TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Mark Danaj, City Manager
FROM:
Robert D. Espinosa, Fire Chief
Eve R. Irvine, Chief of Police
Bruce Moe, Finance Director
Julie Dahlgren, Senior Management Analyst
Gwen Eng, Purchasing Manager
James Craig, Firefighter/Paramedic
SUBJECT:Title
Resolution Accepting 2013 State Homeland Security Grant Funds in the Amount of $196,900; Purchase of Three Automated License Plate Readers from 3M in an Amount Not-to-Exceed $54,900; Purchase of Portable Radios from RELM Wireless in an Amount Not-to-Exceed $142,000; Appropriate $196,900 from the General Fund (Finance Director Moe)
ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 15-0019; WAIVE FORMAL BIDDING; APPROPRIATE; APPROVE
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council:
a) Adopt Resolution No. 15-0019 authorizing the City Manager to execute the necessary documents to accept the 2013 State Homeland Security Grant award;
b) Appropriate $196,900 from the General Fund which will be reimbursed at a later date by grant funds from the Department of Homeland Security;
c) Waive formal bidding per Municipal Code Sections 2.36.140 (waivers) and 2.36.150 (cooperative purchasing);
d) Award an order to 3M for automated license plate readers in an amount not-to-exceed $54,900; and
e) Award an order to RELM Wireless for Bendix King portable radios in an amount not-to-exceed $142,000.
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FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
These are not budgeted items; however, the purchases will be fully reimbursed by the grant. In addition, the City must first purchase the state-approved items and then submit a request for reimbursement. As a result, an appropriation of $196,900 from the General Fund is needed. There is no City fund matching requirement.
BACKGROUND:
State Homeland Security Grant Program (SHSGP) funds are awarded for the express purpose of purchasing specific equipment and technology, as approved by the state. Funding goes to state and local governments to protect against, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks and other disasters. The City of Manhattan Beach has received funding from SHSGP every year since 2001.
The original performance period for all participants in the 2013 SHSGP grant expired. Funds that were unable to be spent by other agencies during that time were reallocated to other agencies, including Manhattan Beach, due to our historic ability to meet spending deadlines. The deadline to spend the reallocated funding is May 31, 2015.
DISCUSSION:
The following requested equipment is part of an approved list of items that may be purchased under the 2013 SHSGP grant:
Automated License Plate Readers:
The Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR) are mounted on police vehicles to scan and process license plate data from moving or parked vehicles. The license plate reader runs the numbers against a statewide database of suspect vehicles (including felony warrants, wanted criminals, stolen vehicles and Amber alerts), then notifies the officer with an alert message. Numerous California law enforcement agencies use ALPR systems, including California Highway Patrol, Los Angeles County Sheriffs and many more. It is an invaluable tool to support interagency cooperation in capturing suspects.
The recommended vendor is 3M, who is the sole-source provider of the recommended equipment (and therefore competitive bids are not attainable) and who has provided license plate recognition systems to more than 40 law enforcement agencies across California. The Manhattan Beach Police Department has acquired five units from 3M over the past seven years using grant funds. The new units are compatible with the existing ALPR units and related software, and will be familiar to the officers, ensuring ease of operation in the field. As a result, staff requests the formal bid process be waived per Municipal Code Section 2.36.140 (waivers) and that City Council approve the purchase from 3M in an amount not-to-exceed $54,900.
Portable Radios:
The portable radios are for use by the Area G Fire Departments (managed by MBFD) for use during local, regional and state emergency deployments. The funds will be used to purchase new Bendix King portable radios to replace existing radios which no longer function properly within the State communication system, have reached end-of-life and will soon no longer be supported by the manufacturer. The new radios will have the expanded interoperable capabilities to integrate with all current communications systems. The purchase will provide radio communications for all deployed personnel from MBFD and adjoining cities, providing increased firefighter safety and operational effectiveness.
Whenever practical, the City "piggybacks" onto contracts which are economically advantageous. In this case, RELM Wireless (the manufacturer of the Bendix King radios) has offered the City discounted pricing from a competitively bid contract through NASPO (National Association of State Procurement Officials - Valuepoint subsidiary), formerly known as the Western States Contracting Alliance (WSCA). NASPO-ValuePoint is a national purchasing cooperative alliance which aggregates the demand of all 50 states. They solicited bids for communications equipment and made multiple awards for portable radios. The awards were based on varying models and specifications, with the agreement that the vendors awarded contracts may not offer lower pricing to other government agencies than the stated contract amounts.
RELM Wireless manufactures the Bendix King portable radios, which is the model specified by MBFD. Because of the pricing and structure of the competitive bid and resulting contracts, staff believes that the NASPO-ValuePoint pricing is the best attainable to meet the City's needs. As a result, staff requests the formal bid process be waived per Municipal Code Section 2.36.150 (cooperative purchasing) and that the purchase order be issued to RELM Wireless in an amount not-to-exceed $142,000.
CONCLUSION:
Staff recommends that the City Council:
a) Adopt Resolution No. 15-0019 authorizing the City Manager to execute the necessary documents to accept the 2013 State Homeland Security Grant award;
b) Appropriate $196,900 from the General Fund which will be reimbursed at a later date by grant funds from the Department of Homeland Security;
c) Waive formal bidding per Municipal Code Sections 2.36.140 (waivers) and 2.36.150 (cooperative purchasing);
d) Award an order to 3M for automated license plate readers in an amount not-to-exceed $54,900; and
e) Award an order to RELM Wireless for Bendix King portable radios in an amount not-to-exceed $142,000.