Chris Lips, P.E., Utilities Manager

Albert J Carbon III, P. E., Public Works Director

Issue Statement: The City of Oakland Park Public Works Wastewater Division needs a jet trailer which will be utilized to clean sanitary sewer lines prior to televising the same lines to pro-actively search for deficiencies or leaks within the wastewater system.  In addition, the jet trailer can be utilized to clear sanitary sewer blockages.

Recommended Action:  City Commission adopt a resolution approving the piggybacking the H-GAC contract with Texas Underground Inc. for the purchase of a 400 Gallon Jet Trailer for an amount of $51,550. 

H-GAC is the Houston – Galveston Area Council of Governments, ( a government cooperative consisting of more than 100 Cities in 13 Counties in the Houston / Galveston area of Texas).  The H-GAC cooperative purchasing program is available to local government entities nationwide. Texas Underground is the manufacturer of the equipment.

History:  The City has spent approximately 4 million dollars since 2012 lining the sanitary sewer main lines and laterals based on a priority list of deficiencies identified from a study performed in 2010.  This investment has saved the City many more millions of dollars and is extending the life of a system that in many sections is more than fifty years old.

Currently, the City’s Public Works Wastewater Division utilizes a Vactor Truck to clean the sanitary sewer lines ahead of the televising truck.  However, the Vactor Truck is shared with the Water Division and used by both divisions for emergency utility repairs which require immediate excavations (soft digs) prior to obtaining utility locates such as gas, electric or fiber optic lines.  The Vactor truck is also utilized for cleaning wastewater lift stations. 

As such, when the Vactor Truck is being used for other purposes, the TV truck is idle in the yard and unable to be proceed until the lines are cleaned. To proactively search for infiltration by televising the City’s gravity sewer system, a jet trailer dedicated to cleaning the sewer mains every day is needed.   Instead of purchasing a second Vactor Truck for approximately $300,000, a Jet Trailer could be purchased for approximately 16% of the cost at $51,550 to perform the same activity for cleaning the lines.

Although the Jet Truck costing $51,550 (as shown in the attachments)  is not included in the budget for FY18, it  will be purchased using funds budgeted for a crawler trackhoe for $23,000 which will not be purchased this year; and  supplemented by savings from budgeted debt service of the Water & Sewer Series 2017 loan used to fund the smart meters program.  

The projected annual debt service for this loan included in the adopted budget was conservative and the City was able to secure more favorable payments schedule than anticipated thus, providing for some savings.

The proposed expenditure is as follows:

Staff recommends City Commission adopt a resolution approving the piggybacking the H-GAC contract with Texas Underground Inc. for the purchase of a 400 Gallon Jet Trailer for an amount of $51,550.