TO: HONORABLE MAYOR FROM: Raymond Riordan
AND CITY COUNCIL Robert Sapien, Jr.
SUBJECT: CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR’S DATE: March 21, 2022
OFFICE OF EMERGENCY SERVICES
PASS-THROUGH GRANT
Approved Date
3/24/2022
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt a resolution authorizing the City Manager or designee to accept grant funds from the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) in the amount of $2,185,000 to purchase a Mobile Operations Satellite Emergency System (M.O.S.E.S. ®), and to negotiate and
execute any documents necessary to accept these grant funds.
OUTCOME
Adoption of the resolution is required to authorize the City Manager or designee to sign the Cal OES grant acceptance forms and begin the procurement process. The grant will provide $2,185,000 for the purchase of a M.O.S.E.S.® unit, which will enhance the City of San José’s (City) emergency communications capabilities.
BACKGROUND
The past few decades have seen California wildfires growing in both size and frequency. While responding to these events, fire services personnel have found themselves fighting wildfires in remote locations where the ability to communicate effectively is hampered by a lack of infrastructure or the destruction of communications towers and lines. Further complicating emergency communications is the lack of specific equipment designed to deploy at a moment’s notice where critical infrastructure has been impacted.
Several years ago, the San José Fire Department (SJFD) identified a need for a mobile platform that was easy to transport, set up, and operate. In 2020, a Bay Area company (Optistream, Inc.) developed such a platform, and through funding from the Cal OES, the Santa Clara County Fire Department received two M.O.S.E.S.
® emergency communication systems. The M.O.S.E.S.®
platform performed better than expected during testing in the months following receipt of the equipment.
COUNCIL AGENDA: 04/05/2022
FILE: 22-445
ITEM: 4.1
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
March 21, 2022
Subject: Cal OES Pass-Through Grant
The State of California, through Cal OES, has expanded its deployment model for M.O.S.E.S.®, and discussions began with the City Manager’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM) and SJFD about the need for this emergency communications platform for the City.
On September 16, 2021, California State Senator Dave Cortese announced that he championed a budget request that would allow the City to purchase a M.O.S.E.S.® emergency communications system. Funding in the amount of $2,185,000 was made available to the City in the form of a Cal OES pass-through grant to purchase a M.O.S.E.S. ® unit. Upon execution of the agreement, OEM and SJFD will collaborate on the contract and acquisition of M.O.S.E.S.® unit for the City.
ANALYSIS
The grant funds cover the purchase of the unit along with three years of base level operations and maintenance for the unit and a two-year software license. If the unit is deployed during an active emergency, there would be additional costs payable to the vendor, Optistreams, Inc. for emergency signal boosts for those operations. Such emergency signal boosts would likely be covered under the normal federal and state reimbursement process for response and protective measures (Categories A & B), following a State Proclamation and Federal Disaster Declaration.
The vendor, Optistream, Inc., provided the following detailed description to assist the City in deciding whether to take advantage of this grant opportunity:
“MOSES is a versatile, mobile communications terminal with numerous deployment scenarios as a San Jose OEM and SJFD asset, including: emergency communications for first responders (firefighters, police, forestry personnel, health and safety workers); emergency notifications via WIFI when comms are down; rapid communications restoration when cell towers are burned down or inoperable for any reason; secure data transmission for SJFD or Emergency Operations Center activities during other natural and man-made disasters and emergencies.”
“MOSES employs encryption protocols on transmission and within its core functionality.
Additionally, a compliment of licenses for simultaneous users for endpoint security is also included and can be deployed among select users (i.e. police personnel).”
“With the initial purchase of MOSES, vendor includes three years of the following: 1) “Keep alive” or “base” satellite bandwidth link for rapid upgrade, 2) deployment and monthly/quarterly testing; and 3) initial onsite training of up to 4 hours, ongoing remote training and Q&A of up to 4 hours /quarter. The vendor also includes two years of Software upgrades and maintenance on key components, hardware support and warranty.”
Beginning with the third year, the City should expect the following estimated annual operating costs for the software, which would be subject to the annual budget process and appropriation.
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
March 21, 2022
Subject: Cal OES Pass-Through Grant
Item Subtotal
Software upgrades/renewals and maintenance: Beginning the third year after delivery, third party costs for software maintenance/updates shall be borne by the City ($7,500), plus 20% administrative management fee ($1,500), per M.O.S.E.S.® unit per year.
$9,000
$9,000
After the third year, the City should expect the following estimated annual base-level operating and maintenance costs for the unit, which would be subject to the annual budget process and appropriation.
Item Per Unit Subtotal
Base satellite bandwidth service link is $250/month or $3,000/year $250 $3,000 Cellular/SIM cards: M.O.S.E.S.® supports up to eight
simultaneous cellular High-Capacity SIM cards from
AT&T/FirstNet, T-Mobile and Verizon for 1000MB/per sec of cellular bandwidth. Estimated annual expense if all eight SIM cards are activated is $768 (eight SIM cards x $8 per card = $64/month). Plans are unlimited from all carriers for first responders.
$64 $768
Software upgrades/renewals and maintenance shall be borne by the City ($7,500), plus 20% administrative management fee ($1,500), per M.O.S.E.S.® unit per year.
$9,000
Training: Up to two hours per quarter virtual training is included; on-site or additional training can be estimated at $1,500 per six- hour day plus travel and expenses. One training day per year is figured into the annual estimated fixed cost ($1,500 + exp $600). $2,100
$14,686
Any ongoing operating and maintenance costs associated with operating the M.O.S.E.S. ® will be
brought forward through budget process and subject to the appropriation of funds. Staff will return to City Council as needed for contract services with the vendor.
CONCLUSION
The OEM and SJFD recommend that the City Council adopt a resolution authorizing the City Manager or designee to accept grant funds from the Cal OES in the amount of $2,185,000 to purchase a M.O.S.E.S.
® unit, and to negotiate and execute any documents necessary to accept the pass-through grant funds being provided by Cal OES.
The pass-through grant from CalOES is for the direct purchase of a M.O.S.E.S.® unit. The M.O.S.E.S.® emergency communications platform has tested well in deployments to fires throughout the state, is supported by local first response organizations, and is part of Cal OES’s
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
March 21, 2022
Subject: Cal OES Pass-Through Grant
deployment plan designed to mitigate the impacts of California wildfires on communications when cell phone towers are impacted by fires. The M.O.S.E.S. ® unit will enhance the existing communications networks and ensure the safety of fire personnel when existing communications fail. The M.O.S.E.S.
® unit can also assist the Emergency Operations Center during activation if needed when communications are interrupted.
EVALUATION AND FOLLOW-UP
The OEM and SJFD will work with the Finance Department to negotiate an agreement with the appropriate vendor to provide the software services and ongoing maintenance and will return to City Council as needed for extending or updating contracts for the services required to maintain the M.O.S.E.S.
® unit.
The OEM and SJFD will monitor deployment and performance data as needed and include relevant reference to the effectiveness of the M.O.S.E.S.® communications system in the normal after-action review process following any incident where the equipment was deployed.
Reimbursement will be sought for extended use fees during declared emergencies, as may be allowed by state and federal regulations.
CLIMATE SMART SAN JOSE
The recommendation in this memorandum has no effect on Climate Smart San José energy, water, or mobility goals.
PUBLIC OUTREACH
This memorandum will be posted on the agenda website for the April 5, 2022 City Council meeting.
COORDINATION
This memorandum has been coordinated with the City Manager’s Budget Office, the City Attorney’s Office, and the Finance Department.
COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION/INPUT
No commission recommendation or input is associated with this action.
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
March 21, 2022
Subject: Cal OES Pass-Through Grant
FISCAL/POLICY ALIGNMENT
This recommendation aligns with the City’s Enterprise Priority #2: Emergency Management and Preparedness.
COST SUMMARY/IMPLICATIONS
On February 8, 2022, City Council approved the 2021-2022 Mid-Year Budget Review Report that established the Cal OES M.O.S.E.S.® City-Wide Expense appropriation in the amount of $2,185,000 with a corresponding increase to the revenue for the State of California appropriation to recognize the grant funds. The grant funds cover the purchase of the unit along with three years of base level operation and maintenance for the unit and two years of the software license
and administrative fee. There is no immediate cost to the City, other than staff time to assist with the setup and deployment of the unit that will be absorbed by each department during the first year following acquisition of the M.O.S.E.S.® communications system. It is estimated that $9,000 will be necessary for the annual software license and administrative management fee at the start of the third year. Beginning the fourth year, the City will assume all ongoing costs, including the operations and maintenance costs for approximately $12,768 or with one day onsite training totaling $14,868, and the software cost and administrative management fee. All ongoing funding needs will be brought forward for City Council consideration as part of the budget process.
CEQA
Not a Project, File No. PP17-003, Agreements/Contracts (New or Amended) resulting in no physical changes to the environment.
RAYMOND RIORDAN ROBERT SAPIEN, JR.
Director, Office of Emergency Management Fire Chief, Fire Department
For questions, please contact Raymond Riordan, City Manager’s Office of Emergency Management Director, at (408) 794-7050.