Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Fire Medical

TO:	David Corliss, City Manager
FROM:	Mark Bradford, Fire/Medical Chief
CC:	Debbie Van Saun, Asst. City Manager
Date:	December 13, 2006
RE:	Purchase of Slide-In Pump Units for Brush Vehicles

Please place the following item on the consent agenda for the City Commission to consider at their December 19, 2006 meeting:

Background:

As part of the department’s 2006 budget request and in an effort to streamline operations and match vehicle/equipment size to operational needs, Fire/Medical determined that using larger Squads Units for responding to wildland/grass fires was less efficient (capital and operational costs) than using smaller Brush Units mounted on downsized pickup vehicles.  The department has purchased the pickup trucks and in order to complete this conversion, the slide-in water tank and pump units need to be acquired.  Funding for this purchase will come from the 2006 General Fund operating budget.  Note – in the future, when the pickup units need to be replaced due to having reached their maximum serviceability, the slide-in units can be re-used from one chassis to another.

Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) and the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) entered into an agreement between regional councils that allow members of MARC to use the H-GAC cooperative purchasing program contracts.  This arrangement is administered by the Kansas City Regional Purchasing Cooperative (KCRPC). 

Recommendation Action:

Fire Medical is requesting approval to purchase two slide-in water tank and pump units off the H-GAC cooperative contract in the amount of $43,982.00 from Ferrara Fire Apparatus, Inc.