DATE: June 27, 2023
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Fire Chief
SUBJECT: Adopt a Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Amend an Existing Agreement with Ganey Science, LLC to Update the Emergency Management Plan and to Negotiate and Execute an Agreement for On-Call Emergency Management Consulting Services with Ganey Science, LLC
RECOMMENDATION
That Council adopts a resolution (Attachment II) authorizing the City Manager to 1) amend an agreement with Ganey Science, LLC, (Ganey) to update the City’s Emergency Management Plan, in an amount not to exceed $126,600; and 2) to negotiate and execute an agreement for on-call emergency management consulting services with Ganey Science, LLC in an annual amount not to exceed $126,600, for up to three years.
SUMMARY
The Hayward Fire Department (HFD) determined the city’s Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (EMP) needed updating, as the last time it was updated was approximately 2009. The necessity of updating the city’s EMP is crucial to the implementation of the city’s Local Resiliency Plan (LRP), which serves as a guiding document for the City’s hazard mitigation activities and is in alignment with the City Council’s “Safe” priority. Ganey Science, LLC was retained to prepare the EMP update. Ganey will also be retained pursuant to an agreement for on-call services to assist the City with an employee disaster preparedness education program, wildland fire prevention, hazard mitigation, and completing the city’s LRP goals and priorities.
BACKGROUND
Since 2021, HFD has used Ganey Science, LLC numerous times for various projects, including the City’s Local Resiliency Plan update and hazardous materials disposal services. In FY2023, HFD had a Capital Improvement Plan budget of $126,600 for Emergency Consulting Management. In August of 2022, HFD accepted a proposal from Ganey to update the City’s Emergency Management Plan. The total cost was estimated to be $66,092, with a completion date estimated to be in April 2023. In April 2023, Ganey submitted an updated budget and schedule; the new estimated target date for completion of the EMP Update would be June 30, 2023. The updated total project cost would be $83,207, an increase of 25% from the original proposal. In anticipation of additional cost increases, staff proposes amending the existing contract amount to the full budget allocation of $126,600.
Ganey Science, LLC performs science and emergency management consulting services to public-sector clients nationwide. Their project team has been working on projects in the San Francisco Bay Area for over two decades with a location in San Francisco. They have access to a wide group of subject matter experts that are utilized on an on-call basis for specific projects to maximize efficiency and reduce cost.
DISCUSSION
Hayward’s current EMP is 12 years old, and updating the EMP to reflect organizational changes and to align with current emergency management best practices is highly needed. Concepts of operations in the City EMP should be informed by the most current California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) planning guidance, recent lessons learned, and the hierarchy of plans that support and supersede the City’s EMP. As part of the EMP approval process, Ganey will communicate with Alameda County’s Office of Emergency Services to ensure consistency with regional plans.
The Hayward City Council specifically prioritizes making and keeping the City safe, clean, green, and thriving. Hazard mitigation is an essential part of achieving those goals, especially ensuring the City’s safety, and helping the City thrive following a natural hazard. The City’s EMP is an essential tool to help the City achieve these goals.
Following approval by HFD of the EMP outline and recommendations, Ganey will prepare the updated EMP document. Anticipated new EMP sections include a description of pandemic operations utilizing lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic, and identification of disaster service workers and their roles in the event of a widespread and extended emergency similar to Covid-19.
Additional services Ganey can provide as part of the on-call agreement include assisting the City to develop and implement an employee education training program to increase employee knowledge in disaster preparedness. The training will include tabletop exercises and field exercises to improve organizational response capacity and preparedness. Ganey can also provide research and development demonstration tasks consisting of wildfire monitoring in the Hayward wildfire-urban interface (WUI) using remote sensing data and the development of an artificial intelligence (AI) model.
STRATEGIC ROADMAP
All the services provided by Ganey will be in alignment with the City Council’s “Safe” priority and will contribute to the improvement of community safety.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is sufficient funding to cover the additional cost of the EMP update project under the existing agreement with Ganey as well as the additional on-call services agreement. The total contractual amount between the two projects will not exceed $506,400 ($126,600 for EMP update; $379,800 for on-call services agreement over three years).
PUBLIC CONTACT
There is no public contact required for this item.
NEXT STEPS
If Council approves staff’s recommendation, the City Manager will 1) amend the agreement with Ganey Science, LLC for the EMP update project to an amount not to exceed $126,600; and 2) negotiate and execute an agreement with Ganey for on-call emergency management consulting services, in an annual amount not to exceed $126,600, for up to three years.
Prepared by: Norma Marples, Acting Management Analyst Recommended by: Garrett Contreras, Fire Chief
Approved by:
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Kelly McAdoo, City Manager