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Item 1.C.
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| City Council Regular | |
| Date: | 08/14/2023 |
| Title: | Airport Purchase of Four New Heavy Duty Pieces of Snow Removal Equipment from M-B Companies, Inc. |
| Presented by: | Shane Ketterling, Assistant Director of Aviation and Transit |
| Department: | Airport |
| Presentation: | No |
| Legal Review: | Yes |
| Project Number: | N/A |
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that City Council approve the agreement with M-B Companies, Inc., to purchase Four New Heavy Duty Pieces of Snow Removal Equipment for a total of $2,909,281.70.
BACKGROUND (Consistency with Adopted Plans and Policies, if applicable)
Billings Logan International Airport is located in a Northern climate where snow and ice conditions occur each winter. During snow events staff utilizes a large fleet of equipment that includes heavy-duty snow plows, brooms and rotary snow blowers to remove the snow/ice from the Airport's 60+ miles of pavement surfaces which includes runways/taxiways and over 450,000 square feet of aircraft parking ramps. Included in the FY'24 Budget and as approved through the Equipment Replacement Program is the replacement and purchase of four new large pieces of snow removal equipment.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires commercial service airports to prepare, maintain, and implement a comprehensive snow and ice control plan as per Federal Aviation Regulation Part 139.313. This regulation defines snow and ice as Foreign Object Debris (FOD) or a contaminant that has to be removed off of all airfield surfaces within a specific amount of time to maintain safety for all commercial aircraft. If this FOD is not removed from a parking ramp it could cause significant aircraft damage to a wing. Likewise, if a large accumulation of snow remains on a runway, it could be ingested into a jet engine and cause a catastrophic engine failure or fire that could result in a significant loss of life that the City of Billings Logan International Airport may be liable for. In order to prevent this from occurring, the Airport complies with the FAA approved snow/ice control plan and replaces snow removal equipment approximately every 20 years due to age, mechanical issues, unavailability of replacement parts, and advances in technology and design.
Staff plans to purchase this equipment through a Cooperative Purchasing program with Sourcewell, who has entered into a master agreement with M-B Companies to provide snow removal equipment to Airports. This program ensures a competitive public procurement process has occurred and is consistent with legal principles of open access, fairness, and transparency which is available to eligible government entities and complies with all City purchasing policies and Federal contract provisions. Additionally, this program provides a discount and prices lower than what are offered during the traditional bidding process. Based on all of this, the FAA's Airport District Office in Helena, MT has approved this procurement and the equipment will be paid for with Passenger Facility Charges (PFC) funds. Specifically, the four new heavy-duty pieces of snow removal equipment include:
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires commercial service airports to prepare, maintain, and implement a comprehensive snow and ice control plan as per Federal Aviation Regulation Part 139.313. This regulation defines snow and ice as Foreign Object Debris (FOD) or a contaminant that has to be removed off of all airfield surfaces within a specific amount of time to maintain safety for all commercial aircraft. If this FOD is not removed from a parking ramp it could cause significant aircraft damage to a wing. Likewise, if a large accumulation of snow remains on a runway, it could be ingested into a jet engine and cause a catastrophic engine failure or fire that could result in a significant loss of life that the City of Billings Logan International Airport may be liable for. In order to prevent this from occurring, the Airport complies with the FAA approved snow/ice control plan and replaces snow removal equipment approximately every 20 years due to age, mechanical issues, unavailability of replacement parts, and advances in technology and design.
Staff plans to purchase this equipment through a Cooperative Purchasing program with Sourcewell, who has entered into a master agreement with M-B Companies to provide snow removal equipment to Airports. This program ensures a competitive public procurement process has occurred and is consistent with legal principles of open access, fairness, and transparency which is available to eligible government entities and complies with all City purchasing policies and Federal contract provisions. Additionally, this program provides a discount and prices lower than what are offered during the traditional bidding process. Based on all of this, the FAA's Airport District Office in Helena, MT has approved this procurement and the equipment will be paid for with Passenger Facility Charges (PFC) funds. Specifically, the four new heavy-duty pieces of snow removal equipment include:
| Snow Removal Equipment | Price |
| MB2 Multi Tasking Snow Removal Vehicle with plow blade and sander | $639,069.24 |
| MB2 Multi Tasking Snow Removal vehicle with plow blade and deicer | $653,545.80 |
| MB3 Dedicated Front Mount Broom | $741,414.56 |
| MB4 High Speed Rotary Blower | $875,252.10 |
| Total : | $2,909,281.70 |
ALTERNATIVES
City Council may:
- Approve the purchase of four New Heavy Duty Pieces of Snow Removal Equipment from M-B Companies, Inc. for a total of $2,909,281.70 ; or,
- Not Approve the purchase and advise staff on how to proceed.
FISCAL EFFECTS
The total cost of this new equipment is $2,909,281.70 and will be paid for with Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) funds. These funds are available in the Airport's PFC account.