Consideration and Approval of a Cooperative Purchase Contract: To purchase one (1) 2017 Caterpillar 12M3 AWD  Motor Grader from Caterpillar, Inc through a cooperative purchase contract with the City of Tucson Procurement Department #161534-01 in the amount of $228,000.00 plus sales tax $20,292.00 for a total of $248,292.00. AND To purchase one (1) 2019 Caterpillar 12M3 AWD TR Motor Grader from Caterpillar, Inc through a cooperative purchase contract with the City of Tucson Procurement Department #161534-01 in the amount of $246,500.00 plus sales tax $21,939.00 for a total of $268,439.00.

1. Approve the equipment purchase for one (1) 2017 Caterpillar 12M3 AWD Motor Grader from Caterpillar, Inc and one (1) 2019 Caterpillar 12M3 AWD Motor Grader from Caterpillar, Inc for the combined amount of $474,500.00, plus applicable taxes, for a total of $516,731.00 through cooperative purchase contract #161534.
2. Authorize the City Manager to execute the necessary documents.

Public Works - Streets Section is responsible for the ongoing maintenance of our local transportation network. The Streets Section has a road grader fleet for use in road grading activities and snow operations.  A reliable grader fleet is essential to meet the community expectations and service maintenance of our dirt road inventory and the snow operations tasked with clearing the 700 lane miles of transportation infrastructure during winter events. The request is to bolster our existing fleet by 2 road graders to address the community physical infrastructure growth and demand for timely service especially during snow operations neighborhood service.

This equipment purchase was approved in the 2020-2021 budget and is funded with Highway User Revenue Funds (HURF) Acct# 040-060-161-0614-6-4402 for a budgeted amount of $525,000.00.

Yes, we have discussed during snow operations planning and past budget retreats the need to provide equipment and staffing recommendations that are consistent with policy objectives and Public Works best practices. It has been discussed that the additional service areas and sheer mileage of roadway no longer can be reasonably maintained during snow operations and the additional units will result in more manageable routing and improved service to the community.

1. Approve this Cooperative Purchasing Contract with Caterpillar, Inc through the Cooperative Purchase Contract No. 161534. 2. Forego the purchase of one or both road graders which would require the City to continue to utilize existing equipment and best practices.  Rental equipment was investigated and is not always available or set up specifically for snow operations. 3. Contract road grader services and supplement snow operations with contracted equipment providers. 

The City of Flagstaff Streets team self performs significant road way maintenance and uses road graders in a majority of the winter storm snow operations response.   The Public Works division worked with the Procurement section to find the best value for the graders needed for the Streets section. By utilizing a contract formally procured by the City of Tucson with Empire Southwest, LLC, we were able to get a reasonable price for the intended purchase in a cooperative contract. In addition, due to some of the demand in the winter season it was evaluated and determined that these units could be purchased at a sizable discount compared to a new unit.  The hour requirements and equipment specifications were discussed and this is a more financially acceptable route without sacrificing performance or quality of equipment.  Our local Empire dealer will be honoring the balance of warranty and can provide all servicing needs beyond Fleet Services as needed in a timely fashion.

The current funding in HURF is supportive of the purchase and we have been delaying this procurement until the financial effects of COVID-19 had stabilized.  We are now confidant and comfortable moving forward with this purchase while still maintaining fund health.  The Co-op being utilized for procurement, while used often for new equipment specific language to purchase used fleet and provide for sizable government discounts is allowable.

The policy implication is that this purchase and equipment supports the mission to provide a high level of road maintenance protecting our community’s infrastructure investment and timely snow removal during winter storm events.  Procurement of this piece of equipment is with a local vendor using a cooperative purchasing agreement.  In addition to the best pricing, we also have a good service relationship with local maintenance professionals that will respond quickly if issues should occur with this equipment.