TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
John Jalili, Interim City Manager
FROM:
Robert Espinosa, Fire Chief
Bruce Moe, Finance Director
Ken Shuck, Battalion Chief
Gwen Eng, Purchasing Manager
SUBJECT:Title
Grant Funded Purchase of New Public Safety Facility Video Conferencing Equipment and Installation from CDW-G, Inc. in the Amount of $76,823.24 (Finance Director Moe).
WAIVE FORMAL BIDDING, APPROVE
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council:
a) Waive formal bidding in accordance with Municipal Code Section 2.36.140; and
b) Award a purchase order to CDW-G, Inc. for Video Conferencing Equipment and installation in the amount of $76,823.24.
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FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
These are not budgeted items; however, the purchases will be fully reimbursed by the grant. The City must first purchase the items and then submit a request for reimbursement. An appropriation from the General Fund was previously approved by the City Council and has already been processed. There are no City fund matching requirements.
BACKGROUND:
State Homeland Security Grant Program 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 to recover from terrorist attacks and other disasters. The City of Manhattan Beach has received funding from State Homeland Security Grant Program every year since 2001.
On August 7, 2012, the City Council approved the acceptance of these grant funds to purchase video conference equipment for the Public Safety Facility. The Los Angeles Area Fire Chiefs Association (LAAFCA) has prioritized the build-out of multiple classrooms among the 31 jurisdictions it represents. The backbone of the system has already been installed in Beverly Hills and 12 classrooms in other jurisdictions have already been built. The remaining classrooms in other agencies will be completed by March 2014. The classroom project is designed to enhance communication, education and training within the Los Angeles region through use of 2-way video conferencing via ceiling-mounted omnidirectional microphones, cameras and a large screen video display.
The classroom is an interactive training platform that utilizes the resources of multiple agencies within a streamlined network, which will ensure standardized, consistent training for various shifts. This equipment will provide a means to receive State mandated training for technical rescue, hazardous materials, emergency medical services (EMS) classes and other essential training and education opportunities. It will allow individual firefighters to view training at their convenience through the repository of training videos as well as provides the benefit of access to live trainings too.
In addition, the classroom can be used for regional emergencies, allowing the Manhattan Beach Fire Department to communicate with other Los Angeles departments in Area G as part of an Emergency Operations Center (EOC). This will allow various agencies to coordinate efforts with a consistent command of personnel and resources throughout the region.
DISCUSSION:
The recommended vendor is CDW-G, Inc. CDW-G was awarded a contract via competitive bid by the Beverly Hills Fire Department (a LAAFCA member) for the system design/installation at multiple LAAFCA classrooms. However, the City must award our own contract for the materials and installation.
Because of CDW-G’s unique familiarity with the multi-jurisdictional network, it is beneficial to award an order to this vendor to ensure network connectivity, compatibility and consistency with the other 13 classrooms. Further, this would facilitate meeting the grant deadline of January 31, 2014, which requires procurement and installation by that date. Utilizing a vendor other than CDW-G will result in delays for bidding, and potential delays for compatibility during installation. For these reasons, staff recommends that the City Council waive formal bidding and award an order to CDW-G.
CONCLUSION:
Staff recommends that the City Council a) waive formal bidding in accordance with Municipal Code Section 2.36.140; and b) award a purchase order to CDW-G for video conferencing equipment and installation in the amount of $76,823.24.
Attachments:
1. Video Conference - CDW-G installation services
2. Video Conference - CDW-G professional services
3. Video Conference - CDW-G equipment quote