HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-07-11 City Council (4)City of Palo Alto
C ty Manager’s Report
TO:HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL
FROM:CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT: Public Works
DATE:
SUBJECT:
July 11, 1996
Emergency Purchase with PACO Pumps
CMR:341:96
for Pump Rental
This is an informational report and no Council action is required. This is to inform the
Council of a pump that was rented on an emergency basis in the amount of $27,144.92. The
Municipal Code requires that the Council be notified regarding expenditures made by the
City Manager during emergency situations that do not follow the normal bid or Council
approval process. In this case, the City Manager authorized the emergency pump rental
without the requirement for either formal bids or informal quotations.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
An emergency diesel driven pump and related hoses and adapters were rented from PACO
Pump to provide pumping capacity for the Regional Water Quality Control Plant (RWQCP)
activated sludge pumping station, while a series of repairs were being made to three pumps
during April, May and June 1996. The total rental charge was $27,144.92.
The return activated sludge (RAS) pumping station at the RWQCP returns the activated
sludge from the final clarifiers to the primary sewage flow stream. Due to the critical nature
of this pumping station, at least two of the three pumps are required to be in operational
status at all times.
In late March, a newly rebuilt pump was installed and the standby pump was sent to the
factory for overhaul. The next day the newly rebuilt pump failed requiring the emergency
rental of the PACO pump to provide additional pumping capacity for the station. It was
originally hoped that the failed pump could be repaired in place by replacing an exposed
bearing. The in-place repair was expected to require only a few days to complete, so the
original Purchase Order to PACO Pumps was issued for a one week rental period in the
amount of $3,860.86.
The pump was not repairable in place and was retumed to the factory under warrant~. The
emergency pump rental was extended to a monthly rental rate of $10,856 per month. After
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the factory’s reworking the pump and having it fail two additional times after installation,
it was decided to overhaul the pump in-house in the RWQCP Shop. This repair was
successful and after one week of test running, the remaining pump was removed and rebuilt
in-house during the month of June.
For the June rental of the emergency pump, PACO Pump agreed to reduce the rental charge
to half the normal monthly rental, because it was only needed as an emergency standby unit.
The third RAS pump, which had been shipped to the factory in March, was evaluated and
found to be irreparable. A new design of the RAS station has been completed and three new
pumps of better design and quality are being purchased.
Bid Process
The pump rental was sole sourced to PACO Pumps, due to the emergency condition of the
pump station caused by the unexpected failure of a recently overhauled pump. PACO Pumps
has been used in the past for emergency pump rentals, and they had a suitable pump available
for immediate same day delivery.
FISCAL IMPACT
Funds for this project are included in the FY 1995-96 budget.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
This project is categorically exempt from
environmental review is necessary.
the provisions of CEQA and no further
PREPARED BY:Bill Miks, Manager RWQCP
GLENN S. ROBERTS
Director of Public Works
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
BERNARD M. STROJI~
Assistant City Manager
CMR:341:96 Page 2 of 2