APPROVE spending authority in an amount not to exceed $181,972.00 for Purchase of an ICP-MS Spectrometer System, Supplies, Accessories, Installation and Training Services through the Omnia Purchasing Cooperative Contract for the Houston Health Department, from FISHER SCIENTIFIC COMPANY LLC - Equipment Acquisition Consolidated Fund

SR1593160858 - Approve spending authority in an amount not to exceed $181,972.00 for the purchase of an ICP-MS spectrometer system, supplies, accessories, installation, and training services from Fisher Scientific Company LLC, through the Omnia purchasing cooperative contract for the Houston Health Department.

Specific Explanation:

The Director of the Houston Health Department and the Chief Procurement Officer recommend that City Council approve spending authority in an amount not to exceed $181,972.00 for the purchase of an ICP-MS spectrometer system, supplies, accessories, installation, and training services from Fisher Scientific Company LLC, through the Omnia cooperative contract for the Houston Health Department.

This one-time purchase of the new ICP-MS system will replace the existing ICP-OES instrument, which is over 20 years old and tests heavy metals in water and soil samples. Its primary use will be to test environmental lead as part of the city’s lead abatement program for public health, and its more advanced technology would be able to meet the EPA’s new regulatory limits that already went into effect in December 2024. This solution will store 100% of the department’s data in Azure object storage while maintaining a small on-prem cache for frequently used data and application data.

This recommendation is made pursuant to subsection 271.102(c) of the Texas Local Government Code, which provides that "a local government that purchases goods or services from a cooperative purchasing program or organization satisfies any state law requiring the local government to seek competitive bids for the purchase of the goods or services.

M/WBE Participation:

M/WBE Zero Percentage Goal document approved by the Office of Business Opportunity.

Hire Houston First:

This procurement is exempt from the City’s Hire Houston First Ordinance. Bids/proposals were not solicited because the department is utilizing an Interlocal/Cooperative Purchasing Agreement for this purchase.

Fiscal Note:

No significant Fiscal Operating impact is anticipated as a result of this project.

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Jedediah Greenfield                                                              Department Director

Chief Procurement Officer

Finance/Strategic Procurement Division