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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRES 1998-02 - Board RESOLUTION NCB. 9802 OF: THE , . TRUCKEE DONNER PUBLIC:UTILITYDISTRICT D/RECTINO VAT COMPETITIVE BIDD/NO BE DISf'El1[SED,WITH/N CONNECTION WITH TNE DISTRICT'S;PURCNASE CIF A REBUILT TRANSFORMER WHEREAS, within the past seven months, two transformers located in the Tahoe Donner substation required emergency repairs to avoid future catastrophic failures, and WHEREAS, one of the transformers is still being repaired and the District does not expect to receive and place in service the transformer until approximately April 15, 1998, and WHEREAS, the transformer enables the District to provide electricity to customers located in the Tahoe Donner Subdivision; and WHEREAS, without the transformer in the Tahoe Donner substation, the District could only serve customers in the Tahoe Donner Subdivision by re-routing electrical load from other substations and would result in severe stresses in other portions of the electrical system and significantly increase the likelihood of additional failures and problems in the electrical system; and WHEREAS, during the time that the transformers have been repaired, the District has been able to ... provide electrical service to its customers through a series of re-routing loads and the use of temporary replacement transformers; and WHEREAS, the District's temporary solution for the failed transformers is not a long term solution because the load handled by the Tahoe Donner substation is causing the Tahoe Donner substation to perform at near capacity, and WHEREAS, it is possible to re-route some of the load necessary for Tahoe Donner customers through the remaining substations, but it is not feasible to handle peak electric demand periods without the Tahoe Donner substation in operation; and WHEREAS, the District went to bid and has contracted to purchase rive additional single phase transformers for a cost of approximately$600,000 with delivery of the transformers to the District scheduled approximately for July 1998, and WHEREAS, since two of three transformers in the Tahoe Donner substation have failed, it is more likely that the remaining transformer has been damaged and likely has a greater chance of failure, and WHEREAS, the District plans to begin inspection of the third Tahoe Donner transformer for damage upon receiving the second rebuilt unit during April 1998, with the entire process requiring approximately eight weeks from the April 1998 date; and WHEREAS, it has been determined that, should one of the transformers or temporary replacement transformers in the Tahoe Donner substation fail before either the new transformers or the transformer under repair are received and placed into service, the District will be placed in a severe emergency situation and will likely be unable to provide electricity to meet its peak demand periods; and WHEREAS, the District has located a rebuilt transformer for sale by U. S. Transformer West, which meets the specifications required by the District and which could be used by the District in three of its substations, for a cost of approximately$153,000, which includes tax, delivery and a multi year warranty, and WHEREAS, the rebuilt transformer could be delivered to the District within approximately four to six weeks from the date of its purchase, and WHEREAS, rebuilt or used transformers meeting the District's specifications rarely or sporadically become available for purchase in the marketplace, and MHEREAS, the District is aware of several companies which are in the business of buying and selling used transformers and none of the companies currently has a transformer meeting the District's specifications available for sale and could not provide a bid to the District should it solicit bids for one;and WHEREAS, the cost to purchase a new transformer, similar to the rebuilt one currently for sale by U. S. Transformer West is approximately$350,000 and could not be delivered for approximately 26-52 weeks;and WHEREAS, the competitive bid process would be unavailing or would not produce an advantage, and the advertisement for competitive bids would thus be undesirable or impractical, or impossible because the rebuilt transformers meeting District specifications are not currently available and rarely become available; and WHEREAS, the Public Contract Code Section 20201 generally requires that the District engage in competitive bidding on any expenditure in excess of$10,000, and WHEREAS, it has been determined by District staff that failure of another transformer will ' place the District in a disastrous situation and at risk for not being able to provide electricity at peak demand periods; and WHEREAS, Public Contract Code Section 22050 provides that in the case of an emergency, a public agency, pursuant to a four-fifths vote of the goveming body, may repair or replace a public facility, take any directly related and immediate action required by that emergency, and procure the necessary equipment services, and supplies for those purposes, without giving notice for bids to let contracts, and WHEREAS, the failure of two of the three transformers in the Tahoe Donner substation and current use of all available back-up transformers during the height of the winter season has created a great emergency which, pursuant to Public Contract Code 22050, is justification for the District to dispense with the competitive bidding procedures for the purchase of the rebuilt transformer. WHEREAS, various Califomia court decisions, including Graydon v. Pasadena Development Agency, 104 Cal.App.3d 631 (1980), hold that if the subject of a contract is such that competitive proposals would be unavailing or would not produce an advantage, and the advertisement for competitive bids would thus be undesirable or impractical, or impossible, a public agency may dispense with competitive bidding; and WHEREAS, for all of the reasons set forth above, competitive proposals would be unavailing and would not produce an advantage, and the advertisement for competitive bids would thus be undesirable, impractical, and impossible and engaging in a competitive bidding process would cause the District to continue to operate in a near crises mode. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Directors adopts the above recitals as its findings; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Board of Directors that for the reasons set forth above, the District finds that the recent failures of the transformers in the Tahoe Donner substation and the temporary repair solutions have created an emergency and that the emergency will not permit a delay resulting from a competitive solicitation for bids, and that a repair of the faulty transformer is necessary to respond to the emergency. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that for the reasons set forth above, competitive proposals to purchase back-up transformer would be unavailing and would not produce an advantage, and the advertisement for competitive bids would thus be undesirable, impractical and impossible. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the District shall therefore dispense with competitive bidding for the purchase of a rebuilt transformer which the District could use in the District's substations. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Directors shall review the emergency action at its next regularly scheduled meeting and, at every regularly scheduled meeting thereafter until the action is terminated to determine whether there is a need to continue the action. PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Board of Directors at a meeting duly called and held within the District on the seventh day of January 1998 by the following roll call vote: AYES: Aguera, Hemig, Jones, Sutton and Maass. NOES: None. 4 ABSENT- None. TRUCKEE DONNER PUB IC UTILITY DISTRICT a By Peter L H meiste , Clerk of the Board ATT Susan M. Craig, Deputy District gtiihk smc