On behalf of the six (6) Montana Regional Hazardous Material (HazMat) Teams, the Billings Fire Department submitted an application for $360,000.00 to acquire a chemical detection monitor for each of the regional teams. There is no local match requirement. At the November 13, 2017 meeting, the City Council approved the staff recommendation to accept and administer the awarded funds and to authorize the Mayor to sign all necessary documents for the grant.  A Request for Proposal (RFP) for the detection units was issued and three responses were received.  One of the units did not meet the specifications, so the proposal was not considered.  Testing of each of the chemical detection monitors proposed by the two remaining vendors was conducted on January 24, 2018 by the Regional Teams from Billings and Missoula, with assistance from the Montana Civil Support Team.  Scores were based upon how well the units performed in a series of blind chemical identification tests.  The unit with the highest score is the unit provided by Agilent Technologies.

City Council may approve or disapprove the staff recommendation to purchase (6) chemical detection monitors from Agilent Technologies for $360,000 and distribute them to the six (6) regional Haz-Mat teams.

The City of Billings Fire Department, on behalf of the State's six Haz-Mat teams, received a grant for $360,000.  The price for the highest rated chemical detection unit equals the grant amount.  No local match is required.  Since the Council approved the grant, the City Administrator is authorized to amend the Fire Dept. budget to accommodate this expenditure.

Staff recommends purchasing the chemical detection monitor units for the Montana Regional Haz-Mat Teams from Agilent Technologies in the amount of $360,000.