Staff recommends the City Council award the purchase of a new shredder to Ecoverse Industries, in the amount of $790,400.00.

This piece of equipment is used to shred tires, mattresses, wood-waste, green-waste, pallets, etc. at the landfill. Steel is removed from tires and mattresses that get recycled and the wood materials are used for compost. The shredder also helps with compaction at the landfill and keeps materials from working their way back up to the surface. The existing shredder caught on fire last summer.  The trade-in value is minimal; thus, Public Works will rebuild the existing grinder to use as a back-up grinder. The purchase will replace an existing piece of equipment that is included in the approved Equipment Replacement Plan for FY21 and in the FY21 budget. The bid was advertised on November 13th and November 20th in the Yellowstone County News and on the City's website. Bids were opened on December 1st and 3 bids were received. Ecoverse Industries submitted the lowest, responsible bid.

City Council may:

• Approve the award of the purchase of a new shredder to Ecoverse Industries, in the amount of $790,400.00 or;
• Disapprove the award of the purchase and reject all bids. If the shredder is not approved,operations will continue, but at reduced expectations. Public Works will not be able to compost the planned amount and tires and mattresses will have to be treated separately at the landfill and be buried with bridging. This takes extra time and man-power. It will also fill up the landfill at a much greater rate.  

The following bids were received:

	Ecoverse Industries	Rotochopper	Humdinger
Base bid	$790,400.00	$943,416.00	$757,382.00 (did not meet specifications in 25 areas)

The budgeted amount for a new shredder is $865,000.00. The excess budget will be utilized for other equipment budget overages within the solid waste fund.