City of Sacramento
City Council - 5PM Report
915 I Street Sacramento, CA 95814
www.cityofsacramento.org
File ID: 2023-00748 6/20/2023 Consent Item 8.
Contract: Professional Services Supplemental Agreements: Contracted On-site Veterinary Services and Emergency and After-Hours Veterinary Services (Two-thirds vote required) [Published for 10-Day Review 06/08/2023]
File ID: 2023-00748
Location: Citywide
Recommendation: Adopt a Resolution: 1) suspend competitive bidding, in the best interests of the City, for on-site contracted veterinary services provided by Friends of Front Street Shelter; 2) Pass a Motion authorizing the City Manager or City Manager’s designee to execute Supplemental Agreement No. 1 to City Agreement PRC002049 with Friends of Front Street Shelter in the amount not-to-exceed $500,000, bringing the total not-to-exceed amount to $749,999 for contracted on-site veterinary services; and 3) Pass a Motion authorizing the City Manager or City Manager’s designee to execute Supplemental Agreement No. 4 to City Agreement PRC000706 with VCA Mueller Pet Medical Center in the amount not-to-exceed $500,000, bringing the total not-to-exceed amount to $1.4 million for off-site and after-hours emergency veterinary services.
Contact: Phillip Zimmerman, Animal Care Services Manager, (916) 808-8333, [email protected]; Jennifer Chikasawa, Administrative Officer, (916) 808-5851, [email protected], Community Development Department Presenter: None
Attachments:
1-Description/Analysis
2-Supplemental Agreement with Friends of Front Street Shelter 3-Resolution
4-Supplemental Agreement with VCA Mueller Pet Medical Center Additional Description/Analysis
Issue Detail: The Shelter is classified as a depositary for living animals and therefore bound by California Civil Code. California Civil Code § 1834 states: “A depositary of living animals shall provide the animals with necessary and prompt veterinary care, nutrition, and shelter, and treat them kindly.
Any depositary that fails to perform these duties may be liable for civil damages as provided by law”.
If an animal enters the shelter and is sick or injured, it must be treated promptly.
File ID: 2023-00748 6/20/2023 Consent Item 8.
Although the City currently has 3.0 FTE (full-time equivalent) Veterinarian positions - due to a nationwide veterinarian shortage, two of the three positions remain vacant. To meet the requirements of the California Civil Code and continue providing service for the animals that come through the shelter, the City is required to have contracted on-site veterinary services to provide additional veterinary coverage.
Friends of Front Street Shelter (Friends) has a pool of several licensed veterinarians that can provide hourly on-site contracted relief veterinary services for the Shelter. Rather than the City contracting and managing multiple small contracts with individual veterinarians, the City contracts with the Shelter’s recognized nonprofit partner Friends, for on-site veterinary services. Friends also manages the scheduling and payments for each of their contracted veterinarians which reduces administrative work for shelter staff.
For off-site and after-hour care, if an animal enters the shelter and is sick or injured, it must be treated promptly. The Shelter’s veterinary staff are not on duty 24-hours a day to treat sick and injured animals that enter the shelter afterhours. To meet the requirements of the California Civil Code the City is required to contract with VCA Mueller Pet Medical Center, a 24-hour emergency veterinary clinic, for afterhours emergency care.
Policy Considerations: City Code Section 3.56.230(c) authorizes the City Council to suspend competitive bidding for service when upon a two-thirds vote, the City Council determines it is in the best interests of the City to do so. Section 3.56.090 requires Council approval to authorize the City Manager to bind the City by contract for purchases that are $100,000 or more. The recommendations in this report are consistent with Sacramento City Code Section 3.56.
The supplemental agreement with VCA Mueller Pet Medical Center exceeds the City Manager’s approval authority and requires approval by City Council. The Sacramento City Code Section
4.04.020 and Council Rules of Procedure (Chapter 7, Section E.2.d) mandate that unless waived by a 2/3 vote of the City Council, all labor agreements, and all agreements greater than $1,000,000 shall be made available to the public at least ten (10) days prior to council action. In compliance with the City Code, this item was published for 10-day review on June 8, 2023.
Continuing to contract with Friends of Front Street Shelter and VCA Mueller Pet Medical Center ensures that Animal Care Services continues to comply with California Civil Code § 1834 to provide necessary and prompt veterinary care.
Economic Impacts: Not applicable.
Environmental Considerations: Not applicable. This is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it does not have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. (CEQA Guidelines §15061(b)(3).)
File ID: 2023-00748 6/20/2023 Consent Item 8.
Sustainability: Not applicable.
Commission/Committee Action: Not applicable.
Rationale for Recommendation: It is imperative that the Shelter has daytime on-site and after- hours veterinarian services when the shelter veterinarian is not on duty. Although the City currently has 3.0 FTE (full-time equivalent) Veterinarian positions - due to a nationwide veterinarian shortage, two of the three positions remain vacant. As a result, there is a need to increase amounts and terms of both agreements with Friends of Front Street Shelter and with VCA Mueller Pet Medical Center to continue services and account for the additional costs that the City will incur.
Friends of Front Street Shelter is the only recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to assisting the City Front Street Animal Shelter achieve their goal of saving the lives of all strays, abandoned, and abused animals who come through its doors. To help the City Shelter achieve their life saving goal, Friends has contracted directly with a pool of up to 15 veterinarians to provide as needed, on-site relief veterinary services at the shelter. As a result, Animal Care Services is requesting to suspend competitive bidding to continue contracting with Friends for on-site veterinary services.
In addition, there are currently two 24-hour emergency veterinary hospitals located within the City limits. The City has had previous successful contracts with Mueller Pet Hospital dating back to 2013.
The City is amenable to contracting with both hospitals, however, several attempts were made by phone and e-mail to contact the only other 24-hour veterinary hospital in the City and Mueller Pet Hospital did not respond. As a result, a request to suspend competitive bidding for this contract was requested and approved by a two-thirds vote on January 7, 2020 - Resolution No. 2020-0001.
Financial Considerations: There is sufficient funding in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022/23 and FY 2023/24 Community Development Department Operating Budget and the F.O.C.A.S. (Friends of the City Animal Shelter) Multi-year Operating Project (I13000400) to fund both contracts.
Local Business Enterprise (LBE): VCA Mueller Pet Medical Center and Friends of Front Street Shelter are both qualified LBEs.
RESOLUTION NO. 2023-xxxx
Adopted by the Sacramento City Council
June 20, 2023
SUSPEND THE COMPETITIVE BIDDING PROCESS TO ADD ADDITIONAL
FUNDING FOR CONTRACTED ON-SITE VETERINARY SERVICES WITH FRIENDS
OF THE FRONT STREET ANIMAL SHELTER
BACKGROUND
A. The City of Sacramento Front Street Animal Shelter (Shelter) is classified as a depositary for living animals and therefore bound by California Civil Code. California Civil Code § 1834 states: “A depositary of living animals shall provide the animals with necessary and prompt veterinary care, nutrition, and shelter, and treat them kindly. Any depositary that fails to perform these duties may be liable for civil damages as provided by law.” If an animal enters the shelter and is sick or injured it must be treated.
B. The City currently has 3.0 FTE (full-time equivalent) Veterinarian positions – due to a nationwide veterinarian shortage, two of the three positions remain vacant. To meet the requirements of the California Civil Code and continue providing service for the animals that come through the shelter, the City is required to have contracted on-site veterinary services to provide additional veterinary coverage.
C. Friends of the Front Street Animal Shelter (Friends) has an existing pool of several licensed veterinarians that can provide hourly on-site contracted relief veterinary services for the Shelter. Rather than the City contracting and managing multiple small contracts with individual veterinarians, the City contracts with the Shelter’s recognized nonprofit partner Friends, for on-site veterinary services.
D. City Code section 3.56.230(c) authorizes the City Council to suspend competitive bidding for a contract when, upon a two-thirds vote, the City Council determines it is in the best interest of the City to do so.
E. Because the City is mandated to provide necessary and prompt veterinary care, and because Friends is the only recognized partner nonprofit 501(c)(3) affiliated with the City Shelter, it is in the City’s best interests to suspend competitive bidding, add additional funding, and continue to contract with Friends of the Front Street Animal Shelter.
F. BASED ON THE FACTS SET FORTH IN THE BACKGROUND, THE
CITY COUNCIL RESOLVES AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1.
In the best interest of the City, competitive bidding is suspended for contracted on-site veterinary services to continue contracting with Friends of Front Street