TITLE
Adopt resolution authorizing City Manager to execute contract with Meter, Valve & Control, of Alamo, CA, to furnish and deliver gas meters and other services and parts, without advertising for bids, for a period of two years, with the option of renewing for one additional one-year period at the discretion of the City Manager. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
City Council approval is requested to enter into contracts with Elster American Meter Company LLC (Elster), and Meter, Valve & Control (MVC), for furnishing and delivering meters and related equipment and services to be used by the Long Beach Gas and Oil Department (LBGO), in order to facilitate LBGO’s Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) project that was authorized by City Council on June 10, 2014. The implementation of AMI includes the installation and/or retrofit of approximately 150,000 gas meters. The requested contracts are for necessary miscellaneous parts associated with the meter work.
LBGO historically utilizes various sole source distributors for specific meter types and meter parts in its normal operations of the gas system. This is necessary due to the multiple types and manufacturers of meters currently in place throughout LBGO’s utility system. Elster is the sole manufacturer and distributor of proprietary meters and regulators used for commercial customers, and MVC is the sole distributor of proprietary meter equipment used for light-duty commercial and residential customers. LBGO requests authorization to execute contracts with Elster and MVC to purchase meters, regulators, and miscellaneous parts to be used during the course of AMI project implementation.
City Charter Section 1801 requires that contracts for City purchases be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder after a competitive bid process, but allows for awards without a competitive bid process if accompanied by a Resolution adopted by the City Council. Because each requested contract is the sole source supplier of the associated meter types, staff is requesting City Council’s approval to adopt the necessary Resolutions.
This matter was reviewed by Deputy City Attorney Richard Anthony on July 1, 2015, and by Budget Management Officer Victoria Bell on June 30, 2015.
TIMING CONSIDERATIONS
City Council action to adopt the attached Resolutions and execute contracts concurrently is requested on July 21, 2015, to ensure that contracts are in place expeditiously and to prevent any delay in AMI project implementation.
FISCAL IMPACT
The aggregate contract costs will not exceed $350,000 per year, for a term of two years. Additional authority is requested for one optional one-year term at the discretion of the City Manager. The cost of these contracts is budgeted in the Gas Fund (EF 301) in the Long Beach Gas and Oil Department (GO). There is no local job impact associated with this recommendation.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
BODY
[Enter Body Here]
Respectfully Submitted,
CHRISTOPHER J. GARNER
DIRECTOR OF LONG BEACH GAS AND OIL
JOHN GROSS
DIRECTOR OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
APPROVED:
PATRICK H. WEST
CITY MANAGER