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ADOPT FINDINGS APPROVING AN EXCEPTION TO THE COMPETITIVE BID PROCESS AND AUTHORIZE THE CITY MANAGER TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE HOUSTON-GALVESTON AREA COUNCIL FOR THE PURCHASE OF MOTOROLA RADIO EQUIPMENT
recommended action
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council approve a resolution to:
1. Adopt findings approving an exception to the competitive bid process and authorize the use of the cooperative purchasing agreement with the Houston-Galveston Area Council for the purchase of Motorola radio equipment in an amount not to exceed $501,465.
2. Authorize the City Manager to take appropriate actions to carry out the purpose and intent of the resolution.
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Summary
Several Departments use radio equipment as the main source for field communication: Fire, Municipal Utilities, Police, and Public Works. The Information Technology (IT) Department is responsible for supporting the radio equipment, including maintaining an active and accurate inventory, purchasing replacement equipment, and providing technical expertise for equipment selection. In 2015, the City began the process of overhauling its radio inventory due to many years of delayed maintenance and replacement. The significant cost of replacing obsolete and irreparable equipment as well as a stabilized cost for future maintenance and replacements require phased purchases of smaller quantities. The third and final phase of the radio equipment stabilization plan is now being presented to Council for consideration. Staff recommends purchasing 145 radios through use of the Houston-Galveston Area Council’s cooperative purchasing agreement with Motorola Solutions in an amount not to exceed $501,465 (Attachments A-C).
DISCUSSION
Background
The City owns and operates a private 13-channel radio communication system utilized by the Fire, Municipal Utilities (MUD), Police, and Public Works Departments. The primary function of this system is for public safety communication; ensuring Police Officers and Firefighters have radio communication capabilities among individuals, vehicles and dispatch/command centers. As part of the overall radio system, the City maintains nearly 1,300 portables (hand held or worn by the employee) and mobile radios (installed in vehicles). Expenditures for Public Safety communication technologies are managed by the IT Department via the Radio Internal Service Fund (ISF). As the City’s fiscal crisis began to take shape, the purchase of new radios was deferred to reduce the contributions to the Radio ISF and lessen the burden on the City’s general fund. The general fund is the primary source of Public Safety ISF funding for labor and equipment.
Recognizing the high turnover of City staff and the reduction in funds flowing into the Radio ISF, in 2015, the IT Department engaged the services of a communications expert (Trott Communications Group, Inc.) to conduct a physical inventory audit of all City radio equipment and prepare a recommended course of action for bringing the outdated equipment back into working order while stabilizing the impact on the general fund’s limited resources. The Trott Report indicated that a majority of the City’s radio equipment exceeded, or was near the end of life, with limited or no support available and recommended a significant number be scheduled for replacement as soon as possible. To accomplish that task, the City Council authorized the purchase of 469 radios in FY 2015-16 and 454 radios in FY 2016-17 according to the Trott Report’s recommendations and Department priorities. These purchases replaced the bulk of the obsolete equipment and set the City up for future equipment purchases at a steady pace.
While the recommended action requested does not include the purchase of infrastructure equipment, it is important to mention that, in addition to the radios, the City’s infrastructure that supports radio communication also needs upgrades and replacement. It is increasingly difficult to maintain support and procure spare parts, and without a working infrastructure, the radio equipment will not work. The IT Department engaged Forrest Telecom Engineering, Inc. to provide consulting on a project plan for a long-term infrastructure upgrade. All radios to be purchased, or that have been purchased in the past several years are designed to work with any potential equipment upgrades. The recommendation for a long-term infrastructure upgrade will be presented to Council for consideration at a later date.
Present Situation
For over 30 years, City Departments have standardized their radio equipment with Motorola equipment. Standardization is important to ensure interoperability amongst Departments and compatibility with the existing infrastructure. It is necessary to deploy the same type of equipment across operational assignments to reduce user error, synchronize training, and to reduce maintenance costs and required expertise to service multiple systems.
On July 21, 2015 Council approved a 3-phase purchase plan to stabilize the radio program for Fire, MUD, Police, and Public Works. Council approved the first two phases on July 21, 2015 and August 9, 2016, for which the equipment was purchased and put into service. Under Council consideration, this is the final phase of the radio equipment stabilization plan, after which a more routine replacement schedule will be utilized based on equipment lifecycles.
Findings
Stockton Municipal Code section 3.68.070 provides for an exception to the competitive bidding requirement in those cases where facts exist that support and justify the exception. Below are proposed findings which, if adopted by Council, constitute sufficient grounds for making such an exception, specifically, Section 3.68.070(5) provides for an exception for those contracts where the City accesses the terms of a competitively bid and negotiated cooperative purchasing agreement:
1. The Houston-Galveston Area Council has established a cooperative purchase agreement with Motorola, Inc. to allow for pooling of various agencies’ purchasing volume to directly reduce the cost of radio systems.
2. By purchasing radio goods and services under the cooperative purchase agreement, the City will realize a combined savings of 33% off retail pricing.
3. The bid specifications used by the Houston-Galveston Area Council have been assessed by the Administrative Services Department’s Purchasing Section as compatible to the City of Stockton standards with regard to the formal process, lowest pricing, awarded contract, and language allowing public agencies to avail of such process and pricing.
4. Motorola equipment has been the standard for Public Safety radios for Stockton for more than 30 years.
5. Delta Wireless is the only vendor authorized by Motorola for this purchase.
FINANCIAL SUMMARY
A total of 85 portable and 60 mobile radios will be purchased for the Municipal Utilities Department and the Police Department. The total purchase price is $460,060 plus sales tax, for a total of $501,465. Sufficient funding is available in the Radio ISF Account No. 503-5201-670. By using the cooperative purchase agreement, the City will receive a cost savings of $214,912 from list price.
Attachment A - Houston-Galveston Area Council - Motorola Solutions Inc.
Attachment B - Motorola Solutions Inc./Delta Wireless Letter
Attachment C - Motorola Price Quotations