City Council
March 18, 2025
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Jestin D. Johnson FROM: Damon Covington
City Administrator Fire Chief
SUBJECT: Amendment to State Traffic Safety
Grant to Oakland Fire Department
DATE: November 21, 2024
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Amending Resolution No. 90562 C.M.S., Which Among Other Things Authorized The City Administrator To Accept State Grant Funds In The Amount Of One Hundred And Sixty -Five Thousand Dollars ($165,000) By: (1) Awarding A Contract For The Purchase Of Vehicle Extraction Equipment For The Fire Department In An Amount Not To Exceed $165,000 To L.N. Curtis And Sons; And (2) Waiving The City’s Re quest For Proposals And Qualifications And Competitive Bidding Requirements And Local/Small Local Business Enterprise (L/SLBE) Requirements For The Above-Mentioned Contract
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The intent of this proposed legislative item is to amend Resolution No. 90562 C.M.S. in order to include language to award a contract to a current Fire Department vendor, L.N. Curtis, and Sons, and waiving the City’s Request for Proposal, Competitive Bidding process, and local/small business requirements to ensure that the Oakland Fire Department can promptly expand the accepted grant funds to purchase critical lifesaving extrication equipment.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
During the calendar year 2022, the Oakland Fire Department responded to several hundred vehicle accidents throughout the city. Many of these responses did not require fire department personnel to deploy power tools to assist with victim(s) removal from one or more vehicles.
However, a smaller portion of these responses required power tools to remove a trapped occupant.
This is the fourth grant that the California Office of Traffic Safety has awarded to the Oakland Fire Department. In December 2023, with the adoption of Resolution 89998 C.M.S., the City Council authorized the City Administrator to enter into an agreement with the State Of California to accept an Office Of Transportation Safety (OTS) Grant in the amount of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).
Jestin Johnson (Mar 6, 2025 14:16 PST)
Mar 6, 2025
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Amendment to State Traffic Safety Grant to Oakland Fire Department Date: February 19, 2025 Page 2
City Council
March 18, 2025
Modern vehicles constructed today are comprised of different materials and technology compared to legacy vehicles. Today, we have a large mix of legacy and modern vehicles used by vehicle operators. When a modern vehicle is involved in a major vehicle accident, it will require new technology in the form of vehicle extrication equipment to assist in rapid extrication.
Contemporary vehicle extrication equipment components are both powerful and portable.
Additionally, vehicle extrication equipment manufactured today is environmentally friendly—they operate solely off battery power.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
Modern vehicle construction requires new technology to allow fire department personnel to remove an occupant quickly and safely from a vehicle that has suffered significant damage from an accident. In significant incidents, delays in extracting a patient(s) from a vehicle that has been significantly damaged can result in a fatality. The goal of this grant is to allow the Fire Department to purchase modern vehicle extrication equipment that is environmentally friendly (battery powered), more portable and requires less time to set up for operation in comparison to legacy vehicle extrication equipment in current use.
As technology advances, the complexity of quickly and safely removing an occupant from a vehicle by firefighters will intensify.
The aim of this agreement is in alignment with the citywide priority of providing holistic community safety by ensuring that fire department members have access to technology that complements the comprehensive emergency service delivery offerings provided to the community of Oakland.
Staff members in the Fire Administration have provided representatives from the California Office of Traffic Safety with all required documents to satisfy initial paperwork and grant acceptance requirements.
Some Facts About Our Current Tools:
• 25-year-old technology tools were purchased in 2013. • The tools operate with a power unit (a gas-powered hydraulic generator), and two 30-foot hydraulic hoses run a maximum of two tools at a time.
• The Power unit must be on level ground to operate, limiting where it can be used. • Tool set-up time is at least 5 min if the extrication is right next to the Truck • Can only work on one vehicle at a time because tools are "tethered" to the power unit • The power unit is a generator, it is loud, hindering communication on the scene
Facts About the New Tools Funded by this Grant :
• The cache is a cutter, spreader, combi-tool, two rams (same as current tool cache), and accessories
• Tools are battery-powered with hydraulic components, but no power unit or hoses are tethering the tools. They are cordless.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Amendment to State Traffic Safety Grant to Oakland Fire Department Date: February 19, 2025 Page 3
City Council
March 18, 2025
• Set-up of these tools push-button on and go, moments to start using tools • Tools are portable and can be carried any distance. Ideal for cars off the side of the road or down a hillside
• All 5 tools can be used simultaneously, which will shorten extrication times. Tools can be used on numerous cars because they don't have a shared power unit. • Most notable, these tools are much stronger than current tools. The current spreader is 22,000 lbs. force, and the new eDraulic (electronic) spreader is 147,000 lbs. force. This is why we need these tools. The cutters are also rated to cut ultra-high strength steel.
These tools, being portable, battery operated, and significantly stronger, will shorten the time it takes us to extricate victims and get them to the ER faster, which results in lives saved.
The tools come with an "extension cord" in the event of a natural disaster when battery power could become a concern on extended use. The 10 batteries per Truck provide approximately 10 hours of tool use. All maintenance on the equipment is handled by Oakland Fire staff in consultation with the vendor. The department does have first-generation eDraulic combo-tools (small cutter/spreader) on the trucks, that were purchased in 2013, however they went out of production in 2013 (they were old then) and are no longer supported or serviced by Hurst, so they have become obsolete.
Request for Competitive Bid Waiver
The Fire Department has been satisfied with the service provided by this vendor, L. N Curtis and Sons, for several years. To create a purchase order to promptly expend these critical grant funds for extrication equipment, the City Council must approve a waiver that allows for the Fire Department to purchase from the department’s preferred qualified vendor.
Oakland Municipal Code section 2.04.050.1.5 permits the Council to waive the advertising and Bidding, small and local small business requirements upon a finding that it is in the best interest of the City to do so. Based on the information detailed in this report, staff finds it is in the City's best interest to waive the competitive process and Local/Small Local Business Enterprise (L/SLBE) requirements.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no change to the fiscal impact section from the original agenda report. The original resolution approved the acceptance of $165,000 of OTS grant funding, which will be allocated to the Fire Department in the following manner:
Fund Grant Fund TBD
Organization Emergency/Suppression Shift A (20411)
Project TBD
This grant does not require a matching fund from the grantee so there will be no additional cost to the General-Purpose Fund.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Amendment to State Traffic Safety Grant to Oakland Fire Department Date: February 19, 2025 Page 4
City Council
March 18, 2025
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
Representatives from the Fire Administration, Local 55, and the department’s Vehicle Extrication Working Group collaborated on this initiative.
COORDINATION
The Office of the Fire Chief, and City Attorney were consulted in the preparation of this report.
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: The acceptance of the grant reduced the need to seek financial resources from the department’s equipment line item on the most recently adopted budget for 2023 – 2025.
Environmental: The acceptance of the grant satisfied the city’s effort toward moving away from gas-powered equipment used by city employees.
Race and Equity: There are no specific race and equity considerations specific to this amendment to the previous resolution.
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Amending Resolution No. 90562 C.M.S., Which Among Other Things Authorized The City Administrator To Accept State Grant Funds In The Amount Of One Hundred And Sixty -Five Thousand Dollars ($165,000) By: (1) Awarding A Contract For The Purchase Of Vehicle Extraction Equipment For The Fire Department In An Amount Not To Exceed $165,000 To L.N. Curtis And Sons; And (2) Waiving The City’s Request For Proposals And Qualifications And Competitive Bidding Requirements And Local/Small Local Business Enterprise (L/SLBE) Requirements For The Above-Mentioned Contract
For questions regarding this report, please contact Deputy Chief Demond Simmons at 510.238.4054.
Respectfully submitted,
______________________________
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Amendment to State Traffic Safety Grant to Oakland Fire Department Date: February 19, 2025 Page 5
City Council
March 18, 2025
Damon Covington, Fire Chief