Report Prepared by: Wally Broughton, PWM-Operations, Public Works and Venus Rodriguez, Finance Officer.
Title
SUBJECT: Approval of the Purchase and/or Installation of Public Safety Vehicle Parts in an Amount not to Exceed $70,212.04 from Emergency Vehicle Outfitters (EVO) and Shafeel Hussein
REPORT IN BRIEF
Considers approving the purchase and/or installation of Public Safety vehicle parts from EVO and Shafeel Hussein.
RECOMMENDATION
City Council - Adopt a motion:
A. Approving purchases and/or installation of Public Safety vehicle parts in an amount not to exceed $70,212.04 from EVO and Shafeel Hussein; and,
B. Authorizing the City Manager or designee to execute any necessary documents.
Body
ALTERNATIVES
1. Approve, as recommended by staff; or,
2. Approve, subject to conditions other than recommended by staff (identify specific findings and/or conditions amended to be addressed in the motion); or,
3. Deny; or,
4. Refer to staff for reconsideration of specific items (specific items to be addressed in the motion); or,
5. Continue to a future meeting (date and time to be specified in the motion).
AUTHORITY
Merced Municipal Code Chapter 3.04, Article III - the purchase of materials, supplies, equipment, and contractual services of an estimated value greater than thirty-three thousand dollars ($33,000.00), the "contract threshold," shall be made by the purchasing supervisor by written contract with the lowest responsible bidder.
CITY COUNCIL PRIORITIES
As provided for in the Fiscal Year 20/21 Adopted Budget.
DISCUSSION
Staff issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the purchase and installation of outfitting parts for new emergency vehicles; proposals were due May 9, 2019. A single proposal from Emergency Vehicle Outfitters (EVO) of Elk Grove was received. EVO was issued separate purchase orders (PO) for each vehicle to be outfitted based on the parts list established by staff and EVO.
After issuance of the PO’s, staff requested EVO proceed with ordering the parts. Following confirmation of the City’s order, staff attempted multiple times to contact EVO for possible delivery dates. Each time contact was made, EVO provided excuses for the delays.
Staff received notice that EVO was filing for bankruptcy and would now be operating under the name Shafeel Hussein dba Advanced Vehicle Products LLC (AVP). Per the vendor’s request, the PO’s were changed from EVO to AVP. Staff continued in their attempts to contact AVP for delivery dates on existing orders and ultimately AVP could not provide staff with confirmation of delivery dates.
In February 2021, the purchase orders were cancelled due to AVP failure to deliver full orders for over a year. Payments in the amount of $13,006.15 were made to EVO and $40,969.04 to AVP during this fiscal year. There is one outstanding invoice to be paid in the amount of $16,236.85 in order to complete all transactions with these two vendors. All payments total $70,212.04.
At the end of the RFP process, a statement of service or contract was not completed. The department had historically been submitting requisitions and issuing PO’s per purchase and/or service of individual vehicles. There were several PO’s ultimately issued and paid that in total exceeded the $33,000 threshold per the Merced Municipal Code. This error was not realized until after the payments had been made to the vendor and during review of canceling the PO’s. Staff is requesting the City Council ratify the expenditures of $53,975.19 that have already been paid and approve the final invoice of $16,236.85 to be paid for work completed.
In moving forward, Public Works will be adjusting processes in order to ensure that this does not happen in the future. The Purchasing Division of the Finance Department will also be working towards reviewing processes and adjusting as needed.
IMPACT ON CITY RESOURCES
The funding for the purchase and installation of the public safety vehicle parts were included in the FY 2020-21 adopted budget. No additional appropriation is required.