Journal & Topics Media Group

City Council Sends Truck Outfitting Back For New Bids


An effort to extend a low bid for outfitting new Park Ridge Public Works trucks before the winter season got snarled in legal language in July.

The purchase of two new 2019 International 7400 GVWR Workstar chassis vehicle for $169,925 from Rush Truck Center of Springfield passed on the consent agenda.

It was the upfitting of the vehicles for $144,738 priced to Monroe Truck Center in Monroe, WI, that went nowhere.

Earlier this calendar year, a bid from Monroe was the low bid for similar outfitting four new trucks. One, a water truck was slightly less expensive, said Public Works Director Wayne Zingsheim.

Those were approved for Fiscal Year 2018. The city is now in Fiscal Year 2019, when two more identical trucks were budgeted for purchase and will need the same outfitting as the three earlier trucks.

Public Works had been offered an opportunity to do the two extra trucks at the earlier bid price.

Finance Committee Chairman Marc Mazzuca (6th), who authored the current procurement policies, wanted a new bid process started from scratch for the extra trucks, and insisted that if the request went through to full council it should be treated as a “sole source provider” and require a 2/3 vote of five or more votes to pass.

Zingsheim and City Manager Joe Gilmore were asked to provide more specifics.

Mazzuca and city attorney Adam Simon did not confer enough in the intervening time for Simon to understand the objections.

Simon said it did not qualify as sole-source procurement since other firms do the same services, but it could qualify with a waiver of competitive bidding, also requiring a 2/3 margin.

Ald. John Moran (1st) offered that amendment but with that wording, five aldermen voted it down and Moran withdrew it.

The city will resubmit the final two truck upfittings to a new set of competitive biddings.

Zingsheim noted the city tries to spread the purchases of Public Works vehicles over time, because a previous administration bought too many vehicles at once and a lot of trucks are wearing down at once.

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