Des Plaines will bid out work to convert three city-owned vehicles to run on compressed natural gas, despite an attempt by Sixth Ward Alderman Mark Walsten to waive the bidding process and award the job to a Buffalo Grove-based company.
The council voted 4-5 — with Mayor Matt Bogusz acting as a tie breaker — to reject a contract for roughly $30,000 with Advance Vtech of Buffalo Grove to retrofit a police interceptor, a yet-to-be-purchased animal control vehicle and a fire department vehicle with a CNG fuel system.
At a previous meeting this month, the council gave staff the go ahead to move forward with an alternative fuel pilot program by bidding out the work to retrofit the three city-owned vehicles listed above to run on CNG.
The clear, non-corrosive and odorless fuel can be used in a standard gasoline engine as long as the engine has been outfitted with a separate CNG tank, electronics and plumbing and injection system. According to officials, CNG, though not a renewable energy source, can cost as little as half that of gasoline and produces fewer emissions.
Walsten urged the council to approve the contract without going out to bid because the company is the only Illinois certified installer of the Stag USA CNG fuel system, which, according to VTech representatives, is the sole CNG fuel system that can be installed in a Ford police interceptor.
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World CNG, a Des Plaines based company, which, like VTech, specializes in natural gas vehicle conversions, is not certified to install the Stag USA system, Walsten said. Otherwise, he said he would prefer awarding the work to a local business.
Because the council had already voted to allow staff to initiate the bidding process, Ald. Denise Rodd, 3rd, asked why the contract was even on the council’s agenda. Furthermore, she wondered why the council would vote to forego the bidding process when staff recommended, in a memo to the council, not to do so.
“I do not do everything staff says,” Walsten responded. “Staff is wrong sometimes. They are not perfect. I don’t think they understood the full crux of what we’re trying to do with this system.”
Walsten said bidding out the work would waste time and money.
Other aldermen were concerned about whether or not the installation of CNG fuel systems in the three vehicles would void their factory warranties.
VTech representatives said if there is damage to a vehicle equipped with a CNG system, it has to be proven that the conversion caused the damage before the dealership can refuse to fix the problem.
Dave Hagopian, co-owner of Vtech, said electronic testing can identify the cause of damage. He said he had never experienced any instance when a dealership refused to take responsibility for the problem if the CNG system was not the cause.
Eighth Ward Alderman Michael Charewicz asked if Hagopian and his company would agree to a hold harmless contract with the city, meaning that VTech would have to absorb all the repair costs in the event that the dealership refused to take responsibility.
“No, I would not be willing to do that,” Hagopian said.
Three alderman, including Patricia Haugeberg, 1st, Dick Sayad, 4th and James Brookman, 5th, sided with Walsten and were ready to approve a deal with VTech for the work.
In addition to the mayor, aldermen John Robinson, 2nd, Rodd, Don Smith, 7th and Charewicz were opposed to the idea.
As a result, the city will continue with the bidding process, and in the coming month review the proposals submitted and ultimately present their recommendations at a future council meeting.