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Receive a presentation from the Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services on interoperable communications, recent wildfire events, grant programs, public alerting and staffing changes
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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 receive a presentation from the Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services on interoperable communications, recent wildfire events, grant programs, public alerting and staffing changes.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
2018 has been a very busy year in the Solano County Office of Emergency Services (OES). Highlights are summarized below and are part of the slide show presentation to the Board.
Staffing Changes
• Robyn Rains was promoted from Dispatch Center Manager to Emergency Services Program Coordinator/OES Assistant Manager in August.
• Jennifer Kittyle promoted from Dispatch Supervisor to Dispatch Center Manager.
• Accountant Mary Heath joined OES in July and has successfully prepared fire mutual aid reimbursements and managed grants. The new position was approved to improve grant management and ease the burden of collecting reimbursements for costs associated with the recent out-of-county fires where mutual aid was provided.
FY2018/19 Grants
OES continues to participate in State and Federal grant programs to enhance emergency response and preparedness, often managing in excess of $3M in grant funds throughout the year.
• The Homeland Security Grant Program provides approximately $500,000 each year for use by all agencies in the county.
• The Emergency Management Program Grant provides approximately $200,000 for the Office of Emergency Services to maintain the County’s Emergency Operation Center, update plans, and provide training and equipment.
• Emergency Flood Response Delta Grant funds updates to evacuation plans and provides training and materials to shore up levees.
• Bay Area Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) grants vary year by year depending on the Solano County projects or regional projects approved by the respective governing boards.
Operations
OES volunteer teams have been operating in and out of the county on multiple missions. Most recently, OES Search and Rescue volunteers deployed to Paradise (Butte County), California to sift through the Camp Fire devastation looking for human remains. Their efforts, combined with Sheriff’s Office personnel in the Butte County Emergency Operations Center, streamlined the missing persons branch and reduced the open case load from over 4,000 to under two hundred in two days. OES staff led the operation.
The OES Dive Team and Marine Vessel Operators continue to provide excellent service in the Delta and waterways of the county. They are the “go to” teams for vehicle recoveries and evidence searches in our waterways and the Sacramento River. During the recent Branscombe Fire, they extinguished a blaze on the Belden’s Landing pier and escorted boats through heavy smoke.
Communications
In July 2018, the Sheriff’s Office accepted the Motorola Dispatch Console and Communications project that started in 2016. The project was up and running successfully on-time; however, staff insisted on fixes to what might have been considered minor glitches in office settings but were unacceptable in a 24/7 communications center. The Center has been running error-free since completion.
The highlight of the project is the installation of a Motorola Core (Core) capable of managing all the radio communications in the county. OES and County Communications are actively working to connect all dispatch centers in the county to the Core to improve interoperable communications and share cost savings per previous direction from the Board.
The Office of Emergency Services has instituted a monthly communications meeting to share information with the cities on individual projects from the Fairfield/Vacaville radio system upgrade to the new computer aided dispatch software being installed in all the dispatch centers in the County. Agencies in Solano County still utilize VHF, UHF and Trunked VHF radio systems to communicate and at times this complicates communications. The focus of the monthly meeting is to improve radio interoperability which in turn will improve first responder safety and response times.
Emergency Notifications
The new AlertSolano public notification program, utilizing Everbridge software, is up and running in all the County Dispatch Centers. Originally scheduled for purchase with grant funds in 2018, the contract was expedited after the Atlas Fire in late 2017. Funding will continue with grant funds until 2020 when the County and Cities will share the cost based on population. All dispatch centers have access to AlertSolano capabilities except wireless alerting. By law, only the County Dispatch Center can send Wireless Alerts and the capability now exists for Solano residents.
OES staff has spearheaded the new AlertSolano public alerting program and continues to add subscribers and capabilities, which is currently at 15,400. The County continues to advertise and educate the community on the benefits of joining. AlertSolano is critical in getting accurate information to the largest possible audience in an emergency. AlertSolano utilizies multiple methods of notification, including Nixle, text, e-mail, and subscriber landlines to provide citizen alerts in an emergency, rather than relying on just one method. which may not be as effective.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
There is no financial impact associated with receiving the presentation. The cost associated with preparing the agenda item is nominal and absorbed by the department’s FY2018/19 Adopted Budget.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Board of Supervisors could choose not to receive the presentation; however, this is not recommended as it is an opportunity to learn more about the Office of Emergency Services.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
None.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION