COUNCIL COMMUNICATION
TO: Honorable Mayor and Council
FROM: Tabatha Miller, Administrative Services Director
SUBJECT:Title
Award Bid for Building New Server Room to Durham Construction Inc. and Approve Use of Contingency Funds in the Amount of $505,675
Body
FUNDING SOURCE:
Contingency
PURPOSE:
Award bid for building a replacement Server Room to accommodate increased IT servers, increased Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) requirements, provide sufficient cooling capacity, safeguard against water damage and provide adequate electrical supply to new IT infrastructure.
BACKGROUND:
In order to secure and more efficiently service the City’s network servers and storage devices, over the last couple of years IT has consolidated the network servers that had been located throughout the City to a secured room in the Public Safety Facility.
The Dispatch Radio Replacement Project included new servers to support and upgrade the City’s communication system. The additional servers exceed the capacity of the existing server room in terms of space, battery backup (UPS), and electrical and cooling capacity. The electrical issue stems from the need to upsize the UPSs to ensure adequate backup for the new radio system.
Staff investigated adding additional electrical and cooling to the existing room but the space size continued to be an issue. Additionally, upgraded electrical and cooling did not resolve a larger ongoing concern that a leak or activation of the water-based fire sprinkler system located in the ceiling of the existing server room could cause many millions of dollars in damage and bring down the City’s entire network system.
The long-term solution was to build a new server room in a location that could accommodate the additional space for existing and future needs and install a non-water fire suppression system. Completion of the new server room is a necessary step for completion of the Radio Replacement Project.
The Engineers Estimate for building the new server room was $430,000. Two responsive bids for construction of the room were received and the low bid of $351,140.63 is $78,859.37 (18%) below the estimate. In addition to building the new room and moving the servers, new UPS units must be purchased to support the new Motorola servers and the room wired for installation of those UPS units.
COMMUNITY IMPACT:
The relocation of the City’s IT server room will allow the City to complete the Dispatch Radio Replacement Project. A vital part of the public safety infrastructure. The new server room will also protect the City’s $15 million plus IT infrastructure from water damage from the existing water-based fire suppression system.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The server room was not included in the current budget and was not originally identified as a necessary part of the Dispatch Radio Replacement Project. The City’s consultant, Creative Communications, did not identify any additional infrastructure needs when the project contract was budgeted and approved. Staff is requesting use of contingency budget in the amount of $505,675 to fund construction of the IT Server room and the purchase and installation of two new UPS units. The bid award to Durham Construction Inc. accounts for $351,140.63 of the proposed budget.
ATTACHMENTS:
Bid Tabulation
Letter of Recommendation to Award Bid to Durham Construction Inc.
SUGGESTED MOTION:Recommended ACtion
I move to award the bid for building a new server room to Durham Construction Inc. and approve use of contingency funds in the amount of $505,675.