Fremont City Council Meeting: 02/21/23 07:00 PM
3300 Capitol Avenue Div/Dept: Fire Department
Fremont, CA 94538 Category: Agreements and Contracts
SCHEDULED
Sponsors:
COUNCIL STAFF REPORT (ID # 4806) DOC ID: 4806
Updated: 2/16/2023 11:19 PM by Susan Gauthier Page 1
APPROVE SERVICE AGREEMENT TO UPDATE THE LOCAL HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN – Award the Contract to Foster Morrison Consulting, Ltd. and Authorize the City Manager to Issue a Service Agreement to Update the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan in an Amount Not to Exceed $185,514
Contact Persons:
Name: Alec Tune Donna Do
Title: Emergency Services Manager Management Analyst II Div/Dept: Fire Department Fire Department
Phone: 510-494-4200 510-494-4200
E-Mail: [email protected] [email protected]
Executive Summary: The City of Fremont (City) issued a request for proposals (RFP) to hire a consultant to prepare a new, Tri-Cities Multi-jurisdictional Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) that will meet or exceed all Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and State of California (State) regulatory requirements, including requirements to update the City’s 2016 LHMP. The new plan will assess the risk that any number of natural disasters pose to Fremont; propose strategies and projects to reduce risk to the community and public infrastructure; integrate other local agencies into the planning process – including Alameda County Water District, Union Sanitary District, and others; and engage the public in the planning process. The resulting Tri-Cities Multi-jurisdictional LHMP will enable the City to apply for funding for capital projects and certain other projects which reduce the risk of natural disasters to the community, and specifically to public infrastructure. Following outreach to local, national, and international firms specializing in hazard mitigation planning services, and following a competitive selection process, Staff recommends the City enter into a service agreement with Foster Morrison Consulting, Ltd. (Foster Morrison), in conjunction with its subconsultants, to complete the Tri-Cities Multi-jurisdictional LHMP, while meeting all requirements to update the City’s LHMP. The amount of the agreement shall not exceed $185,514.
BACKGROUND: The City is required by the Disaster Mitigation Act (DMA) of 2000 to prepare, maintain, and update its LHMP at least once every five years as condition of receiving FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) funding under FEMA’s Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program. The City is not required to maintain an LHMP in order to be conside red for other Federal and State Disaster Assistance funding, including any authorized assistance from recent storms. The City’s last LHMP was approved by Council on December 20, 2016 and was subsequently approved by FEMA on January 9, 2017.
In June 2021, following extensive coordination with neighboring jurisdictions, the Fremont Fire Department’s Office of Emergency Services prepared and submitted a proposal to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) for funding to complete a Tri - Cities Multi-jurisdictional LHMP. Emergency Management personnel from the City of Fremont, City of Newark, City of Union City, Alameda County Water District, and the Union Sanitary District agreed to participate in the proposed project – allowing for better integration of water and wastewater infrastructure vulnerabilities into the overall assessment of community risk, while addressing interdependencies in strategies to reduce Council Staff Report (ID # 4806) Meeting of February 21, 2023 Updated: 2/16/2023 11:19 PM by Susan Gauthier Page 2
community risk. On September 6, 2022, Cal OES notified the City of its intent to award grant funding for the project, on a cost-reimbursement basis, not to exceed $187,500. On October 18, 2022, Council voted unanimously to accept and appropriate the funding.
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS: To find qualified consultants to prepare the new Tri-Cities LHMP, the City issued RFP # 23-014 in December 2022. The RFP was distributed via the City’s e-procurement system and Supplier Clearinghouse, including notifications to minority - owned businesses and women-owned business enterprises. A total of five proposals were received, submitted by BOLDplanning, Inc.; Innovative Emergency Management, Inc.; Witt O’Brien’s, part of the Ambipar Group; Tetra Tech, Inc.; and Foster Morrison. Following an independent screening of all proposals by a staff analyst to verify that the proposals submitted met RFP requirements, an evaluation team – consisting of emergency management subject matter experts from the Cities of Fremont, Newark, and Union City; Alameda County Water District; and Union Sanitary District – reviewed the proposals. All proposals were evaluated according to scoring criteria delineated in the RFP. The staff analyst independently collected and tabulated the scoring, and the three consultants which achieved the highest scores on the written proposal assessment advanced to interviews for further evaluation. Following collection and tabulation of interview scores, Foster Morrison attained the highest overall, combined score.
Foster Morrison, based in Arvada, CO, specializes in LHMPs and has extensive experience working in the California regulatory environment. Foster Morrison works with experienced subcontractors to fulfill all aspects of LHMPs and proposes to subcontract with Howell Consulting, Inc. (Howell Consulting) and Walker Floodplain Management, LLC (Walker FPM) for this contract. Foster Morrison has completed LHMPs for more than 27 California communities since 2003 – and has repeatedly been re-hired by the same jurisdictions to complete subsequent five-year LHMP updates. Foster Morrison is registered and licensed to do business in the State of California and is also registered and in good standing with the Federal Procurement System for Award Management. The firm recently completed the East Bay Regional Park District’s LHMP Update, on time and on budget. The firm is co-owned by Jeanine Foster, JD and Christopher Morrison, Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM).
Howell Consulting, based in Rancho Murieta, CA, specializes in hazard mitigation planning and risk analysis. Howell Consulting worked with Foster Morrison in the development of numerous California LHMPs and LHMP updates over the past six years, including for the City of Piedmont and Sacramento County. The firm will be responsible for quality assurance.
Walker FPM is a single-member LLC, based in Shingle Springs, CA, formed to provide technical assistance to local governments in meeting their floodplain management and FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS) goals. Walker FPM’s resources include the expertise of Carl Walker, a California professional Civil Engineer and CFM, and former floodplain manager for the City of Roseville, where he launched the first CRS Class 1 community in the nation, and the only such community in California.
Foster Morrison’s proposal meets and exceeds the minimum requirements of the RFP in several ways. Specifically, the firm will:
• Develop an action framework to reduce flood insurance premiums for property owners. The new plan will ensure the City’s continued compliance with the FEMA NFIP as required by updated DMA planning guidance, while developing the Council Staff Report (ID # 4806) Meeting of February 21, 2023 Updated: 2/16/2023 11:19 PM by Susan Gauthier Page 3
new plan in accordance with the 2017 FEMA NFIP CRS Schedule. The plan will incorporate elements to maximize Floodplain Management Planning credits under the CRS, while outlining additional steps for the City to consider implementing following completion of the plan in order to reduce flood insurance premiums to Fremont property owners who are required to maintain, or who elect to maintain, flood insurance.
• Incorporate Earthquake Modeling into the Plan. The consultant will model at least four earthquake scenarios involving, at minimum, the Hayward and San Andreas Faults. This analysis will include modeling of physical and economic damage to public and private property, to include shaking, liquefaction, and fire following earthquake. More detailed modeling of earthquake impacts to select, critical public facilities will also be included. Fire following earthquake modeling will incorporate various weather conditions (namely windspeed and direction), while considering factors such as post-earthquake water supply complications. • Ensure plan alignment. The new plan will align with goals and objectives of the 2018 (and forthcoming 2023) State of California Hazard Mitigation Plan while integrating into the City’s General Plan Safety Element (in compliance with AB 2140), addressing climate adaptation and resilience (in compliance with SB 379), and addressing risk of local dams in accordance with FEMA’s High Hazard Potential Dam (HHPD) program.
Foster Morrison is committed to completing the new plan by December 2023, with planned submittal to Cal OES/FEMA in early January 2024. The FEMA grant-funded project must be completed no later than August 26, 2024.
FISCAL IMPACT: The City Council previously appropriated $187,500 in the Federal Operating Grants Fund (Fund 199) for this purpose. A matching fund requirement of $62,500 (25%) can be met through in-kind contributions of participating agency staffs’ hours.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: This action is not subject to review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under CEQA Guidelines sections 15262 because it involves only feasibility or planning studies for possible future action which the City has not approved, adopted, or funded. As a separate and independent basis, this action is also exempt because it is an administrative governmental activity that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment. The item is not subject to review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under CEQA Guidelines sections 15378 because the action is an administrative governmental activity that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment. As a separate and independent basis for CEQA compliance, the action is exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3), which exempts projects when it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment.
ATTACHMENTS:
• 2022-10-18 Hazard Mitigation Grant Funds Staff Report #4714
RECOMMENDATION: Authorize the City Manager, or designee, to award the contract and to enter into a service agreement with Foster Morrison Consulting, Ltd., in an amount not to exceed $185,514.