Title
Recommendation to Authorize the City Manager to Execute a First Amendment to the Agreement with the Alameda County Fire Department Regarding the Regional Emergency Communication Center and Fire Dispatch Services Extending the Term by Five Years With a Total Not to Exceed $1,976,729. (Fire 3210)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Jill Keimach, City Manager
Re: Recommendation to Authorize the City Manager to Execute a First Amendment to the Agreement with the Alameda County Fire Department Regarding the Regional Emergency Communication Center and Fire Dispatch Services Extending the Term by Five Years With a Total Not to Exceed $1,976,729.
BACKGROUND
The Alameda County Regional Emergency Communications Center (ACRECC) is located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and is operated by the Alameda County Fire Department (ACFD) with oversight by an advisory committee. ACRECC delivers regional communications and dispatch services that optimize the deployment and coordination of emergency resources while providing superior customer service to the cities of Alameda, Dublin, Emeryville, Fremont, Livermore, Newark, Pleasanton, San Leandro, and Union City; the communities of Castro Valley, Ashland, Cherryland, San Lorenzo, and Sunol; the Lawrence Livermore, Lawrence Berkeley, and Sandia National Laboratories, Camp Parks Combat Support Training Center, all of unincorporated Alameda County; and is the Dispatch/System Status Management Center for Paramedics Plus ambulance service.
The idea of a regional emergency communication system first evolved in the aftermath of the 1991 Oakland Hills fire. That fire was so widespread that mutual aid assistance was required from many neighboring jurisdictions. Unfortunately, their radios weren't always capable of monitoring each other's communication frequencies.
While improvements were made to the radio system, some fire officials felt the best solution would be to establish a unified dispatch center, able to monitor and broadcast to multiple departments from one centralized location. In 1999, a consultant recommended using LLNL's existing dispatching center. In 2002, ACRECC employees were hired to augment the LLNL fire department dispatch staff, and joint operations began.
ACRECC began providing the City of Alameda with dispatch services in 2002 through an informal memorandum of understanding. In 2012, ACRECC formalized the services provided to Alameda County jurisdictions. On October 16, 2012, City Council authorized the City Manager to enter into a five-year agreement with ACFD for the provision of emergency fire and medical dispatch services. The Agreement included an option to extend it for an additional five-year period upon mutual written agreement between the City and the County.
DISCUSSION
The current Agreement with ACFD commenced on July 1, 2012 and expires on June 30, 2017. Section Two of the Original Agreement contains an option to extend it for an additional five-year term. Each fire agency that has contracted with ACFD has approved the same agreement with the same terms, including the option for the five-year extension. All cities contracted with ACFD have already approved the extension, with the exception of Fremont; Fremont signed the Original Agreement a year later than other agencies, so their agreement does not expire until 2018.
Staff recommends approval of the Agreement extension with ACFD. Both the City of Alameda and ACFD agree to the following as part of the extension:
1. The term of the Original Agreement is extended for an additional five-year term commencing July 1, 2017 and ending June 30, 2022.
2. The services and hourly-rates or task-amounts set forth in Section 11 of the Original Agreement are the same for the term of this extension. The total compensation payable by the City to ACFD for the services during the term of this extension shall not exceed the sum of $420,000 per year (“not-to-exceed amount”).
3. This is the final extension option allowed by Section 2 of the Original Agreement.
4. This extension does not relieve the parties of the terms and conditions of the Original Agreement as written and in effect at the time the services were rendered.
5. Except as amended above, the Original Agreement shall remain in full force and effect.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The cost of services is directly based on the total number of calls dispatched by ACRECC and total numbers of calls dispatched for the City annually. Prior to April 1st of each contract year, ACFD provides the City with an estimate of the cost for services in the next contract year. The estimate is based on the City’s proportion of the total number of dispatch events in the previous fiscal year (July 1 to June 30), multiplied by ACRECC’s total operating costs, minus the revenue paid to ACRECC from the Alameda County EMS Agency and Paramedics Plus for services provided on their behalf.
In Fiscal Year (FY) 2016-17, the cost of the agreement was $285,000. For FY 2017-18, the estimated cost of the agreement is $296,729. The annual cost of the agreement will not exceed $420,000 and the total cost of the five year extension will not exceed $1,976,729. The funds for the agreement are budgeted in the General Fund Fire Department account for dispatch services (3210-61087).
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
There is no impact to the Alameda Municipal Code from the execution of this agreement.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This action is not a project for the purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under CEQA Guidelines section 10561(b)(3) as there is no possibility that this action may have a significant effect on the environment.
RECOMMENDATION
Authorize the City Manager to execute a First Amendment to the Agreement with the Alameda County Fire Department regarding the Regional Emergency Communication Center and fire dispatch services extending the term by five years with a total not to exceed $1,976,729.
Respectfully submitted,
Doug Long, Fire Chief
By,
Darci Vogel, Fire Admin Supervisor
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Elena Adair, Finance Director
Exhibits:
1. Original Agreement - COA, ACFD - 2012
2. Five-Year Extension Option for Agreement - 2017