2002 AGN APR 02 I09 - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY OF COLTON Item #9 AGENDA REPORT FOR CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 2, 2002 TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS FROM: DILU DE ALWIS, FINANCE DIRECTOR SUBJECT: AWARD A CONTRACT FOR TELEPHONE & COMPUTER NETWORK EQUIPMENT TO AVAYA INC. IN THE AMOUNT OF $64,693.93 AND AUTHORIZE PURCHASING TO SOLICIT BIDS FOR SPLICING AND TERMINATING FIBER OPTIC CABLE TO VARIOUS CITY SITES DATE: MARCH 11, 2002 BACKGROUND The City has several of its outlying departments connected to the City's telephone system and computer network at City Hall, using fiber optic cable. The departments are the City Yard, Civic Center Annex, Fire Station #1, Library, Colton Community Center and Hutton Center. Staff would like to extend the fiber optic network to include the RDA Building, Waste Water Treatment Facility, Fire Station #3 and the Colton Cares facility. DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS There is new technology available directly from Avaya that will allow us to run voice over the fiber connection directly from our telephone PBX. We have already installed some of this equipment in the Colton Community Center. We can utilize this same technology to connect the new sites to our telephone PBX. The equipment to connect the new sites to our computer network will also be installed by Avaya. Once this project is complete, these off-site locations will have all of the features of our phone system and will also have a direct connection to the City's computer network and e-mail services. To accomplish this the City of Colton Electric Department will hang fiber optic cable on the City's existing electric poles to connect each of these locations to our existing fiber optic loop. The Electric Dept. does not have the proper equipment to splice, terminate and test the fiber connections. Staff is requesting authorization to solicit bids to splice, terminate and test the fiber optic cable. The City's telephone system and computer network equipment were originally installed in 1996 by Avaya Inc., formerly Lucent Technologies and AT & T. Because phone systems operate on an integrated basis, additional upgrades and equipment also have to be acquired and installed through the original system provider, Avaya Inc. There are well-recognized exceptions to the product designation and competitive bidding requirements under the Public Contract Code. With respect to product designation issues, while the City is generally required to allow "equal" products when designating a specific brand or trade name, PCC Section 3400 provides an exception if the City finds that a particular product is needed to match other products already in use on a public project. Clearly, the products to be installed by Avaya are designed to match those already in use at several City facilities. With respect to competitive bidding, an exception has been developed by case law that is relevant to this project. It provides that where the nature of the subject of the contract is such that competitive proposals would be unavailing or would not produce a competitive advantage, competitive bidding does not need to be followed. In this situation, because of the need to specify the particular product provided by Avaya, there would be no competitive advantage to be gained by soliciting bids from other entities to install that particular product. Based on the above facts, we believe that competitive bidding would not apply for this purchase, even though the purchase price is above the $5,000 threshold.