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CONSIDERATION OF THE ACCEPTANCE OF A DONATION OF TWO COMPRESSORS AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT VALUED AT $5,000 FROM RENO PARTNERS, L.L.C. TO BE STORED AT THE NORTH BASE FLEET FACILITY TO BE USED AS REPAIR PARTS FOR THE CITY’S COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS FUELING FACILITY.
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BACKGROUND: Section 8-111 of the City Code states that all donations valued above $250 to be received by the City of Norman, whether in the form of monies or any other thing of value, shall be required to be accepted by the Council of the City of Norman prior to any use or disbursement of such monies or thing of value by or to any City operation or cause. The two CNG compressors and associated parts valued at approximately $5,000 are valued above the amount required for approval by the City Council: therefore; City Council approval is needed to allow the City of Norman to accept and use the CNG compressors as salvaged parts for continuing repair of the existing public/private CNG Fueling Facility, located at 2351 Goddard Ave, overseen by the Public Works Fleet Division.
DISCUSSION: The City’s CNG Fueling Facility was opened to the general public and City fleet on January 9, 2012. As of September 30, 2019, the City has experienced a total station throughput of 1,989,374 gasoline gallon equivalents (gge) and 22,000 hours of run time on the compressors over the past seven years. Out of seventy (70) Public/Private CNG fueling facilities located in the Oklahoma Natural Gas (ONG) network, the City of Norman’s CNG Fueling Facility is ranked 10th in Oklahoma for total volume throughput, according to ONG. The City’s CNG Fueling Facility has three (3) CNG compressors, 8 public dispensers, 43 private slow fill dispensers, and 110,000 cubic feet of CNG storage.
Since the City’s purchase of the original 125 horse power Arrow compressors, Arrow has discontinued producing their original compressor design and has reengineered all of their new compressors, making repair parts for the original compressors more difficult to find. Some parts have become build-to-order and are not readily available which extends the wait time on parts and significantly increases the downtime of our compressors. It is common to have some weeks where one (1) or even two (2) compressors at the CNG Fueling Facility are offline due to breakdowns and parts orders. While it has become increasingly challenging to find repair parts in a timely and cost effective manner, the addition of the two donated salvage compressors that happen to be from the same original design production will provide some usable backup parts and will allow for some relief to the CNG station budget. With salvaged parts getting harder to procure and only having the manufacturer to purchase new parts from, this opportunity to have two (2) nearly complete salvaged compressors onsite is a major advantage for the City’s CNG program.
RECOMMENDATION: If approved, it is recommended that the City Council accept the donation of two (2) compressors (serial numbers 11115CNG and 11116CNG) and associated equipment from Reno Partners, LLC valued at $5,000 to be stored at the North Base Fleet Facility to be used as repair parts for the City’s CNG Fueling Facility.