It is recommended that the City Council authorize the purchase of rescue tools for the Fire Department from Metro Fire Apparatus Specialists, Inc., through Texas Association of School Boards BuyBoard Contract No. 284-08 for an amount not to exceed $37,378.00 with freight included and payment due 30 days after receipt of invoice.

The Fire Department will use this purchase to replace damaged and worn hydraulic rescue tools used to extricate persons that are trapped in vehicle accidents and during specialized rescues including building collapses and industrial accidents. Fire Station No. 2 is responsible for using this equipment to respond to incidents throughout the City.
  
JUSTIFICATION - This procurement should not be delayed. Hydraulic rescue tools are required by the Fire Department's heavy rescue company for specialized rescue incidents. The rescue tools are needed now to replace worn equipment and to be compatible with other rescue tools. This recommendation represents the lowest cost option to supply new hydraulic rescue tools to the Fire Department.
  
PRICE ANALYSIS - The City of Fort Worth has no recent previous history in the purchase of this equipment, however similar items were purchased in 2006. The prices were obtained from Metro Fire Apparatus Specialists, Inc., using the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) BuyBoard Contract No. 284-08. The Fire Department has reviewed the pricing and finds it to be fair and reasonable.
  
State law provides that a local government purchasing an item under a cooperative purchasing contract satisfies any State law requiring that the local government seek competitive bids for purchase of the item. TASB contracts have been competitively bid to increase and simplify the purchasing power of local government entities across the State of Texas.
  
M/WBE - A waiver of the goal for M/WBE subcontracting requirements was requested by the Purchasing Division and approved by the M/WBE Office because the purchase of goods or services is from sources where subcontracting or supplier opportunities are negligible.