Memorandum
City
of
Fire
Medical
|
TO: |
David Corliss, City Manager |
|
FROM: |
|
|
CC: |
Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manager Cynthia Boecker, Assistant City Manager |
|
Date: |
April 24, 2008 |
|
RE: |
Fire Apparatus Replacement Request |
Introduction
In 2006, the Fire/Medical Department began a review of its fire
apparatus fleet. The efforts of staff
culminated in a comprehensive vehicle study that included a survey of all
primary and secondary fire apparatus, an overview of the organizational goals
and service demands of FM, a comparative analysis of the fire apparatus
replacement programs in other jurisdictions, and a proposed apparatus
replacement schedule.
Background
In February 2007, a Fire Apparatus Replacement Plan was proposed. In addition, the department submitted a
request for a Technical Rescue Vehicle through a USFA/FEMA Assistance to
Firefighters Grant. In September of 2007, the department received a denial
letter for this request.
Community Comparison
The City Manager requested a community comparison be completed to
determine the cost comparison between the department’s request and other
community apparatus purchases. This
comparison is included at the end of this memo.
Comparative communities for a quint included
Safety and Technological Features
All Manufactures: – Air
disc brakes,
– Automatic
tire chains for improved tire traction in adverse weather
Compressed Air Foam System:
A Compressed Air Foam System (CAFS) adds foam to water and compressed
air in the firefighting hose to create a specific foam mixture similar to
shaving cream. Compressed air foam knocks down fires much faster than
water alone (20 times more effective than plain water). Fire streams can
reach 50% further than water streams due to the air pressure, enabling
firefighters to attack the fire at a greater distance, substantially cutting
down exposure to the very high temperatures of a burning structure. Other
advantages include: utilizes less water and foam if applied separately, thereby
reducing water damage; penetrates fuels more effectively to reach deep-seated
fires; absorbs heat more rapidly to lessen the chance of flashover in structure
fires and reduces the potential for fires to rekindle by forming
a vapor barrier around fuels to exclude oxygen.
No single
manufacturer can offer the safety features listed below except Pierce,
Manufacturing.
Pierce, Manufacturing:
Standard Features – Side
Roll Protection System
– Front
and side airbag curtains
– TAK-4
independent front suspension – shortens breaking distances up to 23 %
– Greatest
cramp angels to 45 degrees – critical for Traditional Neighborhood Design
– Increase
load capacity – Dual Axels 18,000 – 22,800
– Antilock
Breaking System – Front and Rear Wheels
– Dual
Seatbelt retraction systems per seat along with ‘auto-style” airpack locking
device – eliminates the breathing airtank becoming dislodged, ejecting
firefighter and bottle from cab.
Apparatus Useful Life Expectancy
To ensure the greatest efficiency of public funds we recommend adopting
a useful life of twelve years. The basis
for this recommendation is derived from the following:
·
Provides
for the latest safety features;
·
Provides
for the latest technological features;
·
Annual
operation costs remain stable during this time frame;
·
Would
lessen the likelihood of a non-warranty covered major components;
·
Residual
values – seven years approximately 30 – 35 percent, ten years approximately 25
percent;
·
As
outlined below, review of maintenance records indicates a significant increase
in annual maintenance costs between the ten and 15 year life of the vehicle.
Current Annual Maintenance Costs
Steve
Stewart, Superintendent of the Public Works Central Vehicle Maintenance
Division, has provided historical maintenance cost associated with our current
fleet. Based on service and maintenance
costs, the point at which it becomes more costly to maintain equipment than the
actual value of the equipment depends based on type of vehicle. Data indicate that this intersection point
for a fire engine is 10.75 years; 11 years for quints 11 years, and 10 years
for aerial trucks. This information
confirms our recommendation of an efficient 12 year vehicle life based on
current maintenance cost history. In
addition, regionally departments are seeing similar life/maintenance
history.
Local Dealership
We recommend the purchase of apparatus from Pierce Manufacturing,
Inc. This recommendation is based on the
following:
–
–
History
with a financially stable apparatus manufacture;
–
Positive
city history with Pierce Manufacturing, Inc.
Houston-Galveston Area Council (HGAC) Purchase
In an attempt to be as cost conservative as possible, it is recommended
that we purchase the three vehicles from the HGAC Contract. This will reduce the overall administrative
time spent in additional bidding and capture added savings with
pre-payments. The city has had favorable
experiences using the HGAC contract for other large equipment purchases
including the 2007 purchase of the department’s Investigation vehicle and
various Public Works equipment.
Budget and Financing
Within the FY 2007 Budget (CIP), $600,000 was approved for the purchase
of a Technical Rescue Vehicle. In the FY
2008 Budget (CIP) $1,680,000 was approved for the purchase of two quints.
Ed Mullins,
Finance Director, has conducted a financing analysis to determine the best
method of securing funds for the apparatus purchases. They included purchase/cash, purchase/GO Bond
debt, lease, or lease/purchase of the equipment.
The Cost
analysis by Finance indicates a 12-year GO Bond debt issuance as the best option
to meet the designated useful life expectancy.
Action Request
Fire Medical
Department staff requests the approval for the following:
·
Utilize
the Houston-Galveston Area Council contract administered by MARC for pricing
quotes;
·
General
Obligation Bond debt issuance for the purchase via twelve year term;
·
Purchase:
o
One
(1) Technical Rescue from Pierce Manufacturing, Inc. in the amount of $621,521.00.
o
Two
(2) 75’ Quints from Pierce Manufacturing, Inc. in the amount of $1,663,652.
Apparatus Purchase Information
Assumptions
Engine cost
increase per year (per Steve Stewart) $10,000
Manufacturing
increase per year (per Steve Stewart) 7%
Compressed Air
Foam System (CAFS) (HGAC Pricing) $41,000
Breathing Air
System (HGAC Pricing) $45,400
Comparable Purchases
Quint Engine % Increase Foam Adjusted
$709,000 $10,000 $49,630 $41,000 $810,630
2007
American LaFrance
Ordered 110’ quint from American LaFrance. Unit has been delayed until at least August
due to company bankruptcy proceedings.
Unit does not have a Compressed Air Foam System (CAFS) or any of the
current safety features (roll protections, stability, etc. Price included a trade in unit with a $70,000
value.
Quint Engine % Increase Foam Adjusted
$625,000 $10,000 $43,750 $41,000 $720,750
2007
Pierce
…”Our price for the truck was approximately $625,000, including the
HGAC fee which, when we ran the numbers, represented a savings of about $50,000
over the list prices for identical features…. We do have CAFS on the
truck … The truck does have the newest safety features such as roll protection,
TAC-4 front suspension, etc. Very smooth and stable. Let me know if
you have any other questions or need any additional information”.
Single axle, 75’
ladder.
Quint Engine %Increase Foam Adjusted
$653,575 $10,000 $45,750 $0 $709,325
2007
Pierce
…”Purchased (Full pre-payment)
in February 2007, cost $622,805.00.
Delivered in September 2007. The
payment on delivery cost would have been $653,575.00”.
…”The unit has roll indicators.
We selected the Velocity HAL75 based on the engineering and safety
features of the Velocity. We selected
Pierce as the manufacturer to be utilized to "standardize" our fleet
of apparatus back in the late 1990's”…
This unit does
have a CAFS system.
Single axle, 75’
ladder.
Quint Engine % Increase Foam Adjusted
$853,000 $10,000 $59,710 $41,000 $964,710
2007
Pierce
Replace their apparatus at 10 years of age. Just received a 100’ platform for $853,000
with all prepay discounts taken and 10 year old truck received trade in value
of $200,000. Unit does not have a CAFS
system.
Tandem axle, 100’
ladder platform
Rescue Engine % Increase Compressor Adjusted
$450,000 $10,000 $31,500 $45,400 $536,900
2007
Pierce
“…We purchased a Pierce heavy rescue with USAI grant money in 2007 for
$450,000. It arrives this week and will be put in service at the end of
the month.
…It has a Velocity cab with TAC 4 suspension without any of the new
safety features….
…It does not have a breathing compressor however it has a compressor
for air tool….”
Rescue Engine % Increase Compressor Adjusted
$446,000 $10,000 $31,220 $35,000 $522,200
2007 (no
bottles)
Pierce
…”We are very happy with Pierce and with this last purchase our entire
apparatus inventory (non-medics) are all Pierce. They are very eager
to give the customer what they want, everyone within their organization is
helpful and they build a very good product”.
“Ordered in July 07, we just received a 2008 rescue (Velocity) and the
cost was $446,000”.
“No SCBA compressor but it has a cascade system consisting of 4
DOT bottles, refill station”.