Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER APPROVING THE PURCHASE OF FOUR (4) TRANSIT BUS SHELTERS AND FIFTEEN (15) TRANSIT BUS BENCHES (CITY COUNCIL)
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I. SUMMARY
The City of Carson operates the Carson Circuit, a fixed-route public transit system that services defined areas of the City. As part of the Carson Circuit, the City also owns and maintains bus stop benches and bus stop shelters throughout defined locations of the City (Exhibit No. 1). Due to their age and their exposure to outdoor elements including inclement weather and vandalism, there is an ongoing need to replace and/or install new benches and shelters on an as-needed basis. The City Council is asked to consider approving the purchase of four (4) transit bus shelters and fifteen (15) transit bus benches through allocated funding from the Transportation Development Act (TDA) Article 3 (Exhibit No. 2). There are no significant costs to the City as long as the funds are fully spent or encumbered on or before May 31, 2019.
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
1. APPROVE a one-time purchase order with Tolar Manufacturing Company, Inc. (Tolar) for the purchase of four (4) transit bus shelter and fifteen (15) transit bus benches at an estimated amount of $80,619.38 (Exhibit No. 7).
2. WAIVE the written contract procedures for purchases of materials $25,000 or greater over a fiscal year as defined by the Carson Municipal Code (CMC) Section 2605 (Exhibit No. 5).
3. WAIVE the bidding procedures for purchases other than for Public Projects as defined by CMC Section 2611 (Exhibit No. 6).
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III. ALTERNATIVES
TAKE another action the City Council deems appropriate.
IV. BACKGROUND
Based in Corona, California, Tolar is a leading manufacturer in the design and fabrication of high quality transit shelters, street furniture, and more. With over 28 years of specialized industry experience, numerous public transit agencies have chosen Tolar for their transit shelter needs.
As part of Project No. 1043: Carson Street Master Plan, Tolar was selected to design and manufacture 16 silver bus shelters and bus benches as part of the streetscape upgrades within the 1.75 miles of roadway of the Carson Street Corridor. Due to the unique look of the “Carson” branded shelters and benches on Carson Street, Staff would like to maintain a unified appearance and order additional units from Tolar. The City Council is asked to waive the bidding procedures as defined by Section 2611 (e) of the CMC and utilize sole source purchasing to approve Tolar to produce four (4) additional transit shelters and fifteen (15) additional transit bus benches. Additionally, Tolar owns, as part of their intellectual property, the designs, custom metal, and gasket extrusions that are unique to their products (Exhibit No. 8).
The use of the Transportation Development Act 3 fund (TDA3) is restricted for bike path and pedestrians related activities; however, the Transportation Services Division has received a one-time courtesy authorization from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority (LACTMA) to utilize the TDA3 fund toward the bus shelters and benches purchase (Exhibit No. 3).
The Engineering Division, at this time, is also looking into purchasing (10) ten of the same bus shelters from Tolar through the Net Toll Revenue Reinvestment Grant Program offered by LACTMA. The proposed locations for these ten shelters through Public Works do not share any similarities with the (4) four proposed locations chosen by the Transportation Services Division.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
Funds for this purchase were not included in the adopted FY 2018/19 budget of the TDA3 funds; therefore, if the City approves staff’s recommendation, an appropriation of $80,619.38 from the TDA3 funds should be added to the expenditure budgets. As of fiscal year ending June 30, 2018, the TDA3 fund balance placed on reserve with LACMTA is $256,290, for which $51,589 of FY2015 allocation will lapse if not fully spent and drawdown by May 31, 2019 (Exhibit No. 4).
If the City Council approves staff’s recommendation to purchase the bus shelters and bus benches in the total amount of $80,619.38, the City will need to appropriate $69,688.19 from TDA3 funds for the purchase of bus shelters to account 217-80-820-904-8008/CS1001, $10,311.81 to 217-80-820-904-6009 for the purchase of bus benches, and the remaining $619.38 plus labor for installations to 219-90-940-180-6009.
VI. EXHIBITS
1. Map of Bus Stop Bench and Shelters (page 4).
2. TDA Fund Reserve Receipt (page 5).
3. TDA LACMTA Authorization (page 6).
4. TDA Allocation Balance Sheet (page 7).
5. CMC Section 2605 (pages 8-9).
6. CMC Section 2611 (pages 10-15).
7. Tolar Manufacturing Company, Inc. quote (pages 16-18).
8. Tolar Manufacturing Company, Inc. Sole Source letter (pages 19).
Prepared by: Jason J. Jo. Transportation Services Supervisor