FINANCIAL BUSINESS REQUEST (FBR)
Motion/Request:
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MOTION to approve a bid waiver to Girard Ford of Norwich, CT, in the amount of $72,168 for purchase of a 2023 Ford Econoline Cutaway with utility body for the Public Works Department.
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Background:
In accordance with the Public Works small truck capital replacement plan approved in the FY22 budget, a replacement truck outfitted for building and facility maintenance was ordered under the State Bid. The truck was ordered in December of 2021 and was not delivered in FY22. A purchase order was subsequently opened for FY23 as we continued to wait (attached).
We have yet to receive the truck and have received word that the 2022 model year line is being shut down. Additionally, this means that in order to receive this truck it will have to been reordered as a 2023 model year vehicle. According to a number of reports involving similar circumstances, this will likely involve a cost increase of several thousand dollars, which is typically reflected every model year in supplements to the State Bid.
We will not receive definitive word on the amount of increase for possibly several weeks. So, we will not know how much additional funding will be needed to purchase this vehicle, and thus whether additional appropriation will be required. Additionally, we will likely face an extended delivery delay into 2023 as the order will be initiated from scratch.
We have found a very similar asset that is arriving soon at Girard Ford. It is already a 2023 model year truck; it has a comparable body to what the original would have been outfitted with. Though it doesn't have some relatively minor accessories that were ordered with the original package, it has some advantages that we feel more than offset this. For example, the model is an E450 versus and F350 (offering greater load capacity), and the body is of larger capacity and better construction.
The cost of the originally-ordered truck was $72,036.90. The closely-comp...
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