The City of San Luis Fire Department desires the purchase of additional ambulance vehicles to provide full ambulance service to the residents of San Luis. 
 
The City of San Luis has a long standing intergovernmental relationship with the City of Somerton to provide proper ambulance public safety service to Southern Yuma County.  As Council is aware, the City applied for its own Certificate of Necessity (CON) to operate an ambulance service, and as part of that process, entered into a  Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) as well as Intergovernmental Agreements (IGAs) with the City of Somerton by which the two cities committed to continue joint cooperation with each other. 
 
The MOU provided that San Luis would rent two (2) ambulances from Somerton for a period of five (5) years at a particular rental rate.  Somerton agreed that at all times the rented ambulances would be less than five (5) years old.  On the advent of the granting of the CON, a draft of a proposed intergovernmental agreement for ambulance rental was prepared consistent with the MOU.  Upon review, Somerton determined they no longer desired to rent vehicles and stated they might wish to downsize their fleet.  A request was made by their City Manager for San Luis to consider buying upwards of two (2) vehicles.  While no written agreement exists, an informal understanding was reached that the matter would be left to the two Fire Chiefs to decide what vehicles and at what price such a sale might be made.  The City of San Luis through the San Luis Fire Department has committed to purchase their “surplus” ambulances, upon the initiation of the City of San Luis Fire Department’s initiation of its ambulance services.
 
To that end, the City of San Luis Fire Department has initiated discussions with the City of Somerton and the Somerton-Cocopah Fire Department regarding which of their vehicles would be for sale and their asking price.  The City of Somerton has provided pricing of $25,000.00 for each of the two (2) ambulances. 
 
Captains of the San Luis Fire Department have limited confidence regarding the reliability of the offered vehicles and seriously question the asking price, based upon age, mileage and condition. The City Attorney’s Office has advised that the City may not pay more than fair market value.  The San Luis Fire Department  requested funding for the purchase of two (2) ambulances from the Somerton-Cocopah Fire Department.  Research by the Captains of San Luis Fire Department yielded a comparable value of $4,000.00  to $10,000.00 when similar vehicles could be located.  Our Capital Budget Request was based upon this research and included an amount to remount the patient compartment onto a new cab and chassis.  We have since learned that such cannot be done cost effectively with respect to the two (2) vehicles selected by Somerton,

Additionally, feedback from the ambulance repair facility used for the cab and chassis remount of SLM1 two (2) years ago expressed concern and trepidation to mount an “old” patient compartment onto a new cab and chassis, citing wear and tear on the patient compartment and the potential inability to bring the aged structure up to present standards. 
 
Our contact at the repair facility gave a value of the two (2) vehicles we described as “about $3,000.00 to $5,000.00, at best”.  When he was informed about the new motors being installed into these vehicles, he replied that the cab, chassis, drive train, steering and patient compartment had still endured 270,000 miles of wear and tear and any assurance of extended life was questionable, despite the new engines.
 
While San Luis Fire Department believes the value of the two (2) vehicles combined is most likely not more than $10,000.00, nonetheless a price of up to $14,000.00 for both ambulances can be justified.  Regardless, it is possible that Somerton may believe they are worth more, either because Somerton believes it can get more on the open market or believes that these vehicles are worth more to them as part of the operational fleet since the cost of replacement is more than the price San Luis is offering.  A willing buyer and a willing seller sometimes can agree to disagree.  San Luis is committed to honoring its agreements, and committed to working with Somerton. 

San Luis Fire Department personnel have identified multiple sources of used ambulance vehicles which offer vehicles a few years newer than the Somerton-Cocopah Fire Department vehicles, with significantly fewer miles and at considerably lower prices.  The sources and prices are shown on an attachment.  Because these are used units, and like kind bidding between used units is, for all practical purposes, nearly impossible, it is requested that the formal bidding procedures of the City Code be waived. 
 
San Luis Fire Department is requesting direction and authorization to move forward with the purchase of ambulances essential to full implementation of our ambulance services.  San Luis Fire Department  has identified the following possible courses of action:

           Somerton-Cocopah Fire Department Vehicles

• Continue negotiation with City of Somerton and Somerton-Cocopah Fire Department to obtain the best price possible for their ambulances, even if we agree to disagree on price, and therefore purchase, we maintain an honorable relationship with our sister city to the north.
  • If both cities can agree on price, retain the two (2) Somerton-Cocopah Fire Department ambulances as reserve (back-up) ambulances at San Luis Fire Department or
  •  convert the least desirable of the two (2) Somerton-Cocopah Fire Department ambulances into a rehabilitation vehicle.

           Purchase of Frontline Ambulances and Equipment

•  Pursue negotiation with an identified vendor of two (2) ambulances in the greater Los Angeles area for a few years newer and with as much as 50% less mileage.
• Install necessary gurneys, gurney systems, radios, MDCs and equipment in the two (2) California ambulances and place them into frontline service at San Luis Fire Department.

1. Authority to purchase the two (2) ambulances from California so that there are three (3) operational “front-line” vehicles ready to put into service.  Such authority would include waiving the bidding requirements of the Purchasing Code.
2. Continue to negotiate with Somerton-Cocopah Fire Department.  Council should consider possibly giving directions to staff setting a ceiling on price and/or setting a time limit for the negotiations.
3. Purchase a gurney loading system from our vendor of June 2015, to insure compatibility and uniformity of product such that at least three (3) front line vehicles are similarly equipped.  The purchase of such a system cannot be secured from multiple sources, since it is subject to exclusive patents and licensing, therefore this purchase would be exempt from formal bidding requirements pursuant to Section 36.02 of the City Code.