City to upgrade antiquated sprinkler systems
Council approves $160,000 cost, awards contract
Three recent fires showed the value of sprinklers. According to the Yuma Fire Department, sprinklers restricted the damage caused by fires during these incidents.
Accordingly, the city will be upgrading “antiquated” sprinkler systems currently in operation at several city facilities. It has three planned projects that are estimated to cost about $100,000. The city will update the sprinkler system at the North End Community Center, 160 E. 1st St., and the fire suppression hood system at the Civic Center, 1440 W. Desert Hills Drive, to comply with the current National Fire Protection Association code.
The city will also install a “pre-action system” for the Police Department to reduce loss of technical hardware equipment located in server rooms in case of fire.
Due to increased potential cost from the three projects and multiple antiquated systems currently in operation, staff requested the city council approve an estimated annual expense of $160,000 to cover the cost of future upgrades, installations and any repair work that may occur.
On Sept. 20, the council voted 5-0, with Mayor Doug Nicholls and Councilman Gary Wright absent, to award a contract for fire sprinkler maintenance, repairs and related services to American Fire Equipment Sales and Service of Yuma.
The contract is for one year, with the option to renew for four additional one-year periods, “depending on the appropriation of funds and satisfactory performance,” a staff report said. This contract covers maintenance of citywide sprinkler, fire alarm, hoods, fire pumps and preaction systems.
City buildings are subject to NFPA codes adopted and enforced by local, state and federal agencies. To adhere to these codes and ensure properly functioning fire suppression and fire alarm systems, the city requires a vendor to conduct routine maintenance and repairs, semi-annual and annual inspections as well as new installations, the report added.
Staff pointed out the estimated annual expense to conduct all necessary inspections, maintenance and repair on the city’s current system per NFPA codes has been about $60,000 annually. Funds are included in the fiscal year 2017-2018 operating budgets. If expenditures exceed the budgeted amount, the appropriate budget transfer will be made, staff said.
The city received a total of nine bids, with four being considered “competitive, responsive and responsible.” Selection criteria for this bid included responsiveness to bid specifications, hourly rate, discounts, system manufacturer certifications and past performance.
Staff recommended the city award the contract to AFESS because it has certifications of the FireLite and Notifier systems, brands that represent 56 percent of the fire suppression systems located throughout the city.
By having these certifications, staff said, AFESS has access to additional tools and software that will enable the company to perform full programming of city-owned systems. Full programming reduces the likelihood of sub-contract work needing to be performed that may result in added cost to the city.
The requesting departments wanted to ensure any future upgrades, installations and repairs were competitively solicited under this contract. The hourly rate provided by AFESS was lowest on four of six bid items and the manufacturer list price discount provided was second highest.
The lower hourly rate and higher discount will reduce the city’s expense in the event of a system upgrade, repair or installation, staff said.
In addition, staff noted, AFESS has been the city’s fire sprinkler system services vendor for the past five years performing at a satisfactory level.
Even though bidders Simplex Grinnell and Greenway Technologies were lower on all the inspections, their manufacturer list price discount and labor rates were not as competitive, staff said.