To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
From: Norris W. Croom III, Chief, Fire and Rescue Department
Through: David L. Corliss, Town Manager
Title
Resolution Approving a Purchase Agreement with Seawestern Emergency Vehicles for the Acquisition of One (1) Fouts Fire FB94 Custom Pumper with Three (3) Upfit Items
Body
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Executive Summary
Due to the numerous issues we are experiencing with our KME reserve fire apparatus, specifically the MaxxForce motors and a lack of parts, we are requesting approval to purchase a Fouts Bros. fire engine to serve as a reliable reserve until we can take delivery of the Pierce replacements for the KMEs. The department has worked with Finance to ensure there are sufficient funds for this unbudgeted, emergency purchase, and delivery of this unit would occur in approximately four months. As the cost of $800,000.00 is over $250,000.00, we are seeking Council approval of the purchase.
History of Past Town Council, Boards & Commissions, or Other Discussions
Council has previously approved such replacement purchases of fire department vehicles over $250,000.00.
Discussion
In 2013, the department purchased three KME apparatus - two engines and one aerial. For consistency, these units were all powered by the International MaxxForce 13-liter engine. At the time, this engine was brand new to the market, and due to the use of large amounts of exhaust gas recirculation, it did not need to have a Selective Catalyst Reduction (SCR) system or Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) to meet the exhaust emission standards.
This configuration ultimately proved to be troublesome. Due to the problems these engines developed, International stopped production in 2015, and no longer offers their own over-the-road big-block engine. Because of this, we are having extreme difficulty in locating parts for continued repairs, and in at least one instance, found no parts available from International or aftermarket sources. The failure of one of these parts puts the fire engine out of service, which is unacceptable as a reliable option for our reserve fleet.
While the two fire engines are considered reserves, they actually spend a significant amount of time in service as front-line apparatus. This is due to the required preventative maintenance and unplanned service for the primary apparatus. Without reliable reserve apparatus, we cannot perform the needed maintenance and repairs on the front-line apparatus. A reliable reserve fleet is also needed in the event that additional apparatus need to be placed into service due to a significant incident.
Over the last few years, we have worked closely with Fleet and Finance to move the replacement schedule for these units forward because of the delivery timeframe challenges. Our current apparatus vendor projects 45-48 months out from time of order to delivery. With that time frame, we have serious concerns that we will not be able to keep the KMEs running with the lack of support and parts from International.
To address this issue, we are requesting approval to purchase a generic Fouts Bros. fire engine, which is very basic, can be delivered in four months, and at a cost of $724,200.00, to be used as a reserve only. Then, if we lose one of the KMEs, we can part that KME out to hopefully keep the other two in service until we receive the replacements. If we lose a second KME, then we will have to decide what path to take at that time. Once we take delivery of the Pierce replacement engines, we can look at selling the Fouts engine and recovering some costs. There is no option to purchase an “off the shelf” or demo Pierce engine due to cost and delivery time frame.
While this is not what we had planned for or prefer, it is a stop gap measure to get us through this challenging time and ensure that we have a reliable reserve engine in place. If approved, we will place this order after Council approval, and take delivery in late Spring/early Summer.
Budget Impact
The current quote for this new fire engine is $724,200.00. As this is a new purchase, we are requesting an additional $75,800.00 to upfit the engine with equipment, decals, radios, etc. With the addition of the upfit funds, this puts the total cost for the engine at $800,000.00.
Seawestern Emergency Vehicles is the authorized dealer for this apparatus, and Fouts Bros. has this unit on two national purchasing contracts, HGACBuy under contract FS12-23-C04, and NPPGOV under contract PS20225. Both of these meet the required criteria for a sole source purchase. In addition, the Town does have a copy of their Certificate of Liability Insurance on file.
Finance will be re-allocating funding from the fire and rescue department’s 2024 general fund budget though a budget amendment, and has confirmed funding is available for this capital purchase in the 2025 budget. Specifically, funding will come from line item 221.8100.481-70.40.
Staff Recommendation
Staff recommends approval of the sole source justification and purchase agreement.
Proposed Motion
“I move to approve the Resolution as introduced by title.”
Attachments
Attachment A: Resolution
Attachment B: Sole Source Justification
Exhibit 1: Purchase Agreement and Statement of Warranty with Seawestern Emergency Vehicles