenance Division is responsible for maintaining and repairing the City's fleet of 250 vehicles and equipment. They also create specifications for new vehicle and equipment requests. On October 18, 2022, the City Council approved the purchase of two 2023 Ford Transit T-250 Vans for $104,964.56 to address the vehicle shortage in the LBM Custodial section (Exhibit 1). Electric and alternate fuel models were not available at the time. However, when National Auto Fleet Group (a Sourcewell-approved vendor) notified Fleet Maintenance staff of the availability of electric-powered versions of the T350 Transit Vans, they submitted revised specifications. On March 7, 2023, the City Council approved the purchase of two electric-powered Ford 2023 Transit Cargo Vans T-350 148” MED RF 9500 GVWR RWD for $114,500.50 instead of the gasoline-powered vans. Unfortunately, the vendor's quotation did not include the necessary sales tax and tire fees, resulting in a Purchase Order sufficient for only one of the cargo vans.
The vendor remains a member of the Sourcewell cooperative purchasing agency and Contract #091521-NAF will be used for this purchase (Exhibit 4). The total amount for the electric van is $61,836.95 with a differential of $4,586.70 from the previous electric-powered vans already approved by the City Council (Exhibit 2). Staff is now presenting the updated vehicle quotation and specifications for City Council approval (Exhibit 3).
The City’s Purchasing Manager has waived the formal bidding process for purchase of the vehicle as permitted under Section 2611(g) of the CMC (Exhibit 5). Finally, it should also be noted that Section 2605(b)(ii) of the CMC requires the City to enter into a contract for purchases of any personal property, including materials, supplies and equipment, of $25,000 or more over a fiscal year, unless the Purchasing Manager waives this requirement. The Purchasing Manager has waived such contract requirement for purchase of the electric van (Exhibit 5).
V. FISCAL IMPACT
Funding for this purchase in the amount of $104,964.56 was included and originally approved by City Council in Resolution No. 22- 091 on October 18, 2022. The differential amount of $9,535.94 approved on March 7, 2023, for the electric versions of the cargo vans were contained within the FY 2022-2023 Vehicles/Rolling Inventory Fund-638 under the original appropriation of $891,418.15 which included a 10% contingency of $81,038.01. The original approved amount and additional differential of $4,586.70 for the sales tax and tire fees presented tonight will be included in the FY 2023-24 Continued Appropriations Resolution.
VI. EXHIBITS
1. Minutes from City Council Meeting of October 18, 2022
2. Minutes from City Council Meeting of March 7, 2023
3. Revised Quotation/Equipment Specifications from National Auto Fleet Group
4. Sourcewell Contract
5. Purchasing Waiver
Prepared by: Raymond Velasco, P.E., Public Works Operations Manager