CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
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Approve the award of Cooperative Procurement 20-064, Trackless MT7 Leaf Loader, to EJ Equipment for an amount not to exceed $182,778.45
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DEPARTMENT: Department of Public Works
SUBMITTED BY: Richard Dublinski, Director
BOARD/COMMISSION REVIEW:
N/A
BACKGROUND:
The Department of Public Works - Operations Division (DPW) provides annual curbside leaf collection services. The program historically begins six weeks prior to Thanksgiving Day. They City is divided into 20 leaf districts and 17 of those districts are collected by DPW staff. On average, the City annually picks up approximately 45,000 cubic yards of leaves during the six-week bulk curbside leaf program. To complete leaf collection operations within the six-week timeframe, DPW staff require the use of efficient and reliable equipment. DPW uses several pieces of equipment for this program, including five leaf loaders, five suction units and one vacuum unit.
At the June 16, 2019 City Council meeting, Council provided direction to staff to prepare a budget amendment for $274,000 to effectively continue the desired service levels of the City’s annual six-week, three cycle bulk curbside leaf programs. Part of the agenda item included a recommendation to replace all the leaf equipment over a five-year period, funding for additional contractor assistance, rental of front-end loaders and semi-truck services and funding for the rental of a trackless leaf loader.
The City owns and operates five Autumn Mate leaf loaders. The leaf loaders pick up most of the leaves (nearly 80%) in the City but sit idle most of the year due to their specialized use. Additionally, the leaf loaders require follow-up street sweeping to clean remaining debris. Each year DPW’s leaf equipment continues to age and become less reliable. As a result, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to find replacement parts and increasingly costlier to reproduce the parts due to equipment having been discontinued. DPW created a five-year plan for equipment replacement which would ensure that a full contingent of newer leaf equipment would be available by fall of 2023 to aid in the program’s success.
In anticipation of the need to replace the existing leaf loaders, DPW researched available equipment that would be a viable replacement option for the Autumn Mate leaf loaders such as a front-end loader with boxer buckets, Leeboy 3000 force-feed loader, Titan Leaf Pro pull behind leaf vacuum, Dinkmar self-contained leaf vacuum and the Trackless MT7 articulated tractor with leaf loader attachment. The only option DPW found that could pick up the same volume of leaves was the Trackless MT7 leaf loader.
In addition to the efficiency of the Trackless MT7’s leaf loader (it can pick-up and mulch up to 100,000 pounds of leaves per day), the compact size, maneuverability and flexibility of the machine allow for year-round operations. One of the attachments available for the Trackless MT7 is a sweeper, which would provide for more maneuverability on the street to clean-up residual leaf debris, rather than running the large street sweeper.
DPW conducted a pilot program rental with the Trackless MT7 with the understanding that if the pilot program demonstrated the equipment to be an acceptable replacement, a new trackless leaf loader would be purchased in 2020.
DISCUSSION:
DPW rented one Trackless MT7 leaf loader for the 2019 leaf collection season from EJ Equipment as a pilot program to evaluate its performance as a possible replacement for the existing leaf loaders. The Trackless MT7 leaf loader proved to be an acceptable replacement during the pilot program. DPW operated the Trackless MT7 for a total of 14 days over the four-week rental period. During this timeframe, the Trackless collected nearly 100 cubic yards of leaves per day, which is equivalent to what DPW’s existing leaf loaders have collected on average per day. Additionally, the compact size, maneuverability and flexibility of the machine allows for year-round operations. One of the attachments available for the Trackless MT7 is a sweeper, which would provide for more maneuverability on the street to clean-up residual leaf debris, rather than running the large street sweeper.
Besides the Trackless having newer technology for mulching leaves, being safer because the operator is in cab and making it easier and cheaper to repair since parts are readily available, the true upside to the Trackless over the current leaf loader is that it can pick up wet and frozen leaves. Therefore, the Trackless can be used on days in which the leaf loaders have previously been out of service due to the condition of the leaves, which ultimately caused for delays in the progress of the time-sensitive program.
The Trackless MT7 is available on HGACBuy Cooperative Contract #GR01-20, an approved cooperative contract, through EJ Equipment for $182,778.45, including freight, as specified.
|
List Price |
Less HGACBuy Discount |
Plus Freight |
Total Price |
|
$189,451.00 |
($9,472.55) |
$2,800.00 |
$182,778.45 |
The order delivery lead time for the Trackless MT7 is 90 days.
FISCAL IMPACT:
CIP #: VEH002
Vehicle replacements for DPW are expensed to the Vehicles and Equipment account listed below. A total of $240,000 was budgeted for the purchase of the Trackless MT7 leaf loader in 2020. The requested amount of $182,778.45 is within the amount budgeted for this expense.
|
Account Number |
Fund Description |
Total Budget Amount |
|
31102200-551505 |
Capital Projects Fund |
$1,749,000 |