Geneva committee OKs purchase of electric transformers for $560,000

GENEVA – Geneva alderpersons, acting as the Committee of the Whole, Monday recommended approval for an annual purchase of transformers for $560,000 for its electric utility, among other purchases.

The transformers and material for line maintenance and construction will come from WESCO, a Pittsburgh company, through a Sourcewell contract, officials said. Sourcewell is a purchasing cooperative that gives the city an economy of scale for bidding, officials said.

“These purchasing contracts assure the city of lowest responsible bidder while reducing staff time and administration costs,” Superintendent of Electrical Services Aaron Holton wrote in a memo. “Our experience with WESCO has been favorable and staff is confident that WESCO will continue to provide the needed equipment in the future.”

The committee also approved a contract with Stanley Consultants of Muscatine, Iowa, for the electrical infrastructure design for the Bullock Campus for $307,469.

The projected loads for the Bullock Campus build out of the would require that it be served by its own substation and distribution circuit, according to a memo from Holton.

The Bullock campus is 53.78 acres at the south east corner of Kirk Road and Division Street annexed into the city in February. It will serve as the corporate campus for A.J. Antunes & Co., a family-owned business that makes equipment for quick-serve restaurants like McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and Chick-fil-A.

“Stanley will design the 34kV (kilovolt) feed to the substation and the substation itself and ... the bidding and project support,” according to Holton’s memo.

A kilovolt is equal to 1,000 volts, a measure of high-voltage electrical systems.

Fire station upgrades

The committee also approved a contract for $155,041 with US Digital Designs of Tempe, Arizona, and DigiCom Inc., of Huntley for a new fire station alerting system for the city’s two fire stations.

“The current fire stations alerting systems are very old – 30 to 40 years,” City Administrator Stephanie Dawkins said. “They’re obsolete and no longer can we get the expertise or parts available to service the systems. The proposed purchase will result in a modern digital system that integrates into the TriCom dispatch system.”

The benefits will be increased reliability and decreased turnout time for fire and rescue employees, Dawkins said.

Alderpersons also approved a contract with All American Exterior Solutions in Lake Zurich, to replace the roof on Fire Station No. 1 for $98,593.

“Fire Station No. 1 was built in 2002,” Dawkins said. “And the shingled roof is near the end of its useful life. A public bid was held to replace the entire shingle roof system with 10 firms responding. The lowest responsible bid was from All American Exterior Solutions.”

“It’s been leaking quite a bit during major rain storms,” Fire Chief Michael Antenore said. “It’s showing its age.”

Alderpersons approved a source capture vehicle exhaust system for both fire stations for $171,505 from Hastings Air Energy Control Inc. in New Berlin, Wisconsin.

The system routes diesel exhaust from fire engines and emergency vehicles away from inside fire stations so firefighters don’t breathe in those toxins, Dawkins said.

“It’s the best available technology to collect diesel exhaust toxins and gasoline engine exhaust from the tailpipe to ensure 100%of toxins are removed safely,” Dawkins said.

Diesel exhaust contains more than 40 toxic compounds that risk eye and nose irritation, headaches, nausea, respiratory diseases and cancer, documents show.

“It goes on the tailpipe,” Antenore said of the exhaust capture system. “It’s held on by a magnet. When you start the engine, all the exhaust goes in there instead of out in the open. As you leave the station, just as it hits the door frame, it disconnects and the tailpipe is now outside instead of inside.”

Antenore said firefighters reconnect it before driving back into the station, again making sure they are not exposed to exhaust toxins.

“Firefighters in general – more than the general public – are exposed to all types of toxins and carcinogens, so we’ve spent a lot of time in the last five to eight years removing it where we can – controlled exposure,” Antenore said. “We can’t control what we do for a living, where it’s toxic, but we can certainly do it at the station.”

The committee also recommended approval to renew a $29,300 license agreement with Environmental Systems Research Institutes Inc. in Redlands, Cal., for the city’s geographic information systems program.

The City Council will take final action on all the committee’s recommendations.