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Consent

Brentwood City Commission Agenda

Meeting Date:	07/27/2020
Resolution 2020-68 - Agreement with ADS Environmental Services to Purchase Stream Gauge Monitoring Equipment for Fire & Rescue
Submitted by:	Brian Goss, Fire & Rescue
Department:	Fire & Rescue

Information

Subject

Resolution 2020-68 - Authorization for Agreement with ADS Environmental Services to Purchase Stream Gauge Monitoring Equipment for Brentwood Fire & Rescue.

Background

The topography of the City of Brentwood includes several areas that are susceptible to flooding during periods of heavy rainfall. As we discovered in 2010, monitoring rates of rise in our local waterways is key to determining how quickly and to what extent flooding is likely to take place within the City. Currently during storm situations, the Fire & Rescue Department sends personnel out to physically check water levels in various streams approximately every 30 minutes and documents those levels on a spreadsheet. That information is then manually entered into a GIS dashboard when time allows, which tracks the various rates of rise. This practice is not only inefficient and labor-intensive, but requires our personnel to try and obtain readings during storm events when emergency call volumes typically peak.

Departmental staff have researched various methods to electronically monitor and report river levels, but most of those solutions have proven to be cost-prohibitive. In conversations with IT and the Brentwood Water Services Department, it was discovered that we could utilize ECHO water monitoring devices similar to those used by the Water Services Department to monitor flow levels in manholes. These monitors would integrate as part of the larger system already contracted by the City that includes a web-based “dashboard” (PRISM) that consolidates the data. The PRISM application and associated API will then feed data to our ESRI GIS dashboard in the same way that Water Department does currently.

The Water Services Department’s manhole depth monitors or ECHO units were purchased from ADS Environmental Services in 2017 to supplement system monitoring. Staff felt it was important to keep all of the sewer system flow monitoring related data under the same company for both data consistency and to minimize program overall cost. Therefore, they requested approval from the Board of Commissioners to purchase eight of the ADS ECHO manhole monitors which includes their data collection, annual maintenance and monthly web-access service. As all components worked together, this was essentially a sole-source purchase. However, they did obtain a competitor’s quote for reference which was much higher than the ECHO unit purchase and subsequent annual services.

Because we would be utilizing this technology and infrastructure already purchased by the Water Services Department, it would be impracticable to bid an entirely new system. Staff recommends that the ECHO units being proposed be considered as a sole-source purchase since the PRISM website and associated API that will feed data to our ESRI dashboard integrates with the ECHO product exclusively.

The FY 2021 cost for the ECHO stream monitoring system purchased through ADS Environmental Services would be $14,172. This cost includes three units for monitoring key locations (Little Harpeth River at Granny White and at Concord Road and Owl Creek at Concord Pass), installation, monthly service, wireless communication, and interface. A total of $14,255 was requested and approved for this project in the Fire & Rescue Department’s FY-2021 Annual Operating Budget. Ongoing monitoring and maintenance fees will be included in future budget requests.

Please contact the Fire Chief with any questions you may have.

Staff Recommendation

Staff recommends approval to purchase stream gauge monitoring equipment from ADS Environmental Services in the amount of $14,172.00

Fiscal Impact

Amount :	$8,253
Source of Funds:	EQUIPMENT N/C
Account Number:	110-42200-83530

Fiscal Impact:

Funds are available in the adopted budget for this purpose.

Amount :	$5,919
Source of Funds:	RM OFFICE MACH & EQUIPMENT
Account Number:	110-42200-82605

Fiscal Impact:

Funds are available in the adopted budget for this purpose.

Attachments
Resolution 2020-68
Contract No. 2020-089
Project Proposal
ECHO Literature
ECHO Date Sheet
Signed Resolution & Contract