City Council
May 17, 2022
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Edward D. Reiskin FROM: Reginald Freeman
City Administrator Fire Chief
SUBJECT: Fiscal Year 2021 - Urban Search and
Rescue (US&R) Funding
DATE: April 25, 2022
City Administrator Approval Date: May 5, 2022
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator To:
(1) Enter Into A Grant Agreement With The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) To Accept And Appropriate FEMA Funds In The Amount Of One Million Two Hundred Thirty Eight Thousand, Eight Hundred Seventy Eight Dollars ($1,238,878) Annually For Fiscal Years (FY) 2021-2026 And Additional Supplemental Annual Funding Not To Exceed Fifty Percent (50%) Of The Original Grant Award Per Year, For A Cumulative Amount Not To Exceed Nine Million Two Hundred Ninety One Thousand, Five Hundred Eighty Fiver Dollars ($9,291,585) To Fund The Oakland Fire Department’s Urban Search And Rescue (US&R) California Task Force Four (CA-TF4); And
(2) Expend The FEMA Funds In Accordance With The Preliminary Spending Plan Without Further City Council Approval, Including Funding For Training And The Purchase Of Equipment; (B) Waiving The City’s Advertisement And Competitive Bidding And Purchasing Requirements For Procurement Of Equipment When Required By The Grant; (C) Authorize The City Administrator To Appropriate Revenue Received From Trainings Provided By US&R CA-TF4; (D) Approve A Contribution From The General Purpose Fund (GPF) In An Amount Estimated At Sixty Thousand , Nine Hundred And Twenty Four Dollars ($60,924) Annually For FY 2021-2026 To Cover Disallowed Internal Service Fund (ISF) Charges Affiliated With Said Grant.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Approval of this resolution will authorize the acceptance of grant funds in the amount of one million two hundred thirty eight thousand, eight hundred seventy eight dollars ($1,238,878) needed to maintain implementation of the Urban Search & Rescue (US&R) Response System Cooperative Agreement through FY 2021-2026, which includes providing training for members of the US&R team, the purchase and maintenance of equipment, lease of storage and office facility and salaries for personnel required for program management. In addition, this resolution authorizes a contribution from the General Purpose Fund (GPF) in an amount estimated at sixty thousand, nine hundred and twenty four dollars ($60,924) to cover the Internal Service Fund (ISF) charges associated with this grant. The term of this Agreement shall commence on
Edward Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: Fiscal Year 2021 - Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Funding Date: April 25, 2022 Page 2
City Council
May 17, 2022
October 1, 2021 and shall end on September 30, 2028. The calendar year 2028 corresponds with FY 2025-2026 funding obligation authorities. In other words, the FY 2025-2026 grant execution period concludes in calendar year 2028.
BACKGROUND/LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
There are twenty-eight (28) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) US&R Task Forces in the United States, with eight (8) in California. The City of Oakland is the Sponsoring Agency for a FEMA US&R Task Force, California Task Force 4 (CA-TF4). The Oakland Fire Department Task Force has agreements with fifteen (15) participating fire agencies from the Bay Area that provide Task Force personnel and support the training and responses of the Oakland Task Force. Federal funds are provided to sponsoring agencies to support a US&R Response System that provides for the coordination, development, and maintenance, of the effort to locate, extricate, and provide immediate medical treatment to victims trapped in collapsed structures, and to conduct other lifesaving operations.
In addition to the Federal funding, the State of California supports the eight (8) California US&R Task Forces with funding through the California Fire and Rescue Training Authority (CFRTA), California Specialized Training Institute (CSTI), or State of California identified training center that facilitates Mobilization Exercises and conducts other pertinent trainings in preparation for response to disasters such as earthquakes, wildfires, flooding, and terrorist attacks.
Since the Loma Prieta Earthquake in October 1989, the City of Oakland Fire Department has taken an active role in preparing for an US&R response. In 1991, FEMA sponsored 25 National US&R Task Forces and Oakland CA-TF4 has been a part of the National Response System since the inception.
The City Council has approved similar agreements each year since 1991. Last year, City Council approved the agreement (Resolution No. 88316 C.M.S.) for a grant in the amount of $1,266,631.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
When procurement is necessary, this FEMA program grant requires the City to purchase equipment from various Federal General Service Administration Agency (GSA) and/or other Governmental Purchasing Schedules in order to maintain consistency in training and equipment among the jurisdictions participating in the state and national US&R Teams. Oakland Municipal Code (OMC) Section 2.04.050.I.5 authorizes the City Council to waive City bid procedures upon determining that it is in the best interest of the City to do so. Staff finds that it is in the City’s best interest to waive the City’s advertising and bid requirement based on the aforementioned government purchasing requirement and recommends that the City Administrator be authorized to award the contracts for goods, not to exceed the amount of the grant, without return to Council since these are government cooperative purchases, with vendors selected from government-established vendor lists and it would expedite the purchasing process.
Edward Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: Fiscal Year 2021 - Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Funding Date: April 25, 2022 Page 3
City Council
May 17, 2022
As the Sponsoring Agency, US&R CA-TF4 provides training, including to agencies that do not Participate in US&R CA-TF4, to ensure that they are prepared and well trained to respond to emergencies alongside and in support of US&R CA-TF4. Costs from these trainings are not currently being charged by the City, and as a result, training costs for outside agencies are being subsidized by the General Purpose Fund (1010). Approval of this resolution would permit US&R CA-TF4 to collect fees for these trainings and to deposit the revenue into the account specified for this award. Charges to participants will be based upon the actual cost incurred by the US&R CA-TF4 (i.e. staff time and materials) to deliver the training.
The project supports up to five (5) full-time equivalent (FTE) staff, which includes:
• One (1.0) FTE Program Coordinator to oversee the US&R Task Force; • One (1.0) FTE Warehouse Specialist to supervise the storage and tracking of US&R equipment;
• One (1.0) FTE Administrative Assistant I; and
• Two (2) FTE Student Interns, Part-Time.
This grant has and will continue to have a positive impact for the City of Oakland and advances the Citywide Priority of ensuring holistic community safety. The members of the Task Force are members of OFD and other Participating Fire Agencies, and they receive training for response to man-made and natural disasters. The training provides knowledge, skills, and abilities to a network of local first responders, so they can perform search and rescue operations, victim extrication, wide area search and patient treatment to reduce loss of life as the result of emergency incidents in the City and region.
FISCAL IMPACT
Approval of this resolution will authorize the acceptance and appropriation of the FEMA funds in an amount not to exceed $1,238,878. The fiscal impact to the City would be a GPF contribution in an amount estimated at sixty thousand, nine hundred and twenty four dollars ($60,924) for ISF charges associated with the FY 2021 US&R Grant for FY 2021-24, and to continue to provide a GPF contribution equivalent to the ISF charges for the duration of the grant period.
This contribution is necessary because FEMA representatives have informed staff that these charges are not payable by this grant because the US&R program is not located in a building owned or maintained by the City of Oakland, its vehicles and other assets are owned by the federal government and are not serviced by the City of Oakland staff. The ISF does provide some services to the US&R Task Force, hence the charge, but as stated previously FEMA has advised staff that these charges may not be paid by the grant; therefore, a GPF contribution is requested to cover these charges.
FY 2021 FEMA grant funds received, as well as reimbursement for training courses hosted by US&R CA-TF4, shall be deposited into the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Fund (2124), Special Operation Division (20815), the Miscellaneous Grants Revenue account (46129), 2021 US&R FEMA Grant Project (1005561), Special Operation Program (PS18) and in Edward Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: Fiscal Year 2021 - Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Funding Date: April 25, 2022 Page 4
City Council
May 17, 2022
various accounts to be determined. Table 1 below provides description of each cost category and the associated amount.
AMOUNT OF RECOMMENDATION/COST OF PROJECT ANNUALLY:
Cooperative Agreement Amount: $1,238,878
Performance Period: September 1, 2021 to August 31, 2024 SOURCE OF FUNDING: FEMA Cooperative Agreement
COST ELEMENTS OF AGREEMENT/CONTRACT:
Table 1: Cost Elements of Grant
Cost Category Description Amount
Administration and Management Management of office and staff salaries $421,956 Storage and Maintenance Lease and maintenance of warehouse space $448,399 Equipment Tools, supplies and equipment as required by
FEMA
$176,544
Training Continuing and new education to maintain
readiness of staff and responders
$191,979
TOTAL $1,238,878
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
No outreach was deemed necessary for the proposed policy action beyond the standard City Council agenda noticing procedures.
COORDINATION
The Office of the City Attorney and the Budget Bureau were consulted in the preparation of this report and resolution.
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: Acceptance of this grant will allow for the rental of warehouse space and the purchase and maintenance of equipment, which will contribute to the local economy. There are up to five (5) full-time equivalent positions in the City of Oakland paid through this grant.
Environmental: There are no environmental impacts associated with this action because the facility will be used for the storage and maintenance of technical rescue equipment.
Race & Equity: There is a large race and equity benefit to the City. The City is in an active earthquake fault zone. All the citizens of Oakland will benefit from the unique training that is available to members of the FEMA US&R Task Force as these members respond to Edward Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: Fiscal Year 2021 - Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Funding Date: April 25, 2022 Page 5
City Council
May 17, 2022
emergencies within the City on a daily basis. In the event of a local disaster, the US&R Task Force equipment cache is available to local responders.
ACTION REQUESTED OF CITY COUNCIL
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution authorizing the City Administrator, or designee, to: A) enter into a grant cooperative agreement with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to accept and appropriate Federal FEMA funds for the Fiscal Years (FY) 2021-2026, in the amount up to one million two hundred thirty eight thousand, eight hundred seventy eight dollars ($1,238,878) annually and any additional supplemental annual funding not to exceed fifty percent (50%) of the original grant amount, at an amount not to exceed nine million two hundred ninety one thousand, five hundred eighty five dollars ($9,291,585) to fund the Oakland Fire Department’s Urban Search And Rescue (US&R) California Task Force Four (CA-TF4); (1) expend the FEMA funds in accordance with the preliminary spending plan without further city Council approval, including funding for training and the purchase of equipment from the General Services Administration (GSA) and other government pricing schedules; B) waiving the city’s advertising and competitive bidding and purchasing requirements for procurement of equipment when required by the grant; C) authorizing the City Administrator to appropriate revenue received from trainings provided by US&R CA-TF4; D) approve a contribution from the General Purpose Fund (GPF) in an amount estimated at sixty thousand, nine hundred and twenty four dollars ($60,924) annually for FY 2021-2026 to cover disallowed internal service fund (ISF) charges affiliated with said grant.
For questions regarding this report, please contact Acting Battalion Chief Linda Buell, at (510) 615-5872.
Respectfully submitted,
REGINALD FREEMAN
Fire Chief
Oakland Fire Department
Prepared by:
Linda Buell
Battalion Chief, Oakland Fire Department
Program Coordinator, FEMA US&R CATF-4
Prepared by:
Gene Tom
Chief Financial Officer &
Agency Administrative Manager