Public Works' existing contract for polyaluminum hydroxychloride (PACL) expires in February 2010. The PACL blends used in water treatment are proprietary products. These blends supplied by different vendors have differences in composition. The current product supplied by Kemira Water Solutions has proven to be the most cost-effective blend that has been used. The technical specifications and performance history of this product are the basis for this bid. Potential suppliers must provide a product with essentially the same composition and guarantee equivalent performance.

The purpose of this bid is to obtain a fixed unit price in terms of price per pound ($/lbs) for a one (1) year period, with an option to renew the contract one (1) year at a time, for up to a total of three (3) years. The contract provides for termination of the agreement if the product supplied does not meet performance specifications.

The Council may:

   1)  Approve the bid award; or
   2)  Not approve the bid award.

There are sufficient funds in the FY2010 Water Treatment Plant Chemicals account to cover purchases of this chemical. Bid award is based upon the railcar price which is the primary method of delivery. Staff recommends that Council award the contract for PACL to Kemira Water Solution, Inc. at the unit prices listed in their bid. The bid was publicly advertised on January 28 and February 4, 2010.  Five bids were received with prices for six products on February 9, 2010, as follows:

Supplier	Product	Pricing by Delivery Method ($/lb)
		Railcar	Truck	Tote (275 gal)
Thatcher Co. of Montana	T-Floc B-41	$0.3321	$0.3537	$0.4537
Kemira Water Solutions	PAX-XL3920LX	$0.367	$0.387	$0.60
Brenntag Pacific	Brenn Floc 2010B	$0.39	$0.49	$0.57
Aqua-Pure	AF 61150	$0.384	$0.446	$0.446
Aqua-Pure	AF 81150	$0.403	$0.465	$0.465
Pristine Water Solutions	PHI-2162	$0.405	$0.490	$0.555

The low bidder, Thatcher Company of Montana, attached conditions to their bid thus making it nonresponsive.  As required in the bid, Thatcher did not provide any references of other product users of the proposed product, they did not provide a back-up source for this essential chemical, and they added hold harmless clauses to the contract which would abrogate its liabiity should it not be able to provide the chemical as needed.  Accordingly, the City Attorney office recommends that bid be rejected.

Staff recommends that Council reject the low bid of Thatcher Company of Montana as being nonresponsive and award the contract for PACL to Kemira Water Solution, Inc.,  at the unit prices listed in their bid.