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Adopt a resolution approving participation in the federally funded 2018 Emergency Management Performance Grant for the period of July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019 and authorizing the Sheriff or his designees to execute any actions necessary to obtain funding through this grant; Approve an Appropriation Transfer Request (ATR) of $213,748 to recognize the unanticipated revenue from the grant (4/5 vote required); Approve a fixed asset purchase of $50,000 to replace six interoperable communications multi-band radios; and Authorize the Sheriff or his designees to execute any service contracts and subsequent amendments necessary to fulfill the County’s responsibility under the Sheriff’s 2018 EMPG Expenditure Plan and which remain within budgeted appropriations
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Published Notice Required? Yes ____ No __X
Public Hearing Required? Yes ____ No __X
DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION:
The Sheriff recommends that the Board of Supervisors:
1. Adopt a resolution approving participation in the federally funded 2018 Emergency Management Performance Grant for the period of July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019 and authorizing the Sheriff or his designees to execute any actions necessary to obtain funding through this grant;
2. Approve an Appropriation Transfer Request (ATR) of $213,748 to recognize the unanticipated revenue from the grant (4/5 vote required);
3. Approve a fixed asset purchase of $50,000 to replace six interoperable communications multi-band radios; and
4. Authorize the Sheriff or his designees to execute any service contracts and subsequent amendments necessary to fulfill the County’s responsibility under the Sheriff’s 2018 EMPG Expenditure Plan and which remain within budgeted appropriations.
SUMMARY:
The State of California’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) annually allocates and administers federal funds through the State’s Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) Program for the purpose of improving emergency management capabilities at the state, local and tribal levels. Cal-OES has allocated to the Solano County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services (OES) $213,748 in EMPG funds for the period of July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019, to strengthen the County’s ability to plan for, prevent, protect from, mitigate against, respond to, and recover from emergencies, disasters, crimes and terrorist events.
Since 2003, EMPG funds have been used to support the County’s emergency preparedness efforts and this fiscal year EMPG will continue to sustain the operation, equipment acquisition, training and planning needs of the County’s emergency preparedness system. The Sheriff’s 2018 EMPG Expenditure Plan (Attachment B) includes: continued employment of an extra-help Emergency Services Technician position to assist in the daily activities and operations of emergency management; continued employment of an extra-help Special Project Manager to assist with the inventory management system and training in grant administration; 0.15 FTE of an existing Sheriff’s Accountant to assist with the financial and reporting activities of administering the grant; subscription enterprise licensing for the County’s emergency communications system; the purchase of updated radio equipment to assist in the response to and recovery from emergencies; the hiring of a consultant to provide ongoing training to emergency responders; and advertisements to raise the public’s awareness of disaster preparedness.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The EMPG Program requires a fifty percent (50%) cash or in-kind match. Solano County’s match requirement is $106,874 and the Sheriff intends to fulfill the match obligation via in-kind services with the FY2018/19 salary and benefit costs of the Emergency Services Manager, the Emergency Services Coordinator, the OES Emergency Services Technician, part of the OES Accountant and OES volunteer eligible hours. The Appropriation Transfer Request will increase appropriations by $213,748 to improve emergency response capabilities and are entirely offset with unanticipated EMPG revenue. There are no anticipated costs to the General Fund.
Grant expenditures will be reimbursed quarterly by Cal OES and will not significantly impact the Fund’s cash flow. The cost associated with preparing the agenda item is nominal and absorbed by the department’s FY2018/19 Adopted Budget.
DISCUSSION:
Under Section 662 of the Post Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act (6 U.S.C. § 762) and the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. §§ 5121 et seq.), federal funds are provided to assist state, local, tribal and territorial governments in preparing for all hazards. Title VI of the Stafford Act authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to make grants for the purpose of providing a system of emergency preparedness for the protection of life and property in the United States from hazards and to vest responsibility for emergency preparedness jointly between the federal government and the states and their political subdivisions.
The County has been participating in the EMPG program for more than 15 years. This year EMPG will continue to support the County’s emergency management capabilities and the projects will sustain and improve the training, education, and equipment needs of the County. The projects chosen for funding this year were developed by OES based on OES’ assessment and prioritization of operational needs, including those of members of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) rand volunteer response teams. A detailed description is enumerated below:
$28,000 to continue to fund an extra-help Emergency Services Technician to assist the full-time OES Emergency Services Technician with the maintenance and movement of grant- funded equipment and support staff who plan and coordinate training programs. OES has utilized 1 part-time, extra-help Emergency Services Technician continuously since November 2010 and EMPG has funded this position. As the responsibilities of OES continue to intensify, this position has become more critical to the successful operation and preparedness of the EOC.
$12,000 to continue to fund an extra-help Special Project Manager to provide assistance and training to transition grant management and administration to a Sheriff’s Accountant, validate all grant equipment in the inventory management system, as well as maintain inventory of all grant purchased equipment as required by Federal Regulations, Title 2 Part 200 Section 200.313 - Equipment. Validation of inventory requires an ongoing review of all previous grant awards and financial management workbooks.
$10,687 to fund 0.15 FTE of an existing Sheriff’s Accountant to manage and administer grants awarded to Solano County. The duties of this position include, but are not limited to, building and/or modifying grant workbooks, requesting reimbursements, purchasing equipment, and completing asset inventory responsibilities.
$59,900 to purchase the annual subscription enterprise licensing for the County’s Emergency Communications System (Everbridge) that will provide state and local governments with a unified critical communication suite to be better prepared, make better decisions, and respond quickly and confidently during disruptive events. Everbridge is a web-based proprietary software application suite that includes the following modules: Mass Notification; Community Engagement; Alerting for Public Safety Employees; and Incident Management. Everbridge can be utilized for a multitude of notification applications and is the foundation for Solano County’s Unified Mass Notification System (“Alert Solano”). Beginning in 2020, the amount the County pays for this service will be reduced considerably as it will be based on population.
$33,161 to contract for consultant services to conduct a Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program focusing on the County and Cities’ EOCs. The exercise will evaluate communications and coordination of disaster response throughout the County and will also be used to test the County’s Emergency Operations Plan. The capabilities and scenario will be identified by an exercise planning team made up of County and City staff and led by the contracted consultant.
$5,000 to support the day-to-day operations of the EOC including the purchase of supplies.
$50,000 to purchase six replacement fixed asset portable radios as the radios being replaced are approaching the end of useful life and will no longer be serviceable by the vendor. New radios will feature multi-band over single-band and will be compatible with the proposed 700MHz Fairfield/Vacaville radio project as well as Solano’s VHF radio system. New portable radios will be available for emergency operations and sign out for mutual aid responses and special events requiring multi-band equipment.
$15,000 to create and present disaster preparedness advertisements to the general public. Cal-OES requires that all grantees use a portion of the grant funds for public announcements and preparedness advertisements.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Board of Supervisors could choose not to authorize participation in the program; however, this alternative is not recommended as the County would lose the funding which may negatively impact the County’s response to emergencies and disasters.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
Human Resources was consulted regarding the use of the extra-help Emergency Services Technician and Special Project Manager.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION