Agenda

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C. 7

To:	Board of Supervisors
From:	Keith Freitas, Airports Director
Date:	May 2, 2017

Contra

Costa

County

Subject:

Acquire Used Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting Vehicle

APPROVE	OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR	RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE

Action of Board On: 05/02/2017

APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED

OTHER

Clerks Notes:

VOTE OF SUPERVISORS

AYE:

John Gioia, District I Supervisor
Candace Andersen, District II Supervisor
Diane Burgis, District III Supervisor
Karen Mitchoff, District IV Supervisor
Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor

Contact:

Beth Lee, (925) 681-4200

I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: May 2, 2017
David Twa,

BY:	, Deputy

RECOMMENDATION(S):

APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Director of Airports, or designee, to acquire one used Aircraft Rescue & Firefighting (ARFF) vehicle at a cost not to exceed $400,000 through either a purchase or a lease/purchase agreement with a maximum term of ten years.

FISCAL IMPACT:

There is no impact on the County General Fund. The total cost will be fully funded by the Airport Enterprise Fund.

BACKGROUND:

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires each Airport in the United States that holds a Federal Aviation Regulation Part 139 commercial airport certificate have Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting equipment and personnel capabilities. In Contra Costa County, this requirement currently applies only to Buchanan Field Airport. The Public Works Department - Airports Division has two (2) ARFF vehicles in service at Buchanan Field. One has been in service for 9 years and the other for 30 years. The FAA does not have specific regulations regarding ARFF vehicle replacement but the related FAA Advisory Circular states that, on average, ARFF vehicles have a 10 -12 year service life.

Other factors that the FAA recommends while considering the replacement of ARFF vehicles are reliability and serviceability, whether parts for repair are no longer available (including in the after-market), and if annual operating costs become excessive. With these considerations, the 30-year-old ARFF vehicle at Buchanan Field is at the end of its useful service life for a commercial service airport and should be replaced. At this time the FAA does not have the grant funding available to assist with the purchase of a new ARFF vehicle. Therefore, a newer used vehicle is the most cost effective replacement option since it would be approximately half the cost.

The additional benefit of replacing the 30-year-old ARFF vehicle at Buchanan Field is that it can be reassigned to Byron Airport, allowing the County to retire Byron Airport’s existing 32- year-old ARFF vehicle (vehicle #6845). This would also provide a higher level of ARFF services at Byron Airport than currently exists.

The Aviation Advisory Committee, during their April 13, 2017 meeting, voted to support this recommendation.

CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:

If this acquisition is not approved, the Airport Enterprise Fund will continue to experience inconsistent service reliability and high maintenance/repair costs associated with the older ARFF vehicles. Additionally, in the event of a major equipment failure, the Airport Enterprise Fund would likely experience significant delays in bringing online a replacement used ARFF unit. Alternatively, the purchase of a new ARFF vehicle, without FAA grant funding assistance, would significantly strain the Airport Enterprise Fund’s resources given the estimated $800,000 cost. Finally, it will likely be 5-10 years before FAA will provide grant funding to purchase a new ARFF vehicle.