SUBJECT/RECOMMENDATION:
Title
Approve Owner Direct Purchase Order to Trane Technologies for an Air Handling Unit for the Municipal Services Building (MSB) Renovations project (23-0035-EN) in the amount of $362,616.00 pursuant to Clearwater Code of Ordinances, Section 2.563 (1)(a), Single Source, and authorize the appropriate officials to execute same. (consent)
Body
SUMMARY:
September 15, 2022, Council approved a design work order with Wannemacher Jensen Architects (WJA) for various design concepts for a new city hall facility, including connected to the MSB and on the parcel south of the MSB. A third concept, a large, combined government center was added to the concepts to be evaluated. On June 15, 2023, Council selected the option to construct a new city hall south of the MSB as well as renovate the MSB.
The proposed renovation of the MSB will transform approximately 66,063 SF of existing space into a functional and more efficient office, allowing the proposed City Hall square footage and MSB to efficiently accommodate staff in the two facilities. The scope of work includes floor plan modifications, separation of existing departments, and improved lobby interface.
A critical item contained in the MSB renovation is the purchase of a replacement Air Handling Unit (AHU) which is in the building’s penthouse and serves the entire building. The building’s penthouse also contains another existing air handling unit, AHU-1. This unit pretreats the outside air being fed to AHU-2. The City General Servies Department has already ordered a replacement for this unit and will be installing it internally.
June 2024, the architect on the project (WJA) tasked their Mechanical Engineer, (Emerald Engineering) to design a replacement air handling unit for AHU-2. The initial intent was to provide information to the City’s CMAR firm, Ajax Building, so that the unit could be competitively bid and ordered in an early release package. Ajax obtained and negotiated a cost proposal for this unit from Trane Technologies per the design and specification. The proposed Trane unit is sole source because it is an in-kind replacement that must function with the existing Trane AHU-1 and align with the City’s standardized control system. The new unit will be added to a Trane Maintenance Agreement that the Building & Maintenance Division already has in place, resulting in more efficient response on parts and service times.
The Owner Direct Purchase (ODP) Order for this item will benefit the City two-fold. Early procurement of this item will secure pricing and avoid material escalation anticipated in the coming fiscal year. More importantly, the ODP will offset a historically long lead time for AHUs in construction projects of this size. WJA has committed to fast track the MSB design plans and staff anticipates presenting a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) for the MSB Renovations to Council by end of the year.
APPROPRIATION CODE AND AMOUNT:
ENGF230001-CONS-CNSTRC $362,616.00
Funding is available in Capital Improvement Project ENGF230001, MSB Renovations, to fund this purchase order. This project is funded by General Fund revenues.
STRATEGIC PRIORITY:
The early procurement by Owner Direct Purchase (ODP) of this AHU, reduces costs and minimizes schedule impacts to the MSB project as well as improves functionality, operations and maintenance with replacement of an old, inefficient unit. Combining the replacement with the MSB renovation project, results in additional cost savings.
