The Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility (TMWRF) utilizes a third party contractor for monitoring the wastewater flow in the collection system to proportion the operational costs between the Cities of Reno and Sparks.  The current contract has expired and services are being provided on a month-to-month basis. A competitive bid was held to secure a contract for service for a multi-year period.

The City of Sparks purchasing department held an open, competitive bid for the flow monitoring services.  Two bidders, ADS Inc. and Utility Systems Science and Software, submitted bids.  After bids were opened a challenge was made regarding language in the technical specification requiring ISO 9001 certifications.  The specific language in question was reviewed by the Sparks’ City Attorney’s office and determined to be ambiguous.  Each bidder interpreted the language to their own advantage and both readings were reasonable.  Because the issue had a financial cost that could have affected the final bid price, the attorney’s office recommended that all bids be rejected.

City of Sparks Municipal Code and Nevada Revised Statues require Council action to reject bids if the value of the bids exceeds $50,000.  Because the Flow Monitoring Bids were more than $50,000, staff is asking Council to formally reject both bids.

Council could direct the City Manager to have staff investigate alternatives.

I move to reject all bids for the TMWRF Flow Monitoring Services.