Council Communication Office of the City Manager	Date	June 22, 2009
	Agenda Item No. 40E Roll Call No. 09- Communication No. 09-416 Submitted by: Donald M. Tripp, Director of Parks and Recreation

AGENDA HEADING:

Approval to purchase Pulsar Pellets chlorination tablets for Park and Recreation Department swimming pools and wading pools.

SYNOPSIS:

Recommend approval to purchase Pulsar Pellets to treat Parks and Recreation Department swimming and wading pools as a non-competitive procurement under code section 2-726 (a)(7) due to fact that the pellets are compatible with the City’s chlorination distribution systems and are only available in the Midwest through Pool Tech Midwest, Charlie Rochford, President, 3233 1^st Avenue SE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52402.

FISCAL IMPACT:

Amount: $85,000

Funding Source: 2009-2010 Operating Budget, GE001 PKS100101, page 196.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The Park and Recreation Department has requested the Procurement Division issue a blanket purchase order for the FY10 from Pool Tech Midwest, 3233 1^st Avenue SE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52402 to provide the calcium-based chlorination tablets used at the City’s swimming pools and novelty wading pools.

The Des Moines Park and Recreation Department operates five Class A swimming pools and four novelty wading pools all of which require chemical control feeders as directed by the State of Iowa Public Health Department. At the time of construction, the Pulsar Chlorination system was specified due to the calcium binders used with the chlorine and slurry feed Pulsar buckets to minimize chlorine gases and support total water chemistry. Calcium hardness levels affect the water’s corrosive nature within the concrete pools, and the calcium binder used in the Pulsar Pellets minimizes the additional calcium flakes needed to provide balanced swimming water. The Pulsar Pellets designed specifically for the City’s chlorination distribution systems are only available in the Midwest through Pool Tech Midwest of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

In FY09, we underestimated our chemical needs by $10,000. FY10 the cost of the Pulsar Pellets is expected to increase by 10%.

The Municipal Code section 2-726 (a) (7) provides for a non-competitive procurement of goods and/or services that are of such a nature that they are the only goods and/or services which will fit and comply with the required use, or are an integral part of a total system so as to be uniquely compatible with existing City need, materials or equipment to be cost effective. Staff believes the purchase of Pulsar Pellets fits this criteria.

Staff has researched similar products which are specific to the chemical feeder system. A similar product would be the PPG pellet, which could be procured at the same price as the Pulsar Pellet; however, an additional expense of $30,000 to purchase all new feeders ($3,000 per chemical feeder) would be incurred if the City switched to this product line. As new technologies emerge in the aquatic sanitation industry, staff will evaluate cost benefit ratios of alternative chlorination methods.

PREVIOUS COUNCIL ACTION(S):

Date: July 28, 2008

Roll Call Number: 08-1331

Action: Pool Tech Midwest, sole area-wide distributor, for pools chlorination chemicals during fiscal year 2009 to be used by the Park & Recreation Department, $52,250. (Council Communication No. 08-448) Moved by Kiernan to adopt. Motion Carried 7-0.

BOARD/COMMISSION ACTION(S): NONE

ANTICIPATED ACTIONS AND FUTURE COMMITMENTS: NONE

For more information on this and other agenda items, please call the City Clerk’s Office at 515-283-4209 or visit the Clerk’s Office on the second floor of City Hall, 400 Robert D. Ray Drive. Council agendas are available to the public at the City Clerk’s Office on Thursday afternoon preceding Monday’s Council meeting. Citizens can also request to receive meeting notices and agendas by email by calling the Clerk’s Office or sending their request via email to cityclerk@dmgov.org.