Recommend approval to procure three fire pumpers from Sutphen Corporation in the amount of $2,000,000 using SPLOST-VII funding.

The primary purpose of a fire pumper is transporting firefighters and water to an incident and carrying equipment for a wide range of firefighting and rescue tasks. Features of a fire engine include the ability to move through rough terrains, large water tank capacity, foam tank, a high-capacity pump to flow water through the fire hose, and water/foam high capacity monitors with reasonable reach distance. The fire pumpers will be designed to limit potential contaminants reaching the crew area, reducing a firefighter’s chances of developing cancer. 

Savannah Fire Department will use the fire pumpers as fleet additions to replace equipment reaching their end-of-service life. The aging fleet is becoming unreliable and could place the community at risk by not having proper equipment available to respond to incidents. The fire pumpers will help Savannah Fire support the City of Savannah’s Strategic Initiatives to ensure citizens feel safe in their neighborhoods.

This is a sole source purchase because by using the established vendor, Sutphen Corporation ensures pricing is directly in line with industry standards. It allows Savannah Fire to continue to standardize its fire fleet of apparatus to match operational functions and setup across the department while enabling an apparatus to be repaired quickly with the same parts.

The funding for the fire pumpers is identified within the SPLOST VII fund proposed for the FY2021-2022 budget. Fire pumpers are typically ordered in the prior year to be delivered in the replacement year set by the Fleet Services Department. However, in this case, due to production setbacks, the fire apparatus ordered now will be delivered 14-16 months from the date of an issued PO number to the vendor from the City of Savannah.  The expected arrival date is late 2022 or early 2023.  As per the vendor sales agreement, no payments will be required by the City of Savannah until delivery of the apparatus.

Delivery: As needed.  Terms: Net 30 days. The vendor is:

S.S.         Sutphen Corporation(6450 Eiterman Road, Dublin, OH)^(D)                          $2,000,000

A pre-bid conference was not conducted as this is a sole source procurement. (D) Indicates non-local, non-DBE business. Recommend approval.

Approval