The Public Works Distribution & Collection Division has an annual program to pipe burst certain existing water mains in need of replacement.  This process bursts or breaks the existing pipe and a new main is pulled through the old pipe that has been burst.  As a result, it is not required to open cut a trench for the new water main.  Public Works has been pipe bursting for a number of years and the process works very well.  It is now necessary to purchase 4,050 feet of 8-inch diameter fusible PVC water main pipe for this program.  This pipe is supplied by Underground Solutions, Inc. that holds the patent on this fusible PVC pipe and the fusion technology utilized to join the pipe together.  The City of Billings is certified to install this pipe and has a license agreement to use this product.  As such, it was necessary to obtain a price proposal from a sole source provider for the pipe rather than bidding out the material.  This is consistent with the method used several years ago when material was purchased for this purpose.  The cost for pipe bursting is about one-third the cost for conventional construction and installation of the water mains.

City Council may:

• Approve, the pipe purchase or;
• Disapprove the pipe purchase.  Contracting for this work or open cut water main replacement are the alternatives.

The cost for this pipe is $61,763.00 funded from the annual water replacement project approved in the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) and is also included in the FY 2015 budget for the Public Works Department.

Staff recommends that Council approve the agreement and the purchase of the fusible PVC pipe from Underground Solutions, Inc. for $61,763.00.