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OHKOH
ON THE WATER
MEMORANDUM
DATE: November 12, 2009
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the Common Council
FROM: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager
RE: Purchase Order for Hybrid Buses
In March 2009, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) announced an American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) award for the Oshkosh Transit System to purchase four (4) 35-
foot hybrid diesel - electric buses to replace four (4) conventional diesel buses that are at the end of their
useful life. The award amount was for $2,100,000, which equates to a cost of $525,000 per vehicle.
To expedite a timely and cost - effective purchase of these buses, the Oshkosh Transit System elected to
participate in a "piggybacking" arrangement with a larger transit system. Under this type of arrangement,
a larger transit system issues a request for quotations to purchase a large number of buses (for example,
200 buses). Bus manufacturers respond on their ability to manufacture the number of buses that meet the
specifications provided by the purchasing agency. The lowest cost manufacturer is then awarded the
entirety of the purchase. The purchasing agency will actually use only a certain number of those buses
(for example, 180 buses), with the remaining slots (20 buses) being available to other transit agencies.
The purchasing agency then enters into an agreement with other transit agencies, such as ours, to
reserve a certain number of the remaining slots. The requirement is that our bus specifications have to be
substantially similar to what the buying agency is procuring. Piggybacking helps the bus manufacturers
since they can make a large number of vehicles without substantial changes to their assembly processes.
It also helps the buying agency, since a larger purchase can give them more leverage in achieving a
better purchase price. This piggybacking approach is allowed by the Federal Transit Administration as a
way to help smaller transit systems secure competitive bids in addition to reducing some of the costs
associated with procurement. Section 12- 10(D)(3) of the Oshkosh Municipal Code also allows for
purchases pursuant to a contract with another local, state or federal governmental unit.
The Transportation Department elected to pursue this piggybacking arrangement in purchasing the
ARRA- funded hybrid buses. Transportation Department staff identified two systems on whose bids we
could piggyback. Each system's bid had a different manufacturer as a low bid. The Transportation
Department chose to piggyback on a bid led by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority
(SEPTA) for a couple of reasons. First, there was no appreciable cost difference between the low bid
prices for the two piggyback opportunities. One difference between the piggybacking opportunities is that
the SEPTA bid allowed us to purchase buses with year 2007 diesel engines. These engines cost about
$20,000 less per vehicle than diesel engines complying with new 2010 standards and are substantially
more efficient than the engines in the buses which they are replacing. Second, SEPTA's low bid was with
New Flyer, which has manufactured all of the transit system's current bus fleet. This simplifies training
and spare parts requirements.
Even with the cost savings yielded by using 2007 diesel engines, the price of the hybrid buses came in
higher than budgeted, with an additional cost of $6,727.45 per vehicle, or $26,909.80 in total. This money
would need to come from sources beyond the original ARRA funding.
As a worst case scenario, all of this additional funding would need to come from local sources;
consequently, this amount has been included in the 2010 Capital Improvement Program. However, the
Transportation Department is currently working on methods to secure this funding through non -local
funding sources. Transportation Director Chris Strong received word that WisDOT has additional funding
from ARRA that could be used to cover all of the remaining money. If the Transportation Department is
unsuccessful in securing that funding, there is the possibility that 80 percent of the remaining cost could
be covered through the normal capital grant process. If these options are successful, the amount of local
funding required for these buses could be reduced significantly or eliminated entirely.
If it is necessary to use local dollars for the entirety of this additional cost, it should be noted that the local
dollars would represent about 1.3 percent of the purchase price of the vehicles, which is substantially less
than the 20 percent local match that is normally required for capital purchases.
In order to take advantage of this purchasing opportunity, it was necessary for the City to execute a
purchase order prior to November 15, 2009. Failure to do so would have forced the City to use the more
expensive engines and increased the likelihood (and amount) of local funds being required to support this
purchase. The City will not take delivery of the vehicles until August 2010, at which time full payment of
the purchase will be required. Therefore, any local dollars required to execute this purchase would not be
required until 2010.
As stated above, section 12- 10(D)(3) of the Municipal Code provides that purchases pursuant to a
contract with another local, state or federal governmental unit may be approved by the City Manager
without the use of formal, sealed quotes. Therefore, in accordance with 12 -10(E) of the Code, I am
hereby submitting this report regarding this purchase order.
Please contact me if you have any questions concerning this purchase order.
MAR /cks
CITY HALL
215 Church Avenue
P.O. Box 1130
Oshkosh, 03 -1 City of Oshkosh
549 -11 30 0
QlHKOlH
MEMORANDUM
DATE: November 20, 2009
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the Common Council
FROM: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager ,�--
RE: Award of Engineering Services Agreement —
Design Services for Oshkosh North High School Detention Basin / AECOM
Technical Services. ( AECOM)
The Department of Public Works requested a proposal from AECOM Technical Services to
perform design related services for the Oshkosh North High School Detention Basin. These
services include sub consulting with an arborist to determine tree types, and ascertain tree
quality, or health The services will also include topographic survey, geotechnical exploration,
detention basin design, specifications, and information and educational signage.
AECOM was chosen due to their history of storm water modeling within the City and within the
watershed. AECOM is currently working on the watershed wide analysis for the Libbey Avenue
and Nicolet Avenue Watersheds. The cost of these design services is estimated not to exceed
$62,090.
Section 12- 10(D)(5) of the Municipal Code provides that professional services of a specialized
nature, including engineering services, may be approved by the City Manager without the use of
formal, sealed quotes. In accordance with 12 -10(E) of the Code, I am hereby submitting this
report regarding this contract award. Funding for these services is available in the Storm Water
Utility.
Please contact me if you have any questions concerning this contract award.
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