| G | Consideration and Approval of Contract: Cooperative Purchase Contract with Pride Outfitters, LLC to upfit/outfit emergency equipment on four patrol vehicles in an amount not to exceed $88,000. | ||||||
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Kelly Cullen, with Niles Radio, addressed Council and spoke in opposition of the contract. He expressed concern regarding discrepancies in the bidding process. He noted that although they were listed as the highest bidder, he believed it was because they were not bidding on the same line items as the other contractor. He felt that comparison between bids was not fair due to the differing line items. He noted the additional costs that would be associated with transporting the vehicles to and from the valley for installation as well as it not subscribing to the city’s climate action plan goals. He also stated that there should be considerations locally due to Flagstaff’s higher minimum wage and sales tax rates. He requested that the decision be postponed until revised equipment lists and specifications were provided to all bidders, the cost of shuffling vehicles was factored into the purchase, and the higher local wages and sales tax rates were considered in the evaluation process. Purchasing Manager Patrick Brown addressed Council and stated that Niles Radio did not submit detailed line items as part of their proposal; the other submitters did submit those details. The difference in pricing was about $13,000. The bid request represented the elements that the Police Department was seeking and when the quotes were received, they determined that the selected vendor met all the criteria they were seeking. Council raised concern about the challenges local vendors faced with a higher minimum wage in Flagstaff. Vice Mayor Aslan asked what the impact of postponing the action would be. Police Special Services Supervisor Kristen Decker offered that they hoped to get approval to move forward was because the current fleet was down by nine vehicles. They were able to procure those vehicles recently and now they needed to be up fitted with lights, sirens, and other necessary emergency equipment. They were already in a critical position with not having enough patrol vehicles on the road, so they needed to get the new ones up and running as quickly as possible. It took about ten weeks to equip the vehicles depending on the ability of the vendor’s schedule. Councilmember Harris asked what the options would be if the action was put on hold. Ms. Decker stated that there were no other options to put more vehicles on the road or have adequate reserves should a vehicle go down. Councilmember Matthews stated that she understood the urgency but she felt strongly that the decision should be based on equity of the bidding process and she did not know if minimum wage came into play with the pricing from the local bidder. Moved by Councilmember Lori Matthews to postpone the item until the next meeting to obtain information on the impact of minimum wage. Motion failed for lack of a second. |
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Moved by Councilmember Khara House, seconded by Councilmember Miranda Sweet to approve the Cooperative Purchase Contract with Pride Outfitters, LLC for the upfit/outfit emergency equipment on four patrol vehicles in an amount not to exceed $88,000; and authorize the City Manager to execute the necessary documents. Councilmember House noted that she understood and appreciated the comments and challenges associated with the contract. She wanted to move forward with the contract with the understanding that a future discussion would follow at a later time. | |||||||
| Vote: 5 - 0 - Unanimously | |||||||