9.A.
City Council Meeting - FINAL
- Meeting Date:
- 10/20/2015
- Co-Submitter:
- Di Ann Butkay, Buyer
- From:
- Steve Camp, Regulatory Compliance Section Manager
Information
TITLE:
Consideration and Approval of Contracts: Laboratory Services for water, wastewater and pre-treatment sampling.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
-
Approve contracts with the following four independent laboratories: Eurofin Easton Analytical, Bio-Aquatic Testing, Test America and Trans West Analytical Services. Each contract will be for an initial term of three years and each contract will include two annual extensions upon mutual agreement.
Executive Summary:
The Utilities Division contracts out laboratory services for water, wastewater and pretreatment sampling. Sampling costs make up the largest budgets items outside of salaries for the Regulatory Compliance Section. It is very important that the Utilities Division secure contracts with several laboratories to guarantee pricing and sample analysis time. Sampling analysis accuracy is the core of meeting compliance with our permitting needs. Additionally, Utilities also performs sampling that is not required for compliance to assure all processes are working correctly. Therefore, the Utilities Division also needs to have several labs available that can perform similar analysis to allow the flexibility of sending split or equivalent samples to more than one lab to spot check accuracy.
Financial Impact:
The Regulatory Section already has the laboratory sampling in its budget. The total of all four contracts are not to exceed $150,000 each year. The new contracts will not have any additional financial impact. The contracts are important to secure pricing and service guarantees.
Connection to Council Goal and/or Regional Plan:
2) Ensure Flagstaff has a long-term water supply for current and future needs.
3) Provide sustainable and equitable public facilities, services, and infrastructure systems in an efficient and effective manner to serve all population areas and demographics.
3) Provide sustainable and equitable public facilities, services, and infrastructure systems in an efficient and effective manner to serve all population areas and demographics.
Has There Been Previous Council Decision on This:
A previous laboratory contract was approved by council in 2010 to secure pricing and service. The previous contract was approved prior to the Regulatory Compliance Section, but included at least four laboratories to assure that each program in Utilities was able to secure sampling options to meet permit conditions.
Options and Alternatives:
1) Approve the recommended contracts. Approving the four laboratory contracts secures pricing guarantees and sampling guarantees which the City needs for compliance and non-compliance sampling.
2) Not approve the recommended contracts. Not approving the contracts will force the Regulatory Compliance Section to pay whatever the current pricing may be at the time of sampling. Additionally, not approving the contracts may cause delays in sampling analysis, which could lead to a failure to meet permit deadlines.
2) Not approve the recommended contracts. Not approving the contracts will force the Regulatory Compliance Section to pay whatever the current pricing may be at the time of sampling. Additionally, not approving the contracts may cause delays in sampling analysis, which could lead to a failure to meet permit deadlines.
Background/History:
The Utilities Division contracts for laboratory services for water, wastewater and pre-treatment sampling. Since sampling costs make up the largest budget items outside of salaries for the Regulatory Compliance Section. It is very important that the Utilities Division secure contracts with several laboratories to guarantee pricing and sample analysis time. Sampling analysis accuracy is the core of meeting compliance with all our permitting needs. The Utilities Division needs to have several laboratories available to allow the flexibility to send split samples to other labs to assure accuracy.
Prior to the City's existing laboratory contract expiring, a new Request for Proposals (RFP) was conducted. The Purchasing Section received proposals from four laboratories. Each lab proposal was evaluated and scored by four Utilities Division Staff evaluators. The proposals were scored based on three criterion, each with a weighted percentage:
Evaluation Criterion #1-- (40%) Experience & Qualifications.
Evaluation Criterion #2-- (30%) Capacity of Offeror/Experience.
Evaluation Criterion #3-- (30%) Pricing.
Each laboratory that submitted a proposal offered different services and sampling methods. Likewise, each program in Regulatory Compliance (water, wastewater and pretreatment) require different services and analysis methods. Together the four proposals received by the Purchasing Section will meet the needs of all the programs in the Utilities Division for compliance and non-compliance sampling.
Note: The attached Contract is the final template the City will use with each of the four independent laboratories. However, one of the attachments to this staff summary includes the respective fees of each of the four independent laboratories in exchange for the laboratory testing they will be providing.
Prior to the City's existing laboratory contract expiring, a new Request for Proposals (RFP) was conducted. The Purchasing Section received proposals from four laboratories. Each lab proposal was evaluated and scored by four Utilities Division Staff evaluators. The proposals were scored based on three criterion, each with a weighted percentage:
Evaluation Criterion #1-- (40%) Experience & Qualifications.
Evaluation Criterion #2-- (30%) Capacity of Offeror/Experience.
Evaluation Criterion #3-- (30%) Pricing.
Each laboratory that submitted a proposal offered different services and sampling methods. Likewise, each program in Regulatory Compliance (water, wastewater and pretreatment) require different services and analysis methods. Together the four proposals received by the Purchasing Section will meet the needs of all the programs in the Utilities Division for compliance and non-compliance sampling.
Note: The attached Contract is the final template the City will use with each of the four independent laboratories. However, one of the attachments to this staff summary includes the respective fees of each of the four independent laboratories in exchange for the laboratory testing they will be providing.
Key Considerations:
The City evaluated proposals from four (4) labs. There were no proposals submitted by any Flagstaff laboratories. The proposals were evaluated and scored according to experience, price and capacity for services.
Expanded Financial Considerations:
The total of all lab services contract is not to exceed $150,000. The budget within the FY 2016 Regulatory Compliance Section budget totals $148,258 in the following accounts 202-08-306-1081-2-4207, 202-08-306-1082-0-4207,202-08-306-1083-0-4207 and 202-08-306-1087-0-4207. Any costs over this amount will be covered by budget appropriation in 202-08-306-1081-0-4290 and 202-08-306-1082-0-4290 totaling $15,000.
Community Benefits and Considerations:
The community will benefit when the Utilities Division has guaranteed pricing and sample analysis time.
Community Involvement:
None
Expanded Options and Alternatives:
The alternative of not approving all the laboratory contracts hinders the flexibility of the Utilities Division of guaranteed sample pricing and analysis times. This can have a direct impact on meeting compliance with rules and permits for the Utilities Division.