SR-205-005 (5)
EPWM: RC: KJ: H:\epwm\maintmgmt\staffreport\cngrefueling
City Council Meeting: August 13, 2002 Santa Monica, California
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: City Staff
SUBJECT: Waiver of Bidding Requirements for Award of a Contract to Purchase
Equipment to Perform Additions and Upgrades to the Compressed Natural
Gas (CNG) Refueling Facility at the Santa Monica City Yards
Introduction
Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 2.24.120 allows the City Manager to contract for
immediate expenditure of public funds to safeguard life, health or property, when
necessary to protect public health, welfare and safety, by waiving competitive bidding
procedures for public works projects. In such cases, the City Manager or Director of
Emergency Services must submit a full written explanation of the circumstances of such
emergency to the City Council within 30 days.
This report constitutes the written explanation of the emergency circumstances relating
to the need to make an immediate purchase of equipment required for additions and
upgrades to the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Refueling Facility at the Santa Monica
City Yards from GreenField Compressions, Inc.
Background
A CNG Refueling Facility was built at the City Yards in 1997 to meet the growing need
for refueling of City-owned CNG vehicles. Since the CNG facility went into operation in
1997, the number of CNG vehicles in the City Fleet has increased from 37 to 203 or
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over 400%. With the passage of time, changes have occurred in the optimal design of
compressors and current technology offers improved engineered equipment for CNG
fueling.
Discussion
The original design recommended by the City’s CNG fueling consultant called for the
use of compressors that require no lubricants for converting raw natural gas into
compressed natural gas for use in the City’s CNG vehicles. Performance problems with
the refueling system were diagnosed as related to the “dry-lube” nature of the
compressors. Efforts to correct the problem including rebuilding portions of each
compressor were unsuccessful.
The station has been intermittently out of service for the last several months, and that
has been particularly problematic for the solid waste refuse fleet as well as CNG
vehicles that are used on a daily basis for the operation and maintenance of the City’s
water and sewer systems, including emergency repair activities. At present, the Solid
Waste collection vehicles have to return to the City Yards to re-fuel as many as three
times during the work day due to the deficient performance of the refueling facility. A
potential health hazard exists if the refuse, water, and sewer trucks are unable to obtain
enough fuel to continue uninterrupted service to the community. The City is also
experiencing additional out-of-pocket costs for station repairs, temporary compressor
rentals, and an increased cost per gallon of CNG fuel purchased from off-site fueling
stations. These costs are adding an estimated $40,000 to the City’s costs on an annual
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basis. In summary, CNG vehicle users in the City are experiencing a decline in
productivity and efficiency from the inability of the station to provide a complete fill for
each vehicle and from the extra time and cost to travel to off-site stations for refueling.
The appropriate solution is replacement of the compressors coupled with upgrade of the
dispensing units, adding a fast fill dispenser to meet the growing number of CNG
vehicles in the fleet, and doubling the on-site storage capacity of the station. The
Natural Gas Vehicle Institute, which has prior knowledge and experience with the City’s
facility developed evaluation criteria for selection of the appropriate equipment and
assisted in contacting vendors earlier this year to obtain estimates of cost and delivery
time for placement of the equipment.
Three estimates were received for: two compressor skids, a PLC controller, three-
ASME pressure vessels, and two dispensers required for the project. Price estimates
and delivery time received at that time were as follows:
Price of Equipment
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GreenField Compression, Inc. $432,695 (including shipping and startup)
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ANGI International, LLC $450,550 (including shipping and startup)
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Kraus Group, Inc. $602,740 (excluding shipping and startup)
Delivery to the City of Santa Monica (Weeks after receipt of Purchase Order)
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GreenField Compression, Inc. 8-10 weeks
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?
ANGI International, LLC 14-16 weeks
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Kraus Group, Inc. 20 weeks
In the time that has elapsed since these vendors were originally contacted, the
availability of storage vessels and compressors has changed as other cities and station
operators have placed orders for like equipment. Because of this change, an
equipment order of the same type required by the City for it’s project will take
approximately 4 months to complete if placed today. One vendor, GreenField
Compressions, Inc., (City staff’s original choice as equipment vendor for this project for
reasons of lowest price, length of delivery time and reliability/serviceability of
equipment), has agreed to juggle their delivery schedules on other projects to make
equipment available to the City for delivery by September 1, 2002 if a purchase
commitment can be made by the City immediately. GreenField has also agreed to
extend the warranty period on their equipment for an additional 12 months at a
competitive cost of $9,600.
Staff recommends that the City Council approve the waiver of competitive bidding and
authorize the City Manager to award a contract to GreenField Compressions, Inc. for
the purchase of equipment required for additions and upgrades to the City’s CNG
Refueling Facility. This action will save the City between four to six months of time to
complete the purchase and installation of this essential equipment for the City’s CNG
fleet.
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Budget/Fiscal Impact
The Fleet Vehicle Replacement Program account # C54016702.589000 will provide the
initial funding. The Fleet Fund will be reimbursed in fiveannual installments from the
AQMD Fund starting in FY2003-04 to replace the initial contribution by the Fleet Vehicle
Replacement Program.
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Approve the waiver of public bidding procedures for award of a purchase contract;
and
2. Authorize the award of a contract to GreenField Compressions, Inc., in the amount
of $442,295.
Prepared by: Craig Perkins, Director of Environmental and Public Works Management
Renee Cowhig, Maintenance Manager
Kevin Jorgensborg, Maintenance Management Superintendent
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