At the July 27 City Commission meeting, the Fire & Rescue Department was approved to purchase 16 Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA), 48 air cylinders, and 16 voice amplifiers at a cost of $155,288.72. However, upon placing the order it was discovered that the air hoses we currently use to connect our personnel’s existing regulators to the SCBAs would not be compatible with the new air packs. The only practical solution is to acquire new hoses that will adapt to the new units. The replacement hoses, of which we need 44, cost $350 apiece. We also have need for two additional regulators at a cost of $1,300 each. Therefore, the total additional cost for placing these units in service would be an additional $18,000.
Senior staff has been working with the vendor to find the most equitable and economical solution possible. The vendor, Municipal Emergency Services, has taken some responsibility for this oversight given the fact that the issue of incompatibility should have been identified earlier.
In order to acquire the needed equipment without additional capital outlay, senior staff has negotiated a trade-in agreement with the vendor. MES will supply the needed hoses and regulators in exchange for 12 of our current (old) SCBAs and 24 old air bottles. These are units we planned to surplus and sell on GovDeals once the new breathing apparatus arrives.
Upon researching two years’ worth of auction sales using GovDeals, these SCBAs and bottles have traditionally sold for between $150 to $350 each in various lot sizes. An attachment to this agenda item has been provided representing the outcome of some recent sales. Based upon this historical information, we estimate that the units being requested for trade-in would sell for between $4,000 and $5,000 total at auction. Given the fact that the vendor is willing to provide trade-in value of $18,000, staff recommends approval to trade these units for the needed equipment rather than auction them as surplus.
Please contact the Fire Chief with any questions you may have.
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