The following are questions and answers about the Fireboxes compiled by the Administration.
It does NOT answer any of my concerns about the Letter not being reported to the Manager and the Manager’s dismissal of its importance or that the City Council should have been made aware of it.
Q: Why did the city switch to a wireless fire alarm system?
A: The old system was about 100 years old and barely a step above the telegraph. It was run through telephone lines and when there was a short circuit, due to the age of the infrastructure, it could knock out the ability for fire calls from large buildings and institutions to be transmitted to the 911 center. Figuring out where exactly the problem causing the short circuit was, was complicated and took a significant amount of time, which became both a public safety hazard as well as a drain on city overtime accounts.
Q: Why did the city insist on using a direct fire box system?
A: The direct system immediately sounds the alarm in all of the city’s fire stations, providing for a much quicker response time. With an indirect system, the alarm first sounds at a third-party dispatch center, where an employee has to call the Lowell Fire Department to report it. The dispatcher in Lowell then has to figure out where the building is and which companies to send out to the call. While the third-party alarm company employees are required to report the alarm to the LFD within 90 seconds, there have been times when they were not alerted for 10 to 12 minutes, or not at all. For the occupants of a burning building, as well as responding firefighters, 90 seconds could mean the difference between life and death. A quicker response also decreases the chance of the fire spreading to other dwellings and reduces the extent of property damage.
Q: Who was required to but these new boxes?
A: Residential buildings with 13 or more units were required but many other property owners opted to change to the new system because it was deemed a better system.
Q: How many boxes are there?
A: 303 total: 62 municipal boxes; 13 at the Lowell Housing Authority; 33 at UMass Lowell; and 195 at private entities.
Q: Why were they required to purchase the box from the same vendor the city used?
A: In order for the fire boxes connected to apartment buildings to ring through to the LFD they need to be the same box, programmed by the same vendor; otherwise they are not compatible.
Q: Why, as the Inspector General’s Office suggested, didn’t the city go out to bid separately for the municipal equipment and the boxes required for private property owners?
A: The city can only bid for the city. It is not legal for the city to go out to bid for a private entity. Additionally, even if the city could go out to bid for those private boxes, the only vendor eligible to win the bid would be East Coast Security, in order for the boxes to be compatible with the city’s equipment.
Q: Why did the city put this out to bid under Chapter 30B (goods and services) rather than Chapter 149 (construction) as suggested by the Inspector General’s Office?
A: The city considered the fire boxes equipment. The IG’s office opined it should have been considered “construction” because they are hardwired to the building.
Q: What is the difference in process between how the city went out to bid, under Chapter 30B, and how the IG suggested they should have bid, under Chapter 149?
A: The ONLY difference between the two bidding methods is Chapter 149 requires the city to advertise once in the Central Registry. The city did advertise in the Sun, on the city’s website and purchasing bulletin board and in the state’s Goods and Services Bulletin. The city’s bid process met all of the other requirements of Chapter 149, in some instances exceeding those requirements.
Q: Did the way the city put the fire box system out to bid stifle competition?
A: No. The city received sealed proposals from six firms.
Q: Why was there such a wide range in the bids, from the low of $77,849 to a high of $394,500? Were the specifications issued by the city too vague?
A: No. The city asked for proposals for a direct system. Bidders could offer what they felt was the best solution for the city. Other than the high bidder (Mammoth Fire Alarms), most of the bids were similar. Mammoth offered a more comprehensive system than the others. East Coast provided the best system at the lowest cost to the taxpayers.
Q: Are the owners of 13-plus unit buildings in Lowell paying more for fire boxes than those in other communities?
A: No. While the price is lower in some communities, a survey of fire chiefs in 33 Massachusetts municipalities that have a direct system revealed the price is significantly higher than the $2,475 charged in Lowell in many locations. In Saugus a fire box costs $7,000; in Abington, $6,000; in Avon $5,000; in Boxboro $5446; in Plymouth $4,100; in Tewksbury $4,283; in Winthrop $4,800; $3,500 in Mansfield; $3,500 in Wrentham; $4,000 in Blackstone; $6,800 in Easthampton; $5,500 in Palmer; $5,000 in Wellesley; $3,000 in Westford; and $5,000 in Fairhaven.
Q: Do business and owners of multi-unit building in other cities and towns have a choice of vendors?
A: No. They, like their counterparts in Lowell, they have to purchase their boxes from the same vendor as the municipality, or the boxes will not work.
Q: Would the outcome have changed if the city went out to bid under Chapter 149 rather than Chapter 30B?
A: No.
Q; Why did the IG’s office get involved?
A: Because the city did not include all government entities that are bound by Massachusetts bidding laws. It was brought to their attention by the LHA, but that also includes UMass Lowell. As a result of not being included in the city’s bid, the LHA and UML were required to procure the boxes from a sole source. Bidding law requires sealed bids over $25,000, which they couldn’t do.
Q: Did the IG’s office penalize the city?
A: No. There was no fine issued and the IG did not require the city to rebid the job. They only made recommendations, which will be considered in future bidding processes.
Q: Was the LHA given a “sweetheart deal” by the city?
A: No. Some LHA properties were inadvertently included in the city’s bid. Therefore, they were able to purchase six boxes at the $1,175 price, but bought the other seven themselves, directly from East Coast.
Q: Have city property owners been paying a $275 annual monitoring fee?
A: No. The fee was approved in a 8-0 vote (then-Councilor Alan Kazanjian was absent) of the City Council on November 24, 2009. To date it has not been implemented.
After reading the responses from the administration, I thought of what Sir Walter Scott once wrote…..”Oh what a tangle web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.”
There are a number of issues here but one that keeps bothering me involves the City demanding that ONLY East Coast can install the Fireboxes since “they need to be the same box, programmed by the same vendor, otherwise they are not compatible”. Why?
As I understand the issue, these are Fireboxes used throughout the US so they must have a part number. The City could insist on that particular Firebox. As far as programming, any qualified alarm company should be able to program the Firebox as long as the City provided the code to tie into the fire dept.
So does this mean in the future, one, two three years etc. anyone building a new building or rehabbing MUST go through East Coast????If so, what happens if East Coast goes out of business? Then no one in the future can be tied into the system because East Coast no longer exists?
Molly,
You ask a good question, one that the maker of the press release should have anticipated. I’ll take a stab at it. Here goes.
As far as I know, the proprietary Fireboxes are made by Keltron. Click here to visit their website.
I work with a variety of equipment that is proprietary in nature. It is effectively like buying a Ford F150 and only being able to take it to a Ford dealership for service. Except there may be only one or two in eastern Mass. Meaning, you can’t buy a Keltron Firebox at AG Hardware or McKittricks.
So, and I should remind you I’m speculating, a potential buyer may have a very short list of who they can purchase a Keltron Firebox from. If the demand is such that one vendor can keep up, ther actually could be signed licensing agreements that award specific territories to specific dealers. I find this often, in my line of work. I coordinate maintenance for specialized instrumentation.
Speculating, it may be very possible, and legal, and practical, to have only one vendor for a specific product. My experience is the best products are, very often, the ones emerging in the market. They are the cutting edge and strive to maintain an edge in the market.
It could be that you can only buy a Keltron Firebox from 1 or 2 local dealers, and have 20 authorized installers around. This sort of thing happens often. It happened with the radiant heat I put in our bathroom floor.
Lastly, I don’t believe that Chief Pitta led us astray in choosing this product. I trust his professional expertise. If the Ketron system is his choice, I would trust that choice. I do believe political opportunists are trying to undermine CM Lynch and they don’t care who’s reputation gets hurt in the process.
Well stated, Jack. Some people want a return to the days when certain people were given privileges based on who they know, who they went to kindergarten with, etc. I do not want to go back to those times and will vote against any elected official who tries to push the current, professional administration out.
If the city tries into a regional 911 call center, does that mean Lowell , Dracut, Tewksbury, and who ever else tries in must all have the same system ? Or will all the different systems some how work?
Jack your comments are interesting and I hope to speak with someone in the alarm field to further clarify this situation.
In regards to your last comment, I cannot give the Chief or Purchasing Agent a pass on this one since this process was so poorly handled. The product maybe the best but there are a lot of unanswered questions that the Administation’s written response does not come close to answering.
Looking from the outside, I would say the Manager is his own worst enemy. He does not appear to need any help from his detractors right now. Although I’m sure they are enjoying these past few weeks. If he is finding himself trying to explain the actions of his Department heads with each and every crisis, then he needs to get a handle on it and quickly. That is the tough part of being a good Manager and of course Tuesday nights.
Prepare questions and answers…Executive Session to babble away the inexplicable….crucify Mr.Kazanjian during an election cycle but bury the truth in prepared questions and answers when what goes around comes around from the IG’s office.
It is the attitude and the appreciation of the consequences that is lost on the King and his Court…the end of the fireboxes is a very good thing. The means by which it was obtained were a complete disatser, as has been every attempt to talk it away since its was discovered. None of them show the ability to admit they were wrong, which is the ultimate mark or accountability and Leadership.
Everyone in business who was screwed by this scheme should set off the screwing directly against their tax bill and let the King and His Court fumble with the results.
Try this on for a question:
Now that the alrm boxes are in and the swindle is complete, are they subject to the personal property tax being extorted from the same businesses, or are they appurtenances to the real estate?
Try that one on.
Thomas A. Wirtanen
I have a question or two.
-Can a commercial real estate business charging $1200/month for 13+ units actually cry with a straight face that a few thouand dollars in a one time cost is a budget buster?
-Is it just a one time cost or are there annual fees associated to inspection and/or licensed inspection? Like, we have to pay for our fire extinguishers to be inspected annually.
-Is there any savings offered by insurance providers, if this sort of system is installed? My car insurance goes down , if I install a “LoJack.”
-When uber conservatives that wail that any cost burden imposed by a regulation or ordinance is “TYRANNY!,” should we actually take them as seriously as they take themselves and their obtuse views?
-What is “tyranny of the minority” mean to anyone? Meaning when parents can’t control their wailing brats in a public place, should we ask them to take the kid outside or just suffer until we get numb and wander away?