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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 4078 City of Palo Alto (ID # 4078) City Council Staff Report Report Type: Consent Calendar Meeting Date: 10/7/2013 City of Palo Alto Page 1 Summary Title: Purchase Order of Six Fully-Outfitted Police Patrol Cars Title: Approval of a Purchase Order with Priority One Public Safety Equipment in the Amount of $287,782.65 for the Purchase of Six Fully- Outfitted Police Patrol Cars From: City Manager Lead Department: Public Works Recommendation Staff recommends that Council approve and authorize the City Manager or his designee to execute a purchase order with Priority One Public Safety Equipment in the amount of $287,782.65 for the purchase of six fully outfitted Police patrol cars. Discussion The vehicle and equipment replacement policy described in City Policy and Procedures 4-1 (Vehicle and Equipment Use, Maintenance, and Replacement), provides for the on-going replacement of City fleet vehicles and equipment. Replacements are scheduled using guidelines based on age, mileage accumulation, and obsolescence. Audit of Vehicle Utilization and Replacement These purchases are being conducted with full consideration for the Audit of Vehicle Utilization and Replacement report dated April 2010. The Fleet Review Committee (FRC) has reviewed all of the vehicles proposed for replacement and has authorized their replacement. The FRC) approved the replacement of these vehicles in accordance with the audit recommendations. The approval was based on:  An examination of each vehicle’s current usage;  An analysis of each vehicle’s operating and replacement costs; City of Palo Alto Page 2  A comparison of the age, mileage, operating cost and performance of each vehicle with others in the class; and  An analysis of alternatives to ownership, such as mileage reimbursement; pooling/sharing; the reassignment of another underutilized vehicle, or renting. Background The Vehicle and Equipment replacement policy (Policy 4-01) identifies that Police patrol vehicles shall be reviewed for replacement every 4-years or 85,000 miles. Each of the six patrol cars requesting to be replaced has exceeded the identified criteria for replacement. All six of the vehicles requested for replacement are now 7-years old and the current mileage ranges from 91,000 to 105,000. The city’s Police cars serve a critical function under emergency conditions and as a result, the wear on these vehicles is significantly more rigorous than under normal driving conditions. For many years Palo Alto, like the majority of public safety agencies, has purchased Ford Crown Victoria vehicles for police cars. Beginning in 2013, Ford is no longer building the police vehicles so a new model needed to be identified. Representatives from the Police and Public Works departments created a vehicle replacement team that completed an extensive evaluation of all possible options to replace the existing vehicles. The decision has been made to use the Chevrolet Caprice as the new police cars. The FRC determined that there are no alternatives to outright replacement of these Police cars. They are each used on-a-continuous daily basis, they are specifically outfitted for emergency response, and there are no similar, underutilized vehicles that would be appropriate to use as replacements for these vehicles. Bidding and Selection Process A Request for Quotation (RFQ) 151539 for six Chevrolet Caprice vehicles was sent to three specialty vendors on August 14, 2013 as well as posted on the city’s purchasing web page. There are specific vendor limitations on which companies are able to submit bids because of the amount of specialty equipment and vehicle outfitting needed on Police patrol cars. Bids were received from one qualified vendor on August 27, 2013. Staff has reviewed the bids submitted and recommends that Priority One Public Safety Equipment be declared the lowest responsible bidder. Staff has checked references supplied by the vendor for previous contracts and has found no significant complaints. This vendor is located locally and has experience in building police cars for many of the surrounding agencies in the bay area. City of Palo Alto Page 3 Resource Impact Funds for these vehicles are identified in the current year’s Scheduled Vehicle and Equipment Replacement CIP (VR-14000) Policy Implications Authorization of the contract does not represent any change to the existing policy. Purchase of these vehicles supports Comprehensive Plan by removing older, more polluting vehicles from the roadways and replacing them with newer more efficient ones. Environmental Review The vehicles being supplied are in conformance with all applicable emissions laws and regulations. Accordingly, this purchase is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act under the CEQA guidelines (Section 15061).