AGENDA #4g

MEMORANDUM

TO: Mayor and Town Council

FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

SUBJECT: Bid Award for Installation of the Police Department Standby Electric Power Generator

DATE: October 24, 2005

Resolution A would award the bid for installation of a standby electric power generator at the Town of Chapel Hill Police Department in the amount of $268,600 to Bryant-Durham Services, Inc. The attached ordinance would provide an additional $10,100 for this project from the Council contingency in the General Fund. Resolution B would award the bid for installation of a standby electric power generator at the Town of Chapel Hill Police Department in the amount of $254,750 to Bryant-Durham Services, Inc. Both resolutions would also authorize the Manager to enter into a contract with the successful bidder.

BACKGROUND

Funding in the amount of $258,500 is available within the fiscal year 2005-06 Capital Improvement Program budget for the acquisition and installation of a standby electric power generator for the Chapel Hill Police Department building at 828 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Installation of this generator will provide the Police Department with immediate back-up electrical power for about 85 percent of the total electrical load of the building. The only part of the building that will not be supported by the new standby generator will be 50 percent of the heating and air conditioning load. This will be a major improvement over the existing aging standby generator, which only provides back-up power to the radio dispatch room and telephone system of the building.

This project was previously advertised for bids during March 2004; however, all bids exceeded the project budget. The Town Council rejected the bids on June 14, 2004.

DISCUSSION

The original plans and specifications for this project were revised by the designer, STANTEC Consulting Services, in preparation for the readvertisement. The revised specifications include the addition of Alternate #1, which allows for the substitution of a diesel engine in place of the natural gas engine specified in the base bid. The original specifications required bidders to honor their bids for a period of 110 days to afford the Town the time needed to finalize arrangements for installment financing. In revised specifications, the project is financed with cash and bidders are only required to honor their bids for 30 days. We believe that the shorter period for holding the bids removed some market pricing uncertainty for bidders and allowed them to be more competitive in preparing their bids.

Notices to Bidders were published in the September 4, 2005, edition of The Chapel Hill Newspaper and also in the September 1, 2005, edition of Greater Diversity, a minority publication.

Bid Results. Three bids were received, publicly opened and read at 3:00 p.m. on September 27, 2005. The bids were as follows:

Contractors	Base Bid (Natural Gas)	Alternate #1 (Diesel Fueled)
Bryant-Durham Services, Inc.	$307,000	$286,000
Barnes & Powell	$373,000	$348,000
Romeo Guest Associates, Inc.	$395,000	$373,500

The lowest responsive bid was received from Bryant-Durham Services, Inc. in the amount of $307,000 for a natural gas generator in the base bid and $286,000 for a diesel generator in Alternate #1. Both bids exceed the $258,500 amount of funds available for the project.

Negotiations with Low Bidder. After the bids were opened and it was determined that the low bid for Alternate #1 exceeded available funds, we invited the low bidder, Bryant-Durham Services, Inc., to meet with us to discuss possible value engineering cost reductions. The low bidder agreed to prepare cost reduction estimates for substitution of a sound-attenuated, 60 decibel rated, metal enclosure or a 71 decibel rated, standard metal enclosure in place of the walk-in, sound-attenuated, 60 decibel rated enclosure in the original specifications. On October 7, 2005, Bryant-Durham Services, Inc. submitted a proposal offering the following value engineering cost reductions:

Item	Alternate # 1 with Walk-in 60-db Rated Enclosure	Negotiated Bid with Sound- Attenuated 60-db Rated Metal Enclosure	Negotiated Bid with Standard 71-db Rated Metal Enclosure
Original Bid (Alternate #1)	$286,000	$286,000	$286,000
Delete walk-in sound-attenuated enclosure and add sound-attenuated metal enclosure.	N/A	($8,000)	N/A
Delete walk-in sound-attenuated enclosure and add standard metal enclosure.	N/A	N/A	($21,850)
Reduced size concrete pad and retaining wall to accommodate smaller enclosure.	N/A	($ 9,400)	($ 9,400)
Revised Bid (Alternate #1)	No Change	$268,600	$254,750
Available Funding	$258,500	$258,500	$258,500
Funding Shortfall	$27,500	$10,100	N/A

The negotiated revised bid of $268,600 exceeds the $258,500 amount of funds available for this project by $10,100. Resolution A would authorize the Manager to accept the revised negotiated bid of Bryant Durham Services in the amount of $268,600 for a standby generator with a 60 decibel rated, sound-attenuated enclosure. The attached budget amendment ordinance would transfer funds from the Council contingency in the General Fund to provide an additional $10,100 for the project, which would leave a balance in the Council contingency of $58,702.

The negotiated revised bid of $254,750 is within the $258,500 amount of funds available in the CIP for this project and meets all of the Town’s specifications except for noise level limits. The original specification called for a 60 decibel rated enclosure and this negotiated option provides for a 71 decibel rated enclosure. The Town’s noise ordinance includes an exception for emergency response equipment; therefore, we believe that the enhanced sound attenuation is desirable but not mandatory for this project. Section 11-40 of the Town Code lists a number of activities that are not required to comply with the decibel standards in the Town’s noise ordinance. Subparagraph (l) of that section states one of these exceptions as follows:

“(l) Emergency work necessary to maintain public safety, or to restore property to a safe condition following an accident or natural disaster, or to restore public utilities and infrastructure following an accident or natural disaster, or to protect persons or property from an imminent danger.”

Resolution B would accept the revised bid that would include the enclosure without additional sound attenuation.

The bid from Bryant-Durham Services, Inc. met all State requirements and included a disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) participation of 21 percent.

RECOMMENDATIONS

We recommend that the Council adopt Resolution A awarding the bid in the amount of $268,600 for the installation of a standby electric power generator at the Town of Chapel Hill Police Department to Bryant-Durham Services, Inc., and authorizing the Manager to execute a contract with Bryant-Durham Services, Inc.

We further recommend that the Council adopt the attached budget amendment ordinance transferring $10,100 from Council contingency for additional funding for the Police Department Generator Project.