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5a. Accept Bid, Water Meter Radio Read Replacement0 CITY OF CHANNASSEN 7700 Market Boulevard PO Box 147 Chanhassen, MN 55317 Administration Phone: 952.227.1100 Fax: 952.227.1110 Building Inspections Phone: 952.227.1180 Fax: 952.227.1190 Engineering Phone: 952.227.1160 Fax: 952.227.1170 Finance Phone: 952.227.1140 Fax: 952.227.1110 Park & Recreation Phone: 952.227.1120 Fax: 952.227.1110 Recreation Center 2310 Coulter Boulevard Phone: 952.227.1400 Fax: 952.227.1404 Planning & Natural Resources Phone: 952.227.1130 Fax: 952.227.1110 Public Works 7901 Park Place Phone: 952.227.1300 Fax: 952.227.1310 Senior Center Phone: 952.227.1125 Fax: 952.227.1110 Web Site www.ci.chanhassen.mn.us MEMORANDUM TO: FROM: DATE: SUBJ: Todd Gerhardt, City Manager r 0 Paul Oehme, Director of Public 117 1, Engineer September 24, 2012 Water Meter Radio Read Replacement Project, PW0241: Accept Bids and Award Contract for Water Meter Radio Replacement PROPOSED MOTION "The City Council approves bid in the amount of $1,194,726.45 to Ferguson Waterworks for the replacement of water meter radios, hardware and software." City Council approval requires a simple majority vote of the City Council present. BACKGROUND At Council work session meetings in February, March and May, staff presented the need for replacing the radio devices on all water meters in the city. In 2001, the City installed radio devices on all the water meters to obtain the water usage remotely without having to go on private property and physically read the water meters. Previously, each meter had to be physically read which would take weeks to complete. The current system has served the city well; however, the batteries for the radio devices have begun to fail. The batteries for the radios had a life expectancy of 10 years. Also, the current radio read system is no longer serviced by the manufacture. At the February 13, 2011 Council work session, staff presented three options to address the water meter radio failure problem. Replace only the battery of existing radios. This option is the cheapest; however, the radio batteries can only be replaced with the same 10 -year life battery since the housing of the radios will only fit the smaller 10 -year life battery. The older generation radios are likely to use more power in the future as the system gets older, which may decrease the life expectancy of the batteries even more. Also, staff would need to take apart the radio, cut out the old battery and splice in a new battery. The spliced connections on these radios can be hard to make with fine gage wire in typically low light environments. The existing mobile reading device is no longer manufactured. If, in an extreme case, the mobile reader is destroyed, it would be time consuming and costly to find or engineer a replacement. g: \eng \public \pw024ol water meter radio replacement - 2012 \bkgd 092412 award radio contract..doc Chanhassen is a Community for Life - Providing for Today and Planning for Tomorrow Todd Gerhardt September 24, 2012 Water Meter Radio Read Replacement Project: Accept Bids & Award Contract Page 2 2. Replace the radios and batteries with the same manufacturer (Sensus Co.) system the City currently uses. This mobile (drive -by) meter reading option incorporates the same radio frequency and software the City currently uses. Staff has looked into possibly switching to another manufacturer's mobile radio system; however, other systems are estimated to cost more. The system would still require the utility operator to physically drive up and down a street to obtain the meter reads. It employs a one -way radio system, meaning there is no modern functionality features common with modern systems. Meter re -reads and final meter reads also require an employee to physically visit the outside of the homes to obtain the readings. In the last quarter of 2011 alone there were 66 final reads that required a physical proximity visit. This system has approximately a 20 -year life expectancy. Staff time is estimated at 1/3 of a utility employee's annual hours to read the meters. 3. Upgrade the radio meter system with a fixed -based system. This more technologically current system uses a 2 -way radio system. The system would require collectors and antennas to be located on water towers and lift station antenna poles to collect the readings. Meter readings can then be read at City Hall by the Finance Department, freeing up time and costs of a Utility Department employee. Also, this system has an increased customer service function, a customer service software suite for instant re -reads and final reads. Billing questions can easily be addressed in real time by this system providing greater and timelier customer service. Billing would be much more streamlined and efficient for the Finance Department. This system has approximately a 20+ -year life expectancy. At the March and May Council work session meetings, the Council reviewed the costs and cost benefits for each option. The City Council directed staff to take bids for Option 3. The benefits for this option are as follows: 1. Entering businesses and residents' homes only one time in the next ten years versus two times compared to. replacing the existing batteries (Option 1). 2. Multiple customer service features available to residents. 3. Staff time spent on re -reads will essentially be eliminated. 4. Final reads go from 3 -4 days to 10 -15 minutes. 5. Leak detection is an option available to customers. 6. Tamper detection available to the City. 7. 20+ year battery life expectancy. 8. An option to provide leak detection in city's watermains is available. 9. The possibility of human errors on final reads or re -reads would be eliminated. 10. The existing mobile reading device is no longer manufactured. If, in an extreme case, the mobile reader is destroyed, it would be time consuming and costly to find or engineer a replacement. 11. Ongoing Utility Dept. staff time to do mobile reads is eliminated. On June 18, 2012, staff received bids for the Option 3 system. g: \eng \public \pw024ol water meter radio replacement - 2012 \bkgd 092412 award radio contract..doc Todd Gerhardt September 24, 2012 Water Meter Radio Read Replacement Project: Accept Bids & Award Contract Page 3 The bids on received on June 18' were as follows: Ferguson Waterworks $1,253,601.17 HD Supply $1,246,374.25 Each bid met the specifications for the project. However, the low bidder submitted a bid to have the installation portion of the contract completed by a company located in New Jersey. Staff felt this installation company was not a good fit for the City project and therefore recommended the bids be rejected and the project rebid. DISCUSSION On August 23, 2012, bids were opened for the meter radio replacement project. The City received two bids. Bids received are as follows: Ferguson Waterworks $1,194,726.45 H.D. Supply $1,218,690.07 Each bidder submitted a bidder lower than the first time the bids were received. Ferguson Waterworks stated their bid was lower because they corrected an error from the bid. The low bidder was $51,647.80 lower than the low bidder on June 18 th . Ferguson Waterworks is a Neptune Technology Group supplier of meter radios. Neptune radios are one of the bigger suppliers of meter radio systems for municipalities in the country. They have a local office in Blaine, Minnesota. The company has installation staff to schedule appointments and install the new radios. Staff has checked company references with other local municipalities they have worked in. Their work has been acceptable. Staff plans to give a brief overview of the project, system capabilities and installation plan at the Council meeting. Attachment: 1. Ferguson Waterworks — Executive Summary 2. Resolution g: \eng \public \pw024o1 water meter radio replacement - 2012 \bkgd 092412 award radio contract..doc %$FERGUSONO Waterworks Executive Summary Ferguson Waterworks is a division of Ferguson Enterprises. We are a full line water works distributor with 6 mid -west locations. Ferguson Waterworks has been in the water industry since 1958. The Water Meter Division was started in 2000 and has accomplished many successful water meter deployments. We have installed meter reading systems from the basic touchpad reading to the most sophisticated fixed network radio and telephone. Company Profile Our company was formed in 1998 with the merger of two companies whose roots go back to the 1950's, Davies Water Equipment Company of Minneapolis, MN and Ferguson Waterworks of Fargo, ND. In addition to water and sewer distribution products, we provide irrigation systems, E -One sewer pumps, geotextiles, polyethylene pipe, fusion equipment, locators, safety equipment, water meter systems, installation, and repair. Today we have over 95 employees, with offices in Fargo and Bismarck, ND; Minneapolis and St. Cloud, MN; De Kalb, IL and Madison, WI. We supply products and services to both of the Dakotas, Minnesota, Western Wisconsin, Iowa and Northern Illinois. Ferguson Waterworks is a division of Ferguson Enterprises and committed to our communities, our customers, suppliers and employees. We exist to make a positive impact on our customers' businesses as well as in our employees' lives. Meter Division The company has been a Neptune Meter distributor since 1975. In 2000, we formed a Water Meter Systems Division to put our company in a position to participate in the fast growing AMR industry. Today we employ seven full -time employees who are strictly dedicated to water meter systems. We are the exclusive Neptune Level I distributor for Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Northern Illinois. Our company stocks a wide variety of meters and parts in our Blaine and DeKalb office. Our mission is to offer the best customer service and expertise with meter sales in the industry. Installation In 2000, we formed an installation department to enhance our meter efforts. We have successfully completed turnkey projects in our marketing area. The efforts of the installation group have given us a reputation that is envied by all installation companies. Our installation group has had as many as 20 employees depending on the size of the project. We have instituted many automated procedures for data entry and web based tracking of the project so we could track multiple projects at various locations. Ferguson Waterworks uses our own employees as opposed to sub - contractors. We have found in our experience that when using a sub - contractor the customer service lacks our standards. When checking our customer references one question that should be asked is whether a sub - contractor was employed or NWWS employees. In striving for the best customer service our own employees fared the best. Meter Test and Repair In 2000 we also created another part of the meter division, which is solely responsible for field testing and repairing water meters. We recently added the ability to in line test mainline meters, well meters, as previously all meters had to be removed from their installation to be tested else where and then returned to the actual installation. With velocity meters, the installation can influence the registration of the meter and as a result we wanted to in line test these meters. We purchased from Marsh- McBirney a multi -mag, which will test velocity meters in their original location. This will test for the proper installation. This part of the meter division has seen some growth with the addition of key people. We have also added the list of references for installation and testing. Meter Division Personnel Kim Foster, Meter Systems Division Manager Kim has been with the company for ten years. He has been in the water industry since receiving an engineering degree from Iowa State University in 1975. He has served in many capacities with manufacturing and distribution over his 34 years in the industry. He has served as a delegate on the Neptune Distributor Advisory Board, which is a group of Neptune distributors who assist Neptune in developing future business trends and directions. His previous position was as a partner in a business that specializes in implementing meter systems and change -out programs in the Chicago area. Kim's experience with AMR dates back to 1984 and it spans all technological systems that have been marketed to the water industry from the "Touch pad System" to the more modern "RF Technologies ". He is a software expert and will always be available with this project. Todd Phillips, Neptune Meter Systems Account Manager Todd is the Neptune Water Meter Systems sales representative. Todd is a certified software trainer and reading equipment integration trainer. He has been involved in the water meter industry since 1992. I CITY OF CHANHASSEN CARVER AND HENNEPIN COUNTIES, MINNESOTA DATE: September 24, 2012 RESOLUTION NO: MOTION BY: SECONDED BY: 2012- A RESOLUTION ACCEPTING BIDS AND AWARDING A CONTRACT FOR THE WATER METER RADIO REPLACEMENT PROJECT PW02401 WHEREAS, pursuant to an advertisement for bids for the Water Meter Radio Replacement Project, bids were received, opened and tabulated according to law, and the following bids were received complying with the advertisement: Bidder Total Bid Ferguson Waterworks H.D. Supply $1,194,726.45 $1,218,690.07 ANDWHEREAS, Ferguson Waterworks is the lowest responsible bidder with a total bid amount of $1,194,726.45. NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Chanhassen City Council: The mayor and clerk are hereby authorized and directed to enter into a contract with Ferguson Waterworks in the name of the City of Chanhassen for the Water Meter Radio Replacement Project, PW02401, according to the plans and specifications therefore approved by the City Council and on file in the office of the city clerk. 2. The city clerk is hereby authorized and directed to return forthwith to all bidders the deposits made with their bids, except that the deposits of the successful bidder and the next lowest bidder shall be retained until a contract has been signed. Passed and adopted by the Chanhassen City Council this 24 day of September, 2012. ATTEST: Todd Gerhardt, City Manager Thomas A. Furlong, Mayor YES NO ABSENT