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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Statement 1977/04/26 Item 24CITY OF CHULA VISTA ITEM N0. 2 4 COUNCIL AGENDA STATEMENT FOR•MEETING OF: 4/26/77 ITEM TITLE: RESOLUTION -Authorizing purchase of eight (8) Police ~ ~GD~' Patrol Vehicles SUBMITTED BY~ Purchasing Agent ITEM EXPLANATION The current budget provides for the purchase of eight (8) police patrol vehicles. The City is able to obtain said vehicles via a cooperative purchasing arrangement, as auth- orized by Council Resolution No. 6132, with the County of Los Angeles on its Bid No, T1366, Recent City and County of San Diego and State of California police patrol vehicle prices were reviewed .and the Los Angeles County prices were the lowest. The vehicles proposed for purchase are the Chevrolet Nova compact size police specials. This vehicle was the low bid on the City and County of San Diego bid also. The spec- ifications are acceptable to the Chief of Police and Director of Public Works. The low bidder under the County of Los Angeles bid is Harry Mann Chevrolet Company, Los Angeles, California. It is proposed to operate the vehicles on gasoline and a copy of the report discussing gasoline versus propane is attached. The unit price per vehicle is $4,820.46. The total cost to purchase the eight (8) vehicles, including tax, is $40,877.50. Budget estimate for the purchase of the vehicles was X38,400.00. FINANCIAL STATEMENT: Funds have been transferred to Account 100-1040-5565 to cover additional monies required for the purchase. tXt-IltSl I J 1-~I I Hl~r1tU Agreement Resolution X Ordinance Plat Other X-Repor Environmental Document; Attached Submitted on STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Purchase of eight (8) Police Patrol vehicles from Harry Mann Chevrolet Company. BOARD/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION N,A, t* E ~ g~ ~ 4 y~~. ~~~ ~ . ~ i ,;+w'1 G'~-~~• - _ , o~~'~'~a COUNCIL ACTION ~,`--'~' .- y~. Cn,~~~. ~ Off. ` i 3. ~.. date Form A-113 (Rev. 5 - 75) Form No, F-229 12/73 CERTIFICATE CF CITY/DIRECTGR OF FINANCE Certification of. iJn~ippropriated Balance I HEREB`I CEP.TIEY that the money required for t'::e appropriation of funds for the purpcse set forth i:i the attuc~~eu resolution is available in the Treasury, or is anticipated to come into the Treasury, and is otherwise unappropriated. Amount $ r~und Purpose Eidder Director of Fin~.nce The City of Chula Vista Date By Certification of Unencumbered 3alance I HEREBY CEkTIFY that the indebtedness and obligation to be incurred by the contract or agreement autt.ori<.ed by thf; attached resolution can ne incurred witrout the violat_on of any cf the provisions of the Charter of the City cf Chula Vzsta, a~-~ t~-.e Constitution or the luw4 of the State of. Culifc,r~ia, ti-,a. sufficient monies have been appropriated for the pupos~:.~ of` :~ai~: contract, that sufficient monies to meet the obligatio^s cf tr.o contract are actually in the Treasury, or ars a.?.~ticipate? to cc~~,~ into the Treasury to the credit of the appropriation ieo~ +~d't1i ch the same are to be drawn, and that Baia r.~onies no~~ actuaiii in the Treasury, together with the monies anticipated to corie i:~tc~ the Treasury, to the credit of said appropriation are cthErw~.s~_ ~~nencu.^tbered . F,mount Not to FXCeed $ 40,877.50 ~C 0 1040 5565 ~ ~"' -'- +'- ~~~° ~irectcr of ~~ irar:~t Tho City of Chula Vi :~~~a. Date April 14, 1977 By r~~.-~d General Dept./Activity Uniform P -.-.-. .~,. atrol .._._._...., . E~urpose Purchase of Eight Patrol Vehicles Bidder Harry Mann Chevrolet Company uart~.fi.r. wte ?dr... 63 April.22, 1977 s !~ To: Bill Robens ~~ From: John Lippitt and John Alden Subject: Type of Fuel For The TJew 1977 Police Patrol Cars It is being proposed to purchase eight 1977 Police Patrol cars jointly with the County of Los Angeles. These units are 1977 Chevrolet Novas (compact). The County of Los Angeles, the City of Los Angeles, the County and City of San Diego have all used the compact Chevrolet Novas and are satisfied with their performance and cost. The City of Chula Vista, since 1971, has equipped the Police Patrol units with propane fuel. This report will discuss the advantages and disadvan- tages of both propane and unleaded gasoline fuel for the 1977 Police Patrol vehicles. It will discuss the cost (capital, operation and maintenance, labor, fuel), air pollution, and changes in design for the unleaded gaso- line engine during recent years. RECOMMETJDATION It is Staff's recommendation that the 1977 Chevy Novas purchased in con- junction with the LA County Sheriff's Department be operated using unleaded gasoline. DISCUSSION: In 1971, City Council decided to convert the Police Patrol units for propane fuel. Since that time, we have been able to take a close look at the performance and the operational and maintenance cost of the equipment due to our Mainstem Reporting system. Between 1971 and 1974 model years, the fuel choice was between regular (leaded) gasoline and propane fuel. Cost Study: Below is a table depicting the characteristics of installation cost and operation cost as experienced by our 1975 Plymouths for both unleaded gasoline and propane, and the operation cost experience for the 1976 Chevy Novas used by the LA County Sheriff's Department. 1976 1975 1975 Chevy Nova Plymouth Plymouth LA Sheriff (Unleaded) (Propane) (Unleaded) Number of Units 1 6 53 Average Odometer Reading 65,655 48,268 24,245 Miles per Gallon 7.8 6.4 9.56 Operation/Maintenance Cost (Cents per GAllon) 1?..5 10.8 7.95 Bill Robens 4/22/77 - Page 2 This table illustrates the operating and cost characteristics for three different vehicle conditions, i.e., 1975 Plymouth, both propane and un- leaded fuel and the 1976 Chevy Nova with unleaded fuel. We feel the cost comparison between the Chevy and the propane fueled Plymouth are signifi- cant due to the number of miles driven and the number of vehicles studied. The cost comparisons, however, for the unleaded Plymouth are not as signi- ficant due to either the low mileage driven or the fact that only one car was studied for 1975's. In all cases, however, the mileage, i.e., miles per gallon, has been higher for the vehicle provided with unleaded gaso- line and the maintenance cost per mile has been lower for the propane fueled vehicle. The operation cost, or mileage cost, will vary depending upon the differ- ence in the cost of fuel between gasoline and propane, and will also vary depending upon the efficiency of the gasoline driven engine or the propane driven engine. Due to the advent of the catalytic converter, the auto- mobile manufacturers are designing an engine more specifically suited to unleaded gasoline. For controlled emissions and for utilization with un- leaded gasoline, the compression ratio of the newer cars have been lowered. For example, the compression ratios of the gasoline engine in 1971 was approximately 10.5 to 1, whereas the compression ratio for the 1977 Chevy Nova is 8.5 to 1. This is significant because propane operates most efficiently in a compression ratio of 9.5 to 1. Therefore, we project that in future models, the operating cost differential between unleaded gasoline and propane fuel will increase in favor of unleaded fuel. At present, we are replacing the Police Patrol cars at 80,000 miles. Based on the 1975 Plymouth, the unleaded gasoline vehicle get 1.4 miles per gallon more than the propane vehicle. At 50~ per gallon for unleaded gaso- line, the total cost of fuel for the 80,000 miles is $5,128. At 40~ per gallon for fuel for propane, the total cost for 80,000 miles is $5,000. The City presently has a 10,000 gallon tank for regular gasoline at the Public Works Center and a 4,000 gallon tank at the Police facility. When the City purchased the new 10,000 gallon tank at the Public Works' yard, the savings in gasoline of 4-1/2~ per gallon was realized because we could then purchase larger amounts of fuel per drop. In the future, as the new gasoline engines require unleaded gasoline rather than leaded gasoline we anticipate using the larger gasoline tank for the unleaded fuel, thus realizing a savings of 4-1/2G per gallon. Assuming this, the cost differ- ential for unleaded gasoline versus propane would be lessened. And for 80,000 miles at 45-1/2G per gallon, the total cost would be $4,615. This analysis is based upon the fact that the cost may not be the same in the future but the relative cost between the different comparisons will be the same. Another cost to consider, is the conversion cost from regular unleaded gas- oline to propane fuel. Newer models of sedans are continually being de- signed with smaller trunk spaces. This has required a considerable amount of fabricating in the trunk area so that it will be strong enough to hold propane tanks. This will require us to purchase new propane tanks to be able to fit in the trunks of new vehicles. T11e conversion costs for the Chevy Novas using propane will be as follows: Bill Robens 4/22/77 - Page 3 Labor Equipment Grand Total $412.50 500.00 $912.50 Therefore, for 8 units, the initial capitalization costs to convert to propane would be $912.50 x 8 = $7300.00. These figures, appropriately, assume that the propane equipment will be fully capitalized with these vehicles. This is based upon the fact that we do not know, nor can we be assured, that the existing tanks and carburetors will be able to be used in a 1979 model. The last cost we considered is the maintenance cost of propane engine versus unleaded gasoline engine. Our only comparison is the 1975 Plymouth. For 65,000 miles of usage, the propane fueled vehicle expends per mile maintenance cost l~ less than did the unleaded gasoline vehicle. There- fore, over a life of 80,000 miles, the maintenance cost would be approxi- mately $800 less. The table below depicts a hypothetical case for the total cost between the 1977 Nova with propane and the 1977 Nova with unleaded gasoline. The fuel costs are based upon our experience with the 1975 Plymouth. Even though, the total cost will be different, we feel the relative cost will be similar. Item Total Miles Conversion Cost Fuel Cost Maintenance Differential Total Fuel Tank $ 350.-00 Carburetor 150.00 1977 Nova Propane 80,000 $ 912 Based on 5,000 '76 Ply. 0 $5,912 1977 Nova Unleaded Gasoline 80,000 45.5G/gal 50~/gal $4,615 $5,128 800 800 $5,415 $5,928 Based on '76 Ply. It can be seen by the above table, that the total costs between propane and unleaded gasoline depends upon the price that we pay for the unleaded gasoline. The total cost at 50~/gallon is $16.00 more expensive if we use the unleaded gasoline. However, it is considerably cheaper at that time when we can buy unleaded gasoline at bulk rates. Another factor to consider, is that the conversion will cost approximately 30 hours per unit for an equipment mechanic's time to install the propane equipment. This is 240 hours of labor that could be utilized in other functions in the Equipment Maintenance Division. We therefore feel that there is not a cost advantage to convert to propane fuel for the 1977 Chevrolet Novas. In the future, cost differentials between propane and gaoline could be Bill Robens 4/22./77 - Page 4 significant and should it be realized that it would be economically better to convert to propane, this could always be done in the future. Air Pollution: In 1971, when we converted to propane, one of the major considerations was that of the cleaner burning propane fuel versus the leaded regular gasoline. Due to emission controls being placed upon the newer equipment, and the use of unleaded fuel, the advantage of propane over gasoline has also diminished. Air pollution caused by automobile emissions is measured using three ele- ments; hydrocarbons (HC), Carbon Monoxide (CO), and Nitrous Oxides (NOx). We have used our electronic measuring equipment to measure the character- istics of the 1976 Plymouth with unleaded gasoline and the 1976 Plymouth using propane, and we also have obtained, through a dealer, the operating characteristics of the 1976 Chevy Nova. Please refer to the tables below. Our electronic equipment can measure the HC and the CO, however, we are unable to measure the NOx emissions. As can be seen in the table, the unleaded gasoline engines easily comply with the California standards for emission control. The propane engines, in all cases, easily comply with the carbon monoxide standards, however, when the engine is set to the performance that is required by Police Patrol work, the propane engine cannot meet the emission control standards for the hydrocarbons. There- fore, we will assume that if propane were used on the 1977 Chevy Novas and the engine was adjusted to Police performance standards, that the hydrocarbon standards would not be met. Since the engine is designed, utilizing the emission controls, all of the California standards for emission controls in the three categories could be met utilizing unleaded gasoline. Therefore, the 1977 Chevy Nova set for Police Patrol performance characteristics would emit less emissions with unleaded gasoline than it would using propane fuel. EMISSION CHARACTERISTICS Vehicle HC Cal. Std. ! Actual I CO Ca Std. ! Actual NOx 1977 Chevy Nova Unleaded Fuel (Publisher Information) 1976 Plymouth Propane Fuel Actual measured in our shop 1976 Plymouth Unleaded Fuel As measured in our shop Std. Actual .41 ; .21 9 1.9 1.5 ~ 1.3 i Can't measure with our .9 ~ 1.5 9 .l 2.0 ~ equipment .9 1.0 9 .l 2.0 ~ Can't measure JPL:rms