Geneva committee recommends purchases for generation facility, rescue tools for Fire Dept.

Final action to be taken by City Council

GENEVA – Aldermen recommended approval of two purchases Tuesday, of nearly $60,000 for an equipment upgrade at the Geneva Generation Facility and about $37,000 for new jaws of life and other rescue tools for the Fire Department.

A pre-chamber check valve installation at the generating facility will require expertise in the disassembly and re-assembly of the cylinder heads on the engines, City Administrator Stephanie Dawkins said.

Acting as the Committee of the Whole Jan. 18, aldermen recommended paying $59,680.95 to Altofer Caterpillar, a local dealer that supports the engines installed at the generating facility. Altofer Caterpillar has locations in East Dundee, Rockford, Wauconda, Joliet and East Dundee.

The company has also done maintenance of the engines at the facility, she said.

A memo from Superintendent of Electrical Services Aaron Holton stated that each cylinder of the engines has a device called a pre-chamber check valve. Each valve is used to allow a small amount of natural gas to flow into the pre-chamber, which is then ignited and used to ignite the fuel mixture in the combustion chambers, Holton’s memo stated.

The pre-chamber check valve is original to the engines and is no longer in production. So in order to install new parts, the cylinder heads need to be removed, old parts taken out, new parts put in, then cylinder heads re-installed, Holton’s memo stated.

It will take three weeks for the work to be completed.

Aldermen also recommended waiving competitive bidding to award the labor contract.

Aldermen also recommended approval of paying $37,284 for Hurst hydraulic rescue tools for Fire Truck 201 from Air One Equipment Inc., in South Elgin.

The rescue tools includes a hydraulic cutter, spreader, ram and a StrongArm breaching tool – also known as the jaws of life.

The new tools include the latest technology that can cut and spread the newest high-strength automobile and truck metal alloys, improve on-scene deployment time and improve safety of the firefighters and personnel being rescued, according to a memo from Fire Chief Michael Anenore.

“The existing tools have reached the end of life and are increasingly more difficult to get repaired,” Dawkins said.

The City Council will take final action on the purchases.