Explanation
BACKGROUND: This legislation authorizes the Director of Finance and Management to enter into a contract with Fluid Conservation Systems for the purchase of one Leak Detection Correlator System for the Division of Power and Water (Water). This unit will be used by our Distribution Maintenance crews for leak detection in the City of Columbus water lines.
The Purchasing Office advertised and solicited competitive bids in accordance with Section 329.06 (Solicitation SA004133). Twenty (20) vendors (20 MAJ) were solicited and five (5) bids (5 MAJ) were received and opened on October 27, 2011. Four (4) bidders were submitted were deemed non-responsive to the bid specifications for various sections. A description of each is below. However, all four non-responsive bidders did not meet the most critical specification spelled out in Section 3.2.6 (Sensor). Without the sensor the Division of Power and Water (Water) personnel would not have the capability to locate large diameter and plastic pipes which is important to ensuring leak detection of those types of infrastructure.
The lowest bid was R.F. Hunter at $16,995.00. They submitted an alternate bid of the Vivax/Metrotech system. After reviewing the supplied data, it was determined that they do not meet our specifications. The unit does not have a high visibility color VGA touch screen (3.2.1). The unit does not have a snapshot feature (3.2.4). The unit does not have sensor rated at 25 volts per g (minimum) (3.2.6). Without a sensor that meets this specification, the unit would not be have the capability to locate large diameter pipe or plastic pipe; a need that is critical to the Division's requirements. The unit does not have lithium-ion batteries (3.2.7).
The next lowest bid was ADS LLC at $19,111.00. They submitted an alternate bid of the Eureka Digital by Primayer system. After reviewing the supplied data, it was determined that they do not meet our specifications. The unit is PC based an...
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