Agenda Item Wording:
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Purchase of Two (2) CNG-Powered Solid Waste Trucks - Award the purchase of two (2) CNG-powered commercial front-load solid waste trucks to E.M. Tharp of Porterville, CA through the Sourcewell Cooperative contract in the amount of $962,748 and appropriate an additional $12,800 to the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund.
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Deadline for Action: 4/7/2025
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 award the purchase of two (2) CNG-powered commercial front-load solid waste trucks to E.M. Tharp of Porterville, CA through the Sourcewell Cooperative contract in the amount of $962,748 and appropriate an additional $12,800 to the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund.
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 two (2) commercial front-load solid waste trucks that were included in the FY 24/25 Budget. The type and quantity of trucks to be replaced are as follows:
(2) Commercial Front Loader (VH0309)
In the past, the City has utilized Congested Mitigation & Air Quality (CMAQ) funds to supplement costs to purchase Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) solid waste vehicles. Over the past 3 years, staff has 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. As of FY23/24, this ratio had been achieved. While the CMAQ funds are no longer available for the current needed replacements, Staff is recommending the new purchases revert back to CNG powered trucks to be able to continue utilizing the CNG fuel line.
E.M. Tharp is the Peterbilt chassis dealer in the area and will coordinate with Ray Gaskin Service, a New Way body supplier out of Fontana, CA to install the truck bodies.
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 Peterbuilt dealer in Tulare County, and Peterbuilt 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. As mentioned previously, the two trucks being replaced were included in the FY 24/25 budget. Once they are replaced, the trucks will have been in operation for 12 years.
Over the last five fiscal years, the Solid Waste Division has replaced (50) refuse trucks, thus improving the City’s fleet to more current standards and greater operational efficiency and effectiveness. The replacement schedule that pertains to this report and for the future is as follows:
FY 24/25: (7) trucks - 5 residential trucks ordered in March 2025, leaving these 2 commercial trucks to complete this fiscal year’s order.
FY 25/26: (3) trucks
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.
Carbon footprint:
With the exception of electric-powered, the current Cummins Westport CNG engine is the lowest Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) producing engine for solid waste collection vehicles. The Valley Air Pollution District states that these engines burn ten times cleaner than the older CNG engines that the City will be replacing.
Continuing with the environmental landscape, the Solid Waste Division understands the impact of current legislation regarding zero emissions. While currently, there are electric solid waste trucks available in the market, because they are built on new technology, there is limited performance and reliability information available to assure confidence that these vehicles will be capable of meeting the ongoing requirements needed to maintain current operations. Due to the high cost of purchase, even with grant funding, coupled with the need for electric infrastructure improvements, staff does not recommend the conversion to electric-powered trucks for current replacement vehicles, but rather possibly through a pilot program in the future.
The Public Works Department is continuing to research alternative fuel options, including pilot projects to power electric- and/or hydrogen-fueled trucks.
Fiscal Impact:
The City's Capital Improvement Plan included $950,000 to purchase 2 trucks for the fiscal year 24/25 (VH0309). The $12,800 shortfall from the budgeted amount of $950,000 will need to be appropriated to be able to fund the purchase.
This purchase will be (2) trucks and will be paid for by the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund (441). Any remaining funds, such as proceeds from auctioning old vehicles, 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 refuse trucks to E.M. Tharp.
March 17, 2025 Award Purchase of 5 CNG refuse 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. This is not recommended as there can be significant delays with the procurement of vehicles. This may result in higher maintenance costs to keep older vehicles operating in the meantime.
Recommended Motion (and Alternative Motions if expected):
recommendation
I move to authorize the purchase of two (2) CNG-powered commercial front-load solid waste trucks to E.M. Tharp of Porterville, CA through the Sourcewell Cooperative contract in the amount of $962,748 and appropriate an additional $12,800 to the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund.
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Environmental Assessment Status:
N/A
CEQA Review:
N/A
Attachments:
Sourcewell Pricing Quote - Front Load Truck (CNG)
Vehicle Purchase Authorization Forms
Sourcewell Contract