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July 11, 2023
ITEM TITLE
Dispatch Agreement: Approve an Agreement with the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department for Dispatch Services
Report Number: 23-0159
Location: No specific geographic location
Department: Fire
Environmental Notice : The activity is not a “Project” as defined under Section 15378 of the California Environmental Quality Act State Guidelines; therefore, pursuant to State Guidelines Section 15060(c)(3) no environmental review is required.
Recommended Action
Adopt a resolution waiving the competitive bid process and entering into an agreement with the City of San Diego for dispatch services.
SUMMARY
The City of Chula Vista has satisfactorily contracted Fire and Emergency Medical Dispatch Services with the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department since March 1, 2008. The Fire Department recommends continuing contracting with the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department for such services and is seeking Council’s approval of the dispatch services agreement (“Dispatch Services Agreement”) attached as Attachment 1, and its component, a data sharing agreement between the City of San Diego and other cities that contract with San Diego for dispatch services (Attachment 2).
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The Director of Development Services has reviewed the proposed activity for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that the activity is not a “Project” as defined under Section 15378 of the State CEQA Guidelines because the proposed activity consists of a governmental fiscal/administrative activity which does not result in a physical change in the environment; therefore, pursuant to Section 15060(c)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines, the activity is not subject to CEQA. Thus, no environmental review is required.
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BOARD/COMMISSION/COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
None applicable.
DISCUSSION
The Chula Vista Fire Department requires fire and emergency medical dispatch services to properly process 911 calls and deploy the appropriate first responders to mitigate hazards and/or provide lifesaving aid. The City has contracted fire and e mergency medical dispatch services with the San Diego Fire -Rescue Department since March 1, 2008.
Dispatch Services Agreement
San Diego Fire -Rescue has provided above-standard fire and emergency medical dispatch services to the City. In Resolution 2007-289 the City Council waived the competitive bidding requirement and approved a service agreement with San Diego for fire and medical dispatch services. This decision was based on superior technology, emergency medical dispatching procedures, and financial impact when compared to reasonable and appropriate competitors. The same factors are believed to be true today, and no verifiable enhancements would be expected by changing dispatch contractors. A change in dispatch contractors would be disruptive to operations including the creation of new response plans, new mobile data computer user interface on response units, and create delays in automatic aid. A change would also have financial impacts including staff time for transitional activities and startup costs associated with moving to a different dispatch contractor.
The Dispatch Service Agreement cost is based on a flat rate cost per call based on previous fiscal year actual call volume. An annual increase of 5% is included in the Annual Operating Plan, which is to account for non- personnel expenses related to dispatc hing services, such as utilities, facility operations, hardware maintenance, software and technology expenses. The increased costs are commensurate when compared to the limited market capable to provide this type of service. Under the new price per call with the prior year actual volume, the FY24 estimated costs for the Dispatch Services Agreement is $1,456,000. The previous dispatch agreement was extended on a temporary, emergency basis from July 1, 2023 to July 20, 2023; the current Dispatch Services Agreement will be effective July 21, 2023 through June 20, 2028. Section G of the Dispatch Services Agreement complies with Section 8.3 of the City’s Privacy Protection and Technology Transparency Policy. The parties shall review this agreement every year to ensure applicability of all terms and policies. Any modifications must be set forth in writing and signed by the parties.
Data Sharing Agreement
A data sharing agreement entered into between the parties in 2019 has been added to the Dispatch Services Agreement. The purpose of the Data Sharing Agreement is to acknowledge that San Diego Fire -Rescue collects, store s, and share s sensitive data in the course of their performance of the contracted dispatch services, and to address the parties’ maintenance and use of such data . The collection and maintenance of dispatch records will be in accordance with State and Federal regulations.
Once collected, such data will be accessible by other public safety entities as it will be pooled in San Diego’s Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) Database and may also be pooled in the parties Joint Records Management System. The CAD Database is a combination of data from the 911 phone system, dispatcher medical triage P a g e | 3
system, incident activities both on and off emergency incident (automated vehicle location information) and any other related data tied to the management of Fire-Rescue activities. The City of San Diego maintains this data in a database, and all information pertinent to City of Chula Vista Fire activities can be segregated. This is pertinent in the recall of Chula Vista incidents (including mutual aid activities into other jurisdictions) for any data related needs by the City of Chula Vista. Information segregated across the different agencies that participate in th e CAD system are not shared across agencies except where expressly permitted or in the course of the management of emergency activities (multi -agency response) which is common in the metro zone area. Slightly different from the pure database information , which can be provided as needed (or interfaced to systems of Chula Vista’s needs) from the CAD Database, the Joint Records Management System (also known as the City of San Diego Emergency Command & Data System) carries data in a records format that provides easier to read and use emergency incident information. CAD Records can be viewed by the incident which shows comprehensive detail, unit response times, incident notes, crew information, etc. Each agency tenant in the CAD system can view their own incident records/CAD reports as needed.
Such data collection and use is intended for incident reporting, performance-enhancing analytics, mutual/automatic aid connections, and infrastructure support for dispatching and operations situational awareness systems. Additionally, data may be accessible by third party vendors providing software and other applicable services. Section B.6 of the Data Sharing Agreement is compliant with Section 8.2 of City’s Privacy Protection and Technology Transparency Policy. Staff will p eriodically review the Data Sharing Agreement to ensure continued compliance with the City’s policies and all applicable laws.
The Data Sharing Agreement does not have an expiration date. At this time, there are no modifications or requests for termination to the existing agreement, and therefore no new signatures are required.
Recommendation
The Fire Department recommends waiving the competitive bidding requirement in Chula Vista Municipal Code Section 2.56.070.B.3. This section states “The City Council may waive the competitive bidding requirements if determined by resolution of the City Council that the competitive bidding requirements as applied to that contract are impractical, impossible or that City interests would be materially better served by applying a different purchasing procedure approved by the Purchasing Agent as being consistent with good purchasing practices.” In this case, the City’s interests are materially better served by continuing to contract with San Diego for dispatch services to avoid operational disruption and to maintain the current quality of performance. As such, the Fire Department respectfully requests approval of both the Dispatch Services Agreement with the City of San Diego and its component Data Sharing Agreement with the cities of San Diego, Coronado, Imperial Beach, National City, and Poway.
DECISION-MAKER CONFLICT
Staff has reviewed the decision contemplated by this action and has determined that it is not site-specific and consequently, the real property holdings of the City Council members do not create a disqualifying real property-related financial conflict of interest under the Political Reform Act (Cal. Gov't Code § 87100, et seq.).
Staff is not independently aware, and has not been informed by any City Council member, of any other fact that may constitute a basis for a decision-maker conflict of interest in this matter.
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CURRENT-YEAR FISCAL IMPACT
The Dispatch Services Agreement is included in baseline budgets for both the General Fund and Ambulance Transport System (ATS) Enterprise Fund for an estimated total cost in FY2024 of $1,456,000. Because this contract is included in the FY2024 Adopted budget, no budget adjustments are required at this time.
ONGOING FISCAL IMPACT
The Dispatch Services Agreement will continue to be included in future baseline budgets with an included 5% increases year to year, as shown in the attached Annual Operating Plan.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Dispatch Services Agreement
2. Data Sharing Agreement
3. FY2024 Annual Operating Plan
Staff Contact: Emily Folker, Principal Management Analyst