TRANSMITTAL LETTER FOR BOARD MEETING OF MAY 21, 2015
COMMITTEE ON Procurement
Mr. David St. Pierre, Executive Director
Title
Issue purchase order and enter into an agreement with Ms. Rosalie Swango of R. Swango Consulting to Provide Professional Services for the Nutrient Loss Reduction Program at the Fulton County Site in an amount not to exceed $30,000.00, Account 101-16000-601170, Requisition 1397615
Body
Dear Sir:
Authorization is requested to issue a purchase order and enter into an agreement with Ms. Rosalie Swango of R. Swango Consulting to provide professional services for the Nutrient Loss Reduction Program at the Fulton County site. This purchase order will expire on October 31, 2015.
The Monitoring and Research (M&R) Department is requesting your approval to obtain the professional services of Ms. Rosalie Swango for the Fulton County Nutrient Loss Reduction Program. Ms. Swango is a Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (District) retiree and held the position of Field and Laboratory Technician (FLT) until 2010. Since the M&R Department has no staff at the Fulton County site, Ms. Swango's services are required for the field and laboratory work at the Fulton County site before the new FLT starts and for the on-the-job training of the new FLT. Although the Human Resources Department has expedited the examination process for the FLT, we anticipate that the new staff member will not start until June 2015. Therefore, Ms. Swango's services will be necessary in the interim to do the set-up of treatments and monitoring equipment required by early summer.
The services that Ms. Swango will provide include:
1. Prepare and install the treatments and equipment in five cover crop fields.
2. Collect and process water samples from fields and creeks for delivery to an analytical laboratory.
3. Organize small analytical instruments at the Fulton County laboratory, which have not been used for years, for processing samples and doing some basic analyses such as suspended solids in runoff.
4. Provide training to the new FLT in carrying out daily activities such as maintenance of experimental fields and use and maintenance of field and laboratory equipment. About 30 fields across the 14,000 acres of the Fulton County site are covered under the Nutrient Loss Reduction Program, and it will take about three to four months for new staff to get oriented with all the fields and sampling points on the site. The samples are regularly collected from these fields and waterbodies using the installed sampling devices and/or portable equipment. The new FLT can develop the knowledge of these fields and sampling sites and obtain the skills in using and maintaining the sampling equipment through working with Ms. Swango. We expect this will take four months, from mid-June to mid-October.
Ms. Swango is best suited to perform these services because she had nearly 30 years of experience as an FLT at the Fulton County site. She was responsible for conducting the long-term biosolids experiment and water monitoring program for the biosolids application fields at the Fulton County site until her retirement.
Ms. Rosalie Swango, the sole-service provider of Professional Services for the Nutrient Loss Reduction Program at the Fulton County site, has submitted pricing for the services required. Inasmuch as Ms. Swango is the only source of supply for the services required, nothing would be gained by advertising for bids (Section 11.4 of the Purchasing Act).
Since Ms. Swango is a retired District employee, she is not required to register with the State of Illinois.
The Multi-Project Labor Agreement is not applicable due to the specialized nature of the services required.
In view of the foregoing, it is recommended that the Director of Procurement and Materials Management be authorized to issue a purchase order and enter into an agreement with Ms. Swango, in an amount not to exceed $30,000.00.
Funds are available in Account 101-16000-601170.
Requested, Thomas C. Granato, Director of Monitoring and Research, TCG:MPC:KB:mh
Recommended, Darlene A. LoCascio, Director of Procurement and Materials Management
Respectfully Submitted, Barbara J. McGowan, Chairman Committee on Procurement
Disposition of this agenda item will be documented in the official Regular Board Meeting Minutes of the Board of Commissioners for May 21, 2015