Agenda Item Wording:
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Purchase of one (1) Diesel-Powered Solid Waste Truck. Authorize the City Manager to award a purchase order to E.M. Tharp of Porterville, CA for the purchase of one (1) diesel-powered solid waste truck through the Sourcewell Cooperative contract in the amount of $381,193.40 and appropriate $381,194 from the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund (441).
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Deadline for Action: 3/4/2024
Submitting Department: Public Works
Contact Name and Phone Number: Jason Serpa, Public Works Manager, jason.serpa@visalia.city, 713-4533 Nick Bartsch, Public Works Director, nick.bartsch@visalia.city, 713-4052
Department Recommendation:
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager to award a purchase order to E.M. Tharp Inc. of Porterville, CA for the purchase and delivery of one (1) diesel-powered solid waste truck in the amount of $381,193.40 and appropriate $381,194 from the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund (441).
Background Discussion:
In accordance with the replacement schedule set by the City’s Capital Improvement Program, the Solid Waste Division within the Public Works Department is seeking the authorization to replace one (1) solid waste truck that is planned to be replaced in FY 24/25. The type of truck to be replaced is as follows:
(1) Commercial Front Loader
This purchase is being advanced from its scheduled replacement year due to two reasons:
1. There is an immediate availability of a diesel-powered truck that another City ordered and has now decided to go a different route The truck is identical to the City of Visalia specifications. Peterbilt does not currently have a 2024 California Air Resources Board (CARB) compliant diesel engine, meaning that an engine manufactured after January 1, 2024 is not approved for sale in California. Because this truck’s powertrain was manufactured in December 2023, it is CARB compliant. The truck has already moved off the Peterbilt assembly line and is almost complete at the body manufacturer.
2. The City’s Solid Waste Commercial Division is in need of additional backup trucks. In recent years, the division has hired additional drivers to keep up with the state recycling mandates, but those drivers were assigned to trucks that were already operational backups. The ideal number of backup trucks for the Commercial Division is three trucks, but currently the division only has one. Additionally, one of the City’s front loader trucks was recently involved in a roll-over accident, further straining the fleet’s capability to have sufficient backups. Even though the new truck purchase will not be adding an additional truck to the fleet, it will be replacing a 2015 truck that can be used as a backup until the CNG tanks expire in 2030.
Over the past 3 years, staff have recommended and purchased diesel-powered trucks in order to diversify the fleet and lower the costs of operation. The goal of fleet diversification was to bring the fleet to a diesel to CNG ratio of 25% diesel power and 75% CNG power. This ratio has been achieved. The most recent Council approval for truck purchases reverted to CNG powered trucks to be able to continue utilizing the CNG fuel line, but also because there are not currently any City-standard CARB compliant diesel-powered trucks available. This single opportunity to purchase a diesel-powered truck is being proposed as a benefit to the City in both cost and lead time.
E.M. Tharp is the Peterbilt chassis dealer in the area and will coordinate with Ruckstell, Inc. out of Fresno, CA to install the truck bodies. Ruckstell is the only Heil and New Way body dealer in the Central Valley and has a Sourcewell Cooperative contract.
Sourcewell Cooperative Purchasing helps the City save time and money by purchasing from ready-to-use, competitively solicited contracts. Cooperative Purchasing is “Procurement conducted by, or on behalf of, one or more Public Procurement Units,” as defined by the American Bar Association Model Procurement Code for State and Local Governments. Sourcewell streamlines the purchasing process by developing Requests for Purchase for national competitive solicitations that meet or exceed local requirements. Because E.M. Tharp is the Peterbilt dealer in Tulare County, and Peterbilt Trucks are already competitively bid by Sourcewell, the City is able to utilize that contract to obtain the Sourcewell price. This helps the City maintain a uniform fleet by using the same truck and body manufacturers available through a local dealer, thus keeping maintenance costs down for fleet maintenance and repair.
The Visalia Solid Waste Division operates a fleet of 61 trucks, including: (19) commercial front-load trucks, (5) roll-off trucks, and (37) residential side-load trucks. The current replacement program for a solid waste truck is 10 years. Once it is replaced, the truck will have been in operation for 9 years. The replaced unit will stay on as a backup to aid in the strained backup fleet.
Over the last five fiscal years, Council has approved the Solid Waste Division to replace (50) refuse trucks, thus improving the City’s fleet to more current standards and greater operational efficiency and effectiveness. The draft replacement schedule that was reviewed by Council on February 20, 2024, is as follows:
FY 24/25: (7) trucks
FY 25/26: (3) trucks
Note: in the current draft budget, this truck replacement is no longer listed since it was already identified as a need in this fiscal year.
After FY25/26, all Solid Waste trucks will have gone through a recent replacement cycle, and the new replacement cycle would begin anew in FY31/32.
Fiscal Impact:
The City's Capital Improvement Plan does not include appropriated funds for this purchase as it is in advance of its planned replacement. Due to this truck being ordered by another City in a previous year and diesel-operated, the price that is being extended to the City of Visalia is substantially lower than the current quotes that the City has recently received for CNG-powered trucks. The lower price due to this timing and type of vehicle is an added bonus to advancing this purchase.
|
CIP Project # |
Total Amount Budgeted in FY23/24 |
FY 23/24 Order |
Appropriation Needed in FY 23/24 |
|
NEW |
$0.00 |
$381,194 |
($381,194) |
This purchase will be paid for by the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund (441). Staff are requesting to appropriate $381,194 in the current fiscal year. Any remaining funds will return to the Solid Waste Fund (441).
Prior Council Action: May 20, 2019 - Award Purchase of 4 CNG refuse trucks to E.M. Tharp. January 6, 2020 - Award Purchase of 13 CNG refuse trucks to E.M. Tharp. May 18, 2020 - Award Purchase of 13 CNG refuse trucks to E.M. Tharp. June 7, 2021 - Award Purchase of 6 Diesel refuse trucks to E.M. Tharp. May 16, 2022 - Award Purchase of 2 Diesel refuse trucks to E.M. Tharp. March 3, 2023 - Award Purchase of 7 Diesel refuse trucks to E.M. Tharp. February 20, 2024 - Award Purchase of 5 CNG trucks to E.M. Tharp.
Other: N/A
Alternatives: Choose not to authorize the use of Sourcewell’s national cooperative agreement with E.M. Tharp, Inc. to advance the future planned replacement purchase of an available diesel truck. This option would keep the scheduled truck replacement in FY24/25.
Recommended Motion (and Alternative Motions if expected):
recommendation
I move to authorize the City Manager to award a Purchase Order to E.M. Tharp Inc. of Porterville, CA for the purchase and delivery of (1) diesel-powered Solid Waste Truck in the amount of $381,193.40 and appropriate $381,194 from the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund (441).
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Environmental Assessment Status: N/A
CEQA Review: N/A
Attachments: Sourcewell Pricing Quote - Front Load Truck (Diesel)