Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, March 07, 2023
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER APPROVAL OF THE PURCHASE OF TWO NEW ELECTRIC POWERED FORD 2023 TRANSIT CARGO VANS IN LIEU OF GASOLINE POWERED FORD 2023 TRANSIT CARGO VANS PREVIOUSLY APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL ON OCTOBER 18, 2022 (CITY COUNCIL)
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I. SUMMARY
Public Works is requesting approval to purchase two new electric powered Ford 2023 Transit Cargo Vans (W1Y) T-350 148” WB LOW RF 9500 GVWR RWD in lieu of purchasing two new gasoline powered Ford 2023 Transit Cargo Vans (R1Y) T-250 148” WB LOW RF 9070 GVWR RWD that were approved for purchase by the City Council during its meeting of October 18, 2022 (Exhibit 1). The funding for this purchase was included in Resolution No. 22-091.
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 4).
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 $114,500.50 for purchase of two new electric powered Ford 2023 Transit Cargo Vans (W1Y) T-350 148” WB LOW RF 9500 GVWR RWD in lieu of purchasing two new gasoline powered Ford 2023 Transit Cargo Vans (R1Y) T-250 148” WB LOW RF 9070 GVWR RWD.
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III. ALTERNATIVES
TAKE another action the City Council deems appropriate, 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 oversees the maintenance and repair of the City's fleet of approximately 250 vehicles and equipment in addition to drafting the specifications for new vehicles and equipment requests. On October 18, 2022, the City Council approved a request from Public Works for purchase of two new gas powered 2023 Ford Transit T-250 vans for a total of $104,964.56 through Sourcewell’s cooperative purchasing program under Contract #091521-NAF. The intention was that these vehicles would be used to mitigate the current vehicle shortage in the LBM Custodial section which resulted from the filling of multiple vacant positions. It was noted at the time that electric and alternate fuel models were not available. With our continued efforts to “green the fleet” our Fleet Maintenance staff submitted the revised vehicle specifications once they were notified by National Auto Fleet Group (Sourcewell-approved vendor) of the availability of electric powered versions of the T350 Transit Vans. Staff now seeks to purchase two new electric powered Ford 2023 Transit Cargo Vans (W1Y) T-350 148” WB LOW RF 9500 GVWR RWD in lieu of purchasing two new gasoline powered Ford 2023 Transit Cargo Vans (R1Y) T-250 148” WB LOW RF 9070 GVWR RWD that City Council approved for purchase on October 18, 2022.
The vendor remains a member of the Sourcewell cooperative purchasing agency and Contract #091521-NAF will be used for this purchase. The total amount for the two electric vans is $114,500.50 with a differential of $9,535.94 from the gas powered vans already approved by the City Council (Exhibit 2). Staff is now presenting the updated vehicle specification for City Council approval (Exhibit 3).
The City’s Purchasing Manager has waived the formal bidding process for purchase of the two vehicles as permitted under Section 2611(g) of the CMC (Exhibit 4). 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 two electric vans (Exhibit 4).
V. FISCAL IMPACT
Funding for this purchase was included and approved by City Council in Resolution No. 22-091 on October 18, 2022.
VI. EXHIBITS
1. City Council Item No. 17 (pgs. 4-9)
2. Minutes from City Council Meeting of October 18, 2022 (pgs. 10-11)
3. Revised Quotation/Equipment Specifications from National Auto Fleet Group (pgs. 12-19)
4. Purchasing Waiver (pg. 20)
Prepared by: David Crockett, Fleet Maintenance Supervisor/ Robert Lennox, Assistant City Manager