City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: June 11, 2024
Agenda Item: 5.G
1 of 6
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Matthew Hallock, Fire Chief, Fire Department
Ramon Batista, Police Chief, Police Department
Subject: Accept UASI 2023 Grant and Approve 3rd Modification with Advanced Problem Solving, LLC
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Authorize the City Manager to accept a grant award in the amount of $250,000 from the 2022 Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) for homeland security projects in the Fire Department;
2. Authorize the City Manager to accept a grant award in the amount of $1,433,607 from the 2023 Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) for homeland security projects in the Fire and Police Departments;
3. Authorize the City Manager to execute all necessary documents to accept the grants and any subsequent grant modifications;
4. Adopt a finding of no possibility of significant effect pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines;
5. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a third modification to agreement no. 10967 in the amount of $850,000 with Advanced Problem Solving, LLC (APS), a California-based company, to coordinate and host the grant-funded Regional Training Delivery Model for the Fire Department. This will result in a five-year amended agreement with a new total amount not to exceed $5,782,000, with future year funding contingent on Council budget approval; and
6. Authorize a budget amendment as outlined in the Financial Impacts & Budget Actions section of this report (requires 5 votes).
Summary
Each year, the Federal government, through the Urban Area Security Initiative Grant program (UASI), allocates grant funding to enhance regional preparedness for disasters, emergencies, and other threats to homeland security. The Santa Monica Fire 2 of 6
Department (SMFD) was previously awarded UASI 2022 grant funds and was recently awarded an additional $250,000. Staff recommends acceptance of these additional grant funds, which will be used to fund an existing agreement with Advanced Problem Solving, LLC (APS) which was retained to develop and deliver training modules for fire personnel in the Los Angeles region.
In the UASI 2023 grant cycle, $1,433,607 was awarded to Santa Monica’s Fire and Police departments as part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency’s UASI grant program. The City of Los Angeles administers the UASI grant on behalf of the Los Angeles-Long Beach Urban Area, which includes Santa Monica. Staff recommends acceptance of the UASI 2023 grant funds and execution of a subrecipient agreement with the City of Los Angeles for a performance period of September 1, 2023 to May 31, 2026.
On behalf of the Los Angeles Area Fire Chiefs’ Association (LAAFCA) Regional Training Group (RTG), the City has contracted with APS to develop and deliver county-wide training materials. The City has utilized previous UASI grant awards to fund this contract. A total of $850,000 ($250,000 from UASI 2022 and $600,000 from UASI 2023) in new grant funds have been allocated to APS for the contract. Staff recommends that Council approve a third modification to the City’s agreement with APS to utilize the additional $850,000 on the same terms and conditions as the previous grant funds. This modification will result in an amended agreement with a new total contract amount not to exceed $5,782,000 over a five-year period. The current agreement with APS expires on December 5, 2024.
Discussion
The UASI program directly supports the national priority of expanding regional collaboration within the National Preparedness Goal, which sets forth what is required for a local community to be prepared for all types of disasters and emergencies. The UASI grant is intended to assist participating jurisdictions in developing integrated regional systems for prevention, protection, response, and recovery from natural or human-made disasters. These funds cannot be used for general purposes and must be specified at the time of application. Homeland security purchases must be pre-approved 3 of 6
by the state and align with grant guidelines. There is no local match for the UASI program.
SMFD was previously awarded UASI 2022, which Council accepted on May 23, 2023.
Unexpended regional grant funds from a neighboring city have been reallocated to SMFD, totaling $250,000. SMFD, on behalf of LAAFCA, anticipates using these additional UASI 2022 funds toward training modules developed by APS. APS delivers first responder training available via a learning management system to all 9,000+ firefighters in Los Angeles County. These additional grant funds will ensure time relevant trainings are developed and delivered in an ever-changing world of all-hazards emergency response.
In the UASI 2023 grant cycle, $1,433,607 was awarded to the Santa Monica Fire and Police departments. Approved expenditures include:
• $600,000 for the Regional Training Delivery Model which creates and disseminates regional training on behalf of LAAFCA
• $185,000 for the Regional Training Officer who works on regional training on behalf of LAAFCA
• $100,000 for Regional Tactical Emergency Medical Technician training • $154,865 for the SMFD satellite training center and maintenance • $203,742 for Police Department personal protective equipment • $150,000 for the Fire Department Urban Search and Rescue training and equipment
• $40,000 for the Fire Department Tactical Emergency Medical Technician training and equipment.
The Los Angeles Area Fire Chiefs’ Association requested the Santa Monica Fire Department to coordinate and host the grant-funded Regional Training Delivery Model.
Advanced Problem Solving, LLC was awarded agreement no. 10967 in 2019 to provide training delivery modules and learning content. Council approved a second modification on May 23, 2023 and a third modification on October 24, 2023 to increase the total amount of the agreement as more grant funding became available to Santa Monica.
The scope was also expanded to include the Vista Forge project (county-wide nuclear threat risk courses). However, given the narrow time span between the two Council 4 of 6
actions, the Fire Department decided to combine both Council actions into a single contract modification.
There are no direct staffing costs associated with the LAAFCA training delivery model.
The Regional Training Group will be responsible for direct administration of the grant with SMFD oversight. Santa Monica Fire and all other fire agencies in Los Angeles County have access to the training delivery modules and learning content. With $250,000 from UASI 2022 and $600,000 from UASI 2023, a total of $850,000 is allocated for the training delivery modules and staff is requesting a modification to increase the amount of the current agreement with APS by this exact amount.
Environmental Review
The third modification to the agreement with Advanced Problem Solving to provide training delivery modules and learning content is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption) of the CEQA Guidelines. The agreement is covered by the commonsense exemption which states that CEQA does not apply, “where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment.” The training modules are programmatic in nature and would not have a physical effect on the environment, so therefore, are exempt from CEQA.
Past Council Actions
Meeting Date Description
11/12/2019
(Attachment A)
Award of agreement with Advanced Problem Solving for
video and curriculum development services for the Los
Angeles Area Fire Chiefs Regional Training Group
10/24/2023
(Attachment B)
Approval of Urban Area Security Initiative 2020 Additional Grant Acceptance and Approve Third Contract Modification with Advanced Problem Solving
05/23/2023
(Attachment C)
Approval of Urban Area Security Initiative 2021 and 2022 Grant Acceptance and Approve Second Contract
Modification with Advanced Problem Solving
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
Staff seeks authority to accept an additional $250,000 in UASI 2022 from the U.S. 5 of 6
Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency and accept a grant totaling $1,433,607 from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency for UASI 2023 to fund training in direct support of overall regional goals to promote effective information gathering, sharing, and response to threats and/or acts of terrorism.
Approval of the recommended action requires the following budget amendment.
FY 2023-24 Grant Budget Changes
Establish Revenue Budget Appropriate Funds
Account Number Amount Account Number Amount
20190001.40428G $250,000 20190001.55518G $250,000
20180001.40428H $203,742 20180001.55518H $203,742
20190001.40428H $1,229,865 20190001.55518H $1,229,865
If modifications or renewals are awarded, budget changes will be included in subsequent year budgets, contingent on Council budget approval.
Staff also seeks authority to approve funding from the Miscellaneous Grants Fund to increase the amount of agreement no. 10967 with Advanced Problem Solving, LLC by $850,000.
Agreement Modification Request
Agreement #
Current
Authorized
Amount
Modified Request
Amount Account Numbers Total Amount
10967 $3,000,000 20190001.55518F $3,000,000
10967 Mod1 $1,020,000 20190001.556530 $1,020,000
10967 Mod2 $912,000 20190001.55518F/G $912,000
10967 Mod3 - $250,000 20190001.55518G $250,000
10967 Mod3 - $600,000 20190001.55518H $600,000
Total Revised Agreement Amount $5,782,000
Future year funding is contingent on Council budget approval. 6 of 6
Prepared By: Jonathan Tang, Principal Administrative Analyst Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. A-Original Advanced Problem Solving Staff Report
B. B-Oct 24 2023 APS Mod3 Staff Report
C. C-May 23 2023 APS Mod2 Staff Report
D. D-Oaks_Initiative
E. E-Levine_Act