Title
Recommendation to Authorize the City Manager to Execute a Cooperative Agreement with Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) to Provide for Use of AUSD Facilities as Emergency Shelters.
This action is exempt from California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15301 (Existing Facilities) and 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption). (Fire 60532210)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Jennifer Ott, City Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Staff recommends that City Council authorize the City Manager to execute a Cooperative Agreement (CA) with the Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) to provide for use of AUSD Facilities as Emergency Shelters. The Emergency Shelters will provide shelter and mass care in the event of an emergency incident.
BACKGROUND
In April 2019, City Council adopted a Resolution amending the City of Alameda Emergency Operations Plan. The 2019 Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) builds upon efforts to enhance the City of Alameda’s (City) emergency and disaster preparedness, response and recovery capabilities. The EOP is an extension of the State of California Emergency Plan and its concepts may be used to coordinate localized emergencies as well as catastrophic disasters.
The primary objective of the EOP is to coordinate the personnel, facilities, and other resources of the City into an efficient organization capable of responding to any emergency, disaster, or planned event. One of the EOP Management Goals is to provide for the orderly conversion of pre-designated sites to community shelters in the event of an emergency.
Currently, the City does not have a facility capable of housing and sheltering large numbers of people. The few facilities the City owns include Mastick Senior Center, the O’Club, and Alameda Point Gym. These facilities cumulatively can house fewer than 2,000 people.
DISCUSSION
Disasters or emergencies can happen suddenly, posing threats to the safety and welfare of residents, employees, and visitors of the City of Alameda. The City must be prepared to respond to all types of hazards, both natural and man-made, ranging from planned events to large-scale disasters. This includes establishing and providing emergency shelter for the Alameda community.
The CA is between the City and AUSD. The CA allows the City to use any of the AUSD school facilities as an emergency shelter in the event of the need to provide sheltering for a large population of community members. The Fire Department plans to use the school sites as mass care and shelter facilities and the AUSD maintenance center as a staging area for supplies in the event of a large-scale shelter activation. This CA allows flexibility to use a single school site for smaller scale incidents or use multiple school sites in the event of a large-scale disaster. The sites would be designated City of Alameda Mass Care and Shelter facilities and will be operated by City staff and American Red Cross as their staffing will allow.
The utilization of school sites allows for multiple sites strategically located across the City. Most school locations already conform to all necessary American with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements, or the school has implemented measures to mitigate ADA non-compliance. If a school has an area that does not meet ADA requirements, the City will not use that area of the school.
When a sheltering need arises, the City will work with an AUSD representative to determine which school site is the best suited to provide the areas necessary to support shelter operations. The City will work with AUSD to minimize impacts to a school’s daily operation should it be in session.
While there is no cost to the City for the use of any of the school sites, there is a potential cost should any damage occur to any of the facilities. This would be handled on a case-by-case basis between the City and AUSD.
ALTERNATIVES
• Authorize the City Manager to execute a CA with AUSD to provide for use of facilities as emergency shelters
• Do not authorize the City Manager to execute the CA with AUSD, and provide alternative direction to staff to secure emergency shelters
FINANCIAL IMPACT
There is no financial impact in executing this CA.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
This action is consistent with the Alameda Municipal Code.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
For purposes of CEQA, this action is exempt from environmental review pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15301 (Existing Facilities) because the existing school facilities are designed and intended for temporary large-scale assembly, and the use of said facilities as a temporary public gathering area in the event of disaster or emergency is not substantially different from the existing use. On a separate and independent basis, this action is exempt pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption), because it can be seen with certainty that the proposed action has no possibility of having a significant effect on the environment. The agreement only authorizes the use of AUSD facilities for public gathering during disasters and emergencies, which are limited in time and scope. The use of AUSD facilities will otherwise be unchanged when there are no emergencies or disasters.
CLIMATE IMPACT
There are no identifiable climate impacts or climate action opportunities associated with the subject of this report.
RECOMMENDATION
Authorize the City Manager to execute a CA with AUSD to provide for use of facilities as emergency shelters.
Respectfully submitted,
Nicholas Luby, Fire Chief
By,
Anne Iturraran, Fire Admin Services Manager
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Ross McCarthy, Acting Finance Director
Exhibit:
1. AUSD Cooperative Agreement