HomeMy WebLinkAboutAGENDA REPORT 2020 1104 CCSA REG ITEM 10HCITY OF MOORPARK, CALIFORNIA
City Council Meeting
of November 4, 2020
ACTION Approved Staff Recommendation.
(Roll Call Vote: Unanimous).
BY B.Garza.
H. Consider Waiving Bidding Requirement for Irrigation Equipment for City Parks
and Landscape Maintenance Districts. Staff Recommendation: Waive Moorpark
Municipal Code Section 3.04.250, Open Market Bidding Procedure, for irrigation
equipment and supplies purchased from Aqua-flo, for Fiscal Year 2020/21 and
Fiscal Year 2021/22. (Staff: Jeremy Laurentowski) (ROLL CALL VOTE 4/5TH
AFFIRMATION)
Item: 10.H.
MOORPARK CITY COUNCIL
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Honorable City Council
FROM: Jeremy Laurentowski, Parks and Recreation Director
DATE: 11/04/2020 Regular Meeting
SUBJECT: Consider Waiving Bidding Requirement for Irrigation Equipment for
City Parks and Landscape Maintenance Districts
SUMMARY
Staff is requesting that the City Council waive open market bidding requirements for the
procurement of irrigation supplies from Aqua-flo for the Parks and underfunded
Landscape Maintenance Districts (LMD’s).
BACKGROUND
On September 2, 2020, staff presented an agenda report to the City Council regarding
the need to reduce landscape maintenance service levels in the City parks and
underfunded LMD’s. This was due to the fact that the General Fund subsidizes
maintenance costs each year for landscape maintenance operations. The Landscape
and Lighting Maintenance Assessment Districts Engineer’s Report for Fiscal Year (FY)
2020/21 estimates an operating deficit in the underfunded LMD’s of $339,316, and the
Park Maintenance District Engineer’s Report anticipates that assessment revenue for
FY 2020/21 will only cover 29% of the cost to maintain the City’s parks, requiring a
General Fund subsidy of approximately $1.8M to fund park operations. Additionally, the
current COVID-19 health emergency has heightened the need for fiscal restraint, as the
City is projected to lose over $1.2M in sales tax revenue over the next year due to the
health crises.
A variety of cost saving measures were approved by the City Council, such as a
reduced mowing and weeding schedule, as well as several maintenance responsibilities
that were transferred to City maintenance staff, such as fertilization and the
procurement of irrigation supplies. Prior to the reduction in service levels, the contract
specifications required the contractor to supply all necessary irrigation parts for repairs.
The contractor was required to purchase all irrigation equipment at their cost and
Item: 10.H.
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provide all labor to make the necessary repairs. The modifications to the service levels
approved by the City Council still require the contractor to supply labor for irrigation
repairs. However, the irrigation equipment would be provided by the City on the City’s
account with a local vendor. This would allow the City to manage repairs better and
would eliminate overhead costs for materials. It was estimated that the City would
spend approximately $5,000 per year on irrigation equipment.
DISCUSSION
Currently, staff purchases irrigation equipment and supplies on an as-needed basis
from a local vendor, Aqua-flo Supplies (Aqua-flo). These purchases are generally
infrequent and the City’s maintenance staff pays for these supplies with City issued
credit cards. Typically, purchases do not exceed a few hundred dollars per instance.
However, recently staff established an account with Aqua-flo in anticipation of the
change from contractor supplied irrigation equipment to City supplied. By establishing
an account with Aqua-flo, staff will be able to better monitor expenditures and will have
more control over repairs and the type of irrigation equipment installed in the parks and
LMD’s. The City worked with Aqua-flo to set up the account such that the contractor
can obtain irrigation equipment on the City’s account with prior approval from the City.
Aqua-flo will not distribute any material without a City signed order and will invoice all
purchases on a monthly basis. Because of this, it is anticipated that there may be
instances when the monthly invoice exceeds $1,000, which would require staff to obtain
open market bids under the Moorpark Municipal Code (MMC).
Staff is not aware of any other irrigation supply company in Moorpark that provides
commercial grade irrigation equipment. Additionally, many of the irrigation systems
installed within the City parks and LMD’s are comprised of several different commercial
vendors, such as Rainbird, Hunter, and Toro to name a few. Aqua-flo has a large
supply of most commercial products from top name vendors and has the ability to obtain
equipment within 24-hours if equipment needs to be ordered. It is important to note that
most commercial vendors also provide a lesser quality product typically utilized for
residential applications. Residential quality equipment is generally supplied at most
local hardware stores, including the larger chain stores.
MMC Section 3.04.250 requires open market bidding procedures be followed prior to
the purchase of supplies and equipment with a total value of $15,000 or less:
Purchases of supplies and equipment of an estimated value in the amount of fifteen
thousand dollars ($15,000.00) or less may be made by the purchasing agent in the
open market pursuant to the procedure prescribed in Sections 3.04.260 through
3.04.280 of this chapter and without observing the procedure prescribed in Sections
3.04.130 through 3.04.240 of this chapter; provided, however, all bidding may be
dispensed with for purchases of supplies and equipment having a total estimated value
of less than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00). (Ord. 43 § 2, 1985; Ord. 2 § 1, 1983)
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The MMC currently does not differentiate between a single-item purchase and a
cumulative purchase containing many different items purchased at different times.
Since Aqua-flo will bill the City on a monthly basis, staff is requesting that the City
Council waive the open market bidding requirement outlined in MMC 3.04.250, for
purchases made at Aqua-flo. This is due to the fact that the cumulative amount of
monthly purchases will likely exceed $1,000.
MMC Section 3.04.120 allows the City Council at its discretion at any time, by a majority
vote, to waive purchasing procedures, when such waiver is not in violation of State law.
California law does not provide specific procedures for purchasing supplies and
equipment for cities, so no violation of State law will occur. It should be noted that the
City’s bidding threshold for the procurement of equipment and supplies has not been
updated since 1985. Staff is in the process of evaluating the City’s purchasing policy to
keep pace with the current costs of goods and services.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact with this action. Funding for the purchase of irrigation
equipment has already been included in the FY 2020/21 budget.
COUNCIL GOAL COMPLIANCE
This action does not support a current strategic directive.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION (ROLL CALL VOTE 4/5TH AFFIRMATION)
Waive MMC Section 3.04.250, Open Market Bidding Procedure, for irrigation equipment
and supplies purchased from Aqua-flo, for FY 2020/21 and FY 2021/22.
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