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BACKGROUND The Operations Services Department is responsible for exercising, maintaining, and repairing the 9,800 valves in the City's water system. These valves are the only way staff can control the water system in the event of breakages, water quality events and system zoning. These valves can range from new to 50 years old, and sizes of 3 inches to 24 inches. Many of the larger valves cannot be operated manually without risk of injury to staff or simply require strong mechanical force. The hydraulic valve operator overcomes these issues and allows staff to operate the largest and most difficult valves to control the water system during normal operations and even more so during an emergency. In addition, accessing the valve control stem regularly requires staff to perform a vacuuming/cleaning process to find the valve control. The current process requires using a hydro excavator— a separate piece of equipment— to vacuum and clean the valve access before the valves can be operated; the cleaning takes significant time and keeps the hydro excavation crew from other work. The new hydraulic valve operator and chassis come equipped with a positive displacement vacuum system and a 250- gallon debris tank. The addition of the vacuum system will enable staff to complete the field task with one piece of equipment and a one crew. The valve operating truck also mitigates back injuries that come with the straining associated with operating older and larger valves. The current unit (Unit #317) is a 1990 hydraulic valve operator on a 2003 Ford F350 chassis with 81,000 miles of use. The normal useful life of a hydraulic valve operator is 15 years; as such, this unit has experienced a variety of mechanical issues necessitating $40,133 in maintenance costs to date. DISCUSSION In preparation for this purchase, the City contacted Sourcewell, formerly known as National Joint Powers Association (NJPA), which was established with the statutory purpose to assist public agencies in meeting specific needs which are more efficiently delivered cooperatively than by an entity individually. Sourcewell clients can utilize cooperative purchasing contracts through similar joint powers, intergovernmental cooperation, or cooperative purchasing laws in their respective jurisdiction. Participating agencies include all eligible government, education, and nonprofit agencies nationwide and in Canada. This purchasing method complies with the City's Purchasing Policy. The purchase of the valve operating truck is recommended through the Sourcewell Contract#091521-NAF with National Auto Fleet Group. The purchase price is $251,386 including delivery and taxes; adding a 15 percent contingency of$37,708 brings the total to $289,094. Page 2 of 3