AgdaPkt 2004-09-27 - Laserfiche WebLink

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. �' � R��'C��' � To the Honorabte Mayor and City Council . Fr�m #he Ci�/ Manager September 27, 2004 Subject Water Conservation — Toilet Replacement Program Recommendation 1. By motion, authorize the purchase of 1,000 toilets from Caroma USA, Inc. of South Surrey, Canada in the amount of $188,000. 2. Waive the bidding requirements of the City of Redwood City Code, Chapter 2, Article 7, Section 2.76 by affirmative vote of at least five members of City Council on the grounds that strict compliance with the bidding requirements would not serve the public interest. Background The purchase of 1,000 new toilets is needed to implement a two °Weekend Toilet Giveaway", to provide free of charge Ultra Low-Flow Toilets (ULFT) to residential water customers in Redwood City as the first phase in the implementation of Redwood City's toilet replacement program. The toilets will be given away free of charge on the weekends of October 23 and 30, to Redwood City water customers willing to install the new toilets in their home in exchange for their old high water-use toilets which will be recycled. Caroma USA, Inc. is the only manufacturer that offers an innovative two button dual flush system technology widely used around the world and most recently introduced in the USA. This unique and innovative technology gives people the choice to flush 0.8 gallons for liquid waste or 1.6 gallons for solid waste, resulting in up to 67% additional water savings over other conventional Ultra Low-Flow toilets that use 1.6 gallons per flush. The Caroma Caravelle toilet is the only toilet manufactured with the unique two button dual flush technology, which maximizes the amount of water saved per flush. Caroma USA, I nc., the manufacturer of the high performing toilets has agreed to sell directly to the City of Redwood City, setting the unit price at the wholesale level of $188.00 per toilet, compared to the retail price of $388 to $460. The Caroma Caravelle toilet has been rated as one of the top performers among 82 popular toilet brands and models in "The Maximum Performance (MaP) testing project, which was sponsored by American and Canadian water agencies in 2003. Purchasing directly from the manufacturer also guarantees quick delivery of the toilets in preparation for the toilet give away scheduled for October 23 and 30. Staff recommends that the Council waive the bidding requirements of the City of Redwood City Code, on the grounds that strict compliance with the bidding requirements would not serve the public interest, as this product is of a unique nature because of the innovative dual-flush technology and the product is available from a single manufacturer source. _ _ __ _ . __