City of Oak Creek

Common Council Report

Meeting Date:  April 4, 2004

Item No.:         9

Recommendation:  That the Common Council approve the bid from Quality Fire Protection for installation of automatic fire sprinkler systems in Fire Station 1 and 2,and that the Mayor and City Clerk be authorized to sign the contract for the project.

Background:  The department applied for a Fire Act grant under the 2003 Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program. The Common Council approved the acceptance of this grant on March 2, 2004. As part of the grant process the department obtained six (6) bids for the work.  Quality Fire Protection submitted the low bid of $38,215.00. The grant will pay for sprinkler systems to protect Fire Station 1 and 2.  Fire Station 3 was built with a fire sprinkler system.  The grant award requires a 10% match of City funds to the 90% Federal funding.  Completion of this project for both stations must be no later than June 14, 2005 to comply with the time requirements of the grant.

Fire stations have a significant risk of fire because they contain a large number of vehicles with large electrical and fuel loads, and a full set of residential fire hazards from the living quarters, and office fire loads as well.  In many cases under emergency conditions the staff may leave the stations with cooking appliances or other hazards left on.  Fire stations have a significant dollar value to the community both for the building and for the contents.  The loss of the fire and EMS vehicles alone would represent a very significant dollar loss, as well as the loss of the protection that the building and equipment provide to the community. The grant rules do not allow for payment for underground work to provide water supply to the system.  The new sprinkler systems will be temporally connected to the existing two (2) inch water service.  The Fire Department had proposed sprinklers for these stations in the 2007 CIP. That project can be dropped because of this grant award.  It is recommended that in the 2006 CIP the City approve the underground water connections.

Fiscal Impact:  The low bid for the sprinkler installation for this project is $38,215.00 (see attached chart). The City’s 10% matching funds would be $3,821.50 with $34,393.50 coming from the Federal government.  Funds for the City portion are available in the 2004 Control account.

Prepared and Approved by: Gerard R. Hammernik Fire Chief			Respectfully submitted, Barbara S. Blumenfield, Ph.D City Administrator
Fiscal Review by: Beverly A. Buretta, CMC City Clerk
Company	City	Station 1		Station 2	Total
US Fire  Protection	New Berlin, WI	27,890		30,995	58,885
Kaelber Co.	Kenosha, WI	28,853		28,262	57,115
Mared Mechanical	Milwaukee, WI	30,700		25,400	54,980
Ahern Fire  Protection	Menomonee Falls, WI	24,490		27,245	51,735
Grunau CO	Milwaukee, WI	21,900		17,500	38,700
Quality Fire Prot.	So. Milw.  WI	21,425		16,790	38,215