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CONSIDERATION OF AWARDING BID 1920-62; APPROVAL OF CONTRACT K-1920-136 WITH DOMINO EQUIPMENT COMPANY, L.L.C., IN THE AMOUNT OF $399,876.86; PERFORMANCE BOND B-1920-93; STATUTORY BOND B-1920-94; AND MAINTENANCE BOND MB-1920-65 FOR THE COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS (CNG) TIME FILL SYSTEM EXPANSION FOR NORMAN PUBLIC TRANSIT AND PARK MAINTENANCE PROJECT; AND BUDGET TRANSFER; ADOPTION OF RESOLUTION R-1920-123 GRANTING TAX EXEMPT STATUS; AND BUDGET TRANSFER AND BUDGET APPROPRIATION.
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BACKGROUND: On August 28, 2018, University of Oklahoma (“OU” or “University”) officials advised City staff of their desire to transfer non-campus bus services in Norman to another operator by the end of fiscal year 2019. On July 30, 2019, Council approved Contract K-1920-30 with EMBARK to provide transportation services for the City of Norman from August 3, 2019 through June 30, 2020, and a facility lease agreement with the University of Oklahoma for a portion of the current OU Transportation Center to operate the fixed routes, paratransit routes and fleet maintenance operation of the Norman Public Transportation system until December 30, 2019. On December 10, 2019, Amendment No. One to Contract K-1920-32 was approved by City Council extending the lease agreement with the University of Oklahoma until June 30, 2020.
On August 13, 2019, Council approved Contract K-1617-114 with PDG, LLC, to provide design services for the City Parks/Transit/Public Safety Maintenance Facilities. The timeline for the facility design was fast-tracked in order to meet the expectations of each stakeholder group. The Bus Transit Facility will receive high priority due to the urgent need for the City to move out of the OU Fleet Facility; however, the Park Maintenance Facility and the Emergency Vehicle Maintenance Facility are equally as important, and timelines are critical.
On August 5, 2019, the Public Works Fleet Division started performing night shift fueling, minor maintenance and cleaning services for thirteen (13) City of Norman transit vehicles that the University of Oklahoma formerly maintained. On October 1, 2019, the Public Works Fleet Division began the same services to an additional fifteen (15) transit vehicles, bringing the City of Norman transit vehicle total inventory count to twenty-eight (28) units. Fourteen (14) of the transit vehicles are dedicated CNG vehicles and are expected to consume 7,500 gallons each month. The City of Norman’s CNG Fueling Facility already has a monthly usage of approximately 33,000 gallons that is consumed by the public and internally by the City. In order to handle the growing load on this facility, it is critical to expand on-hand CNG storage and replace an underperforming, unreliable natural gas-powered engine. The CNG Fueling Facility has two (2) electric drive 125 horsepower compressors each, and one 72 horsepower natural gas engine powered compressor. The natural gas engine-powered compressor is relied upon during power outages and overnight slow-fill for approximately 35 vehicles located at the North Base Facility. The current on-hand CNG storage is 900 gallons at a maximum pressure of 4200 pounds per square inch (PSI). As PDG, LLC works to develop a master plan for the future maintenance facilities, it is equally important to expand and upgrade our CNG Fueling Facility to handle the increased load needed with the additional transit vehicles and guarantee the reliability of fuel to our public and private customers.
On October 8, 2019, Council approved Contract K-1920-52 with Small Arrow Engineering, LLC., in the amount of $33,430 to provide professional engineering and design services to upgrade and expand the compressed natural gas (CNG) facility to accommodate transit fast-fill and slow-fill.
On December 15, 2019, Small Arrow Engineering, LLC, on behalf of the City of Norman, applied for a fiscal year 2019-2020 Round 1 ACOG Clean Air Grant for the additional alternative fuel vehicle slow fill refueling equipment to serve the Transit and Parks & Recreation Divisions. On March 10, 2020, the City was awarded $84,148 from ACOG (K-1920-119) on a reimbursement basis upon completion of this project.
On January 14, 2020, City Council authorized a purchase from JW Power of Dallas, TX, in the amount of $149,575.50 for the delivery and set up of a new natural gas drive compressor and labor to repower a compressor package to accommodate fast fill and slow fill needs. On January 14, 2020, City Council also approved the purchase of three (3) American Society of Mechanical Engineers-standard compressed natural gas storage vessels from CP Industries in the amount of $104,250.
DISCUSSION: Bid Number 1920-62 was opened on May 21, 2020, with two (2) vendor bids from Domino Equipment Company, LLC., and Preferred Service CNG, LLC., for completion of Phase I, II and III activities for the upgrade of the existing CNG station to serve an expansion to the new Transit facility along with the Parks Maintenance facility.
The apparent low bidder was Domino Equipment Company with a total bid of $399,877 which was 12.6% above the Engineer’s estimate of $355,000. The second low bid from Preferred Service CNG was $511,424 which was 45.5% above the Engineer’s estimate. The bid from Domino Equipment Company was a fully conforming and responsible bid. The difference between the Domino Equipment bid and the Engineer’s estimate is attributed to cost increases in some of the specialized equipment for this project (i.e., Coriolis Meters, Stainless Steel Tubing, high pressure Stainless Steel locking valves, coalescing filters, etc.). Also, the original estimate did not include the expansion to the new Parks Maintenance facility. The recent grant award from ACOG has allowed the City to expand the current slow fill CNG facility from the Transit lot to the Parks facility parking lot as part of this project.
If Council approves this bid, the City’s CNG Time Fill Expansion is projected to be completed by the end of December 2020.
Based upon the evaluation of these bids, Staff finds Domino Equipment Company, L.L.C., to be qualified to provide the various phases of this project:
Phase I- Slow Fill Equipment Installation - $24,698.06
Equipment Installation: Slow Fill Equipment Components, Remove and Reset Gas Compressor and Install New CP Industries ASME Tubes. The Phase I work tasks consist of installing a manual bypass system for ASME storage in the present enclosure area, removing and resetting the existing Arrow Engine natural gas drive compressor package (refurbished with new CAT engine by JW Power), and setting and connecting a new three (3) pack of American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) tubes from CP Industries.
Phase II-Horizontal Drilling and Materials $123,635.14
Equipment Installation: Slow fill Expansion Components. The Phase II work tasks consist of installing a new conduit bundle by horizontal directional drilling (HDD) from the CNG equipment enclosure to the south side of Da Vinci to reach the new Transit lot and extending the stainless steel (SS) supply runs along with coalescing filters, emergency shutdown (ESD) and monitoring/communication systems.
Phase III Transit Slow Fill posts and Control Panel $251,543.66
Equipment Installation: Slow fill Expansion Components. The Phase III work tasks consist of installing a Time Fill Control Panel and extending multiple SS runs to fifteen (15) dual-hose CNG dispensers on bollards for use by Transit and Parks Maintenance vehicles, along with a defueler post at the Transit building.
Two capital projects have been set up within the accounting system to pay for this project, namely Eight Dual Slowfill Pumps (BG0079) and CNG Gas Drive Replacement & Storage (BG0080). The Dual Slowfill Project has $206,145 available for appropriation in the Public Transit and Parking Fund, Construction (account number 27590078-46101; project BG0079). The CNG Gas Drive Replacement and Storage Project has $142,109 available for appropriation in the Public Transit and Parking Fund, Construction (account number 27590078-46101; project BG0080). An additional $51,623 will need to be appropriated to cover the contract amount of $399,877. Also, we will request that Project BG0080 be combined with Project BG0079. Approximately 33% of the equipment cost for this expansion will be reimbursed to the City of Norman from ACOG once the project is completed.
RECOMMENDATION NO. 1: Staff recommends Bid 1920-62 be awarded to the lowest and most suitable bidder, Domino Equipment Company, LLC., as shown on the Bid Tabulation applies to the slow fill expansion and labor to complete Phase I, II and III for equipment, materials and labor to complete the CNG slow fill expansion to the Transit and Parks Maintenance Facility.
RECOMMENDATION NO. 2: Staff further recommends upon approval of Bid 1920-62 that Contract K-1920-136, Performance Bond B-1920-93, Statutory Bond B-1920-94, and Maintenance Bond MB-1920-65 be approved and Resolution R-1920-123 be adopted granting tax exempt status.
RECOMMENDATION NO. 3: Staff further recommends that $142,109 be transferred from the CNG Gas Drive Replacement & Storage project (BG0080, 27590078-46101) to the Eight Dual Slowfill Pumps project (BG0079, 27590078-46101) so as to combine the two projects into one. Further, staff recommends changing the name of Project BG0079 from Eight Dual Slowfill Pumps to Transit Facility CNG Fueling Stations, to more accurately reflect the nature of the project. Lastly, staff recommends an appropriation of $51,623 from Miscellaneous Services-CART (27550276-44766) to the Transit Facility CNG Fueling Stations Project (BG0079, 27590078-46101) to adequately fund the contract.