Sparks City Council Meeting (following the Special Meeting) 11/13/2018 2:00:00 PM

    Tuesday, November 13, 2018 2:00 PM
    Council Chambers, Legislative Building, 745 4th Street, Sparks, NV

General Business: 9.7

Title: Consideration, discussion and possible approval to purchase aluminum sulfate from Thatcher Chemical Company at a unit price of $375/ton, using the joinder provision of the City of Las Vegas/National IPA contract #150063-SK-A. (estimated annual cost of $295,000).
Petitioner/Presenter: John A. Martini, P.E.-Community Services Director/Kim Laber-TMWRF Maintenance Manager
Recommendation: Staff recommends that the City Council approve the purchase of Alum from Thatcher Chemical Company of California at a delivered unit price of $375.00 per ton.
Financial Impact: $295,000.00 will be used in Program 131505 (TMWRF Operations), Account 603300 (Chemicals - Alum)
Total Costs: $295,000.00
Fund: Joint Treatment Plant    Account: 603300
Program: TMWRF Operations (131505)
Amount: $295,000.00    Budget Status: Budget Exists
Business Impact (Per NRS 237):
    
A Business Impact Statement is not required because this is not a rule.
Agenda Item Brief:

Staff is asking City Council approval to purchase aluminum sulfate from Thatcher Chemical Company through the 2018-19 National Intergovernmental Purchasing Alliance (NIPA) contract for the Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility at a price of $375/ton.



Background:

Aluminum Sulfate (Alum) is primarily used as a coagulant to settle out fine particles in the spent backwash water that comes from the gravity filters backwash cycle. Aluminum Sulfate is additionally used at TMWRF to precipitate phosphorous from the Phosphorous Rich Supernatant (PRS) process.  This process reduces phosphorous loading from the dewatering process and returns it to digesters for biosolids disposal. 



Analysis:

If approved, the City of Sparks would be directly purchasing alum from Thatcher Chemical utilizing the contract offered by the National Intergovernmental Purchasing Alliance (NIPA) which is a group purchasing organization similar to others used in the purchase of goods and services in the City of Sparks.  In this case, NIPA is marketing a contract originally bid and awarded by the City of Las Vegas for the provision of various water treatment chemicals, including Alum.  This practice allows the City to purchase the chemicals directly from the supplier without the requirement to go to formal bid, as allowed by NRS 332.115 and NRS 332.195.  The current NIPA contract rate is $375/ton.   The estimated annual cost for this contract is $295,000.00.



Alternatives:

1.  The City Council can approve the purchase as outlined above.

2. The City Council can direct the Manager to have staff comptetitively bid the contract for alum.



Recommended Motion:

I move to approve the purchase of aluminum sulfate from Thatcher Chemical Company at a unit price of $375/ton, using the joinder provision of the City of Las Vegas/National IPA contract #150063-SK-A., with an annual estimated cost of $295,000.



Attached Files:
     9.7 2019 Alum Pricing 9-6-18.pdf
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