DATE: October 11, 2022
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Fire Chief
SUBJECT: Adopt a Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Accept and Appropriate $29,000 in Grant Funding from the Alameda County Office of Emergency Services for the Installation of a Transfer Switch for the Hayward Communication Center
RECOMMENDATION
That Council adopts the attached resolution (Attachment II) authorizing the City Manager to accept and appropriate $29,000 in grant funding from the Alameda County Office of Emergency Services for the installation of a transfer switch at the Hayward Communication Center.
SUMMARY
The Alameda County Office of Emergency Services (OES) received a Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) grant to provide local jurisdictions funding to install equipment in essential facilities throughout the County that do not have existing backup power connections. On May 11, 2022, Hayward Fire Department was awarded $29,000 (Attachment III) to install a transfer switch in the Hayward Communications Center to ensure continuity of dispatch operations following a loss of power.
Staff is requesting that Council approve the attached resolution to accept and appropriate the OES award for the Hayward Communication Center’s transfer switch installation.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
OES was awarded a grant from PG&E to provide funding for generators and related hardware installation to power essential facilities throughout the County that do not have existing backup power supplies in place. Hayward Fire Department requested funding to purchase necessary equipment, materials and labor to connect an auxiliary generator (also referred to as a “transfer switch”) to the Hayward Communications Center’s electrical system.
In order to decide how to use the $29,000 of grant funding, City staff were invited to submit proposed locations within the City that they deemed “essential facilities,” (due to the facilities’ function in providing emergency services or care and/or shelter the public), which staff believed would be impacted during widespread and extended power outages. Staff formed a committee that included representatives from various City departments and OES. This committee explored the Matt Jimenez Community Center, the community center in Weekes Park, the police headquarters/Hayward Communication Center, and buildings at Chabot College. The committee ultimately agreed that the Hayward Communication Center location (at Hayward police headquarters) which facilitates emergency dispatch and houses the critically important, computer server room, was the “essential facility” that should benefit from the grant. Should the current backup generator at the Hayward Communications Center fail or need servicing during an extended power outage, the 911 dispatch and communications systems would be disrupted, which could be detrimental to Hayward citizens.
The addition of the transfer switch at the Hayward Communications Center will allow for a large portable generator to be safely connected to the building. This will ensure that all electrical circuits that the current, hardwired emergency generator serves will have power in the event it is needed. The transfer switch provides the City’s emergency communications center and police department with a redundant power source critical to life safety during a long-term power outage.
STRATEGIC ROADMAP
This agenda item supports the Strategic Priority of Enhance Community Safety and Quality of Life. Specifically, this item relates to the development and implementation of the following projects:
Project Q9 Support Safety through Emergency Preparedness, Planning, and Response
FISCAL IMPACT
This funding source does not require a match and will have no impact on the City’s General Fund. These grant funds will allow the Fire Department to procure supplies and services it would not be able to under this year’s operating budget.
NEXT STEPS
If this item is approved, staff will purchase the necessary equipment and install the transfer switch at Hayward Police Department Headquarters to support dispatch operations.
Prepared by: Shanalee Gallagher, Management Analyst
Paul Wheeler, Emergency Services Officer
Recommended by: Garrett Contreras, Fire Chief
Approved by:
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Kelly McAdoo, City Manager