HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 2m - Automatic Renewal of Agreement for Dispatch Services
DATE: August 1, 2017
TO:Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM:Michael Lang, Fire Chief
By: Barry Spriggs, Deputy Fire Chief
SUBJECT:AUTOMATIC RENEWAL TO THE FIRE COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE
AGREEMENT WITH THE VERDUGO CITIESFOR FIRE DISPATCH
SERVICESIN THE AMOUNT OF $334,598
Recommendation: Approve
SUMMARY
TheArcadia Fire Departmentcurrently participates in a regional firedispatch services
systemwith Verdugo Fire Communications Center (“VFCC”).VFCC is jointly owned
and operated by the Cities of Burbank, Glendale, and Pasadena (“Verdugo Cities”).
The current agreement remains in effect until June 30, 2017,and set to automatically
renew throughJune 30, 2023; however, the original staff report only authorized staff to
approve the initial years of the agreement.It is recommended that the City Council
approvethe automatic contract renewalswith the VerdugoCities through June 30,
2023,forfire dispatch services orFire Communications Service.
BACKGROUND
Since 1999, the Arcadia Fire Department has contracted withVFCCfor the dispatching
of emergency fire and medical response.In addition to serving the City of Arcadia,
VFCC also serves the Cities of Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, Alhambra, Monrovia,
Montebello, Monterey Park, San Gabriel, San Marino, Sierra Madre, South Pasadena,
and Vernonas well asthe Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority Fire
Department.
At the State level, the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services(“OES”)divides the 58
counties in California into six mutual aid regions. Region I encompassesfive counties,
including Los Angeles County, which is further subdivided into six operational areas,
Areas A through G. All agenciesserved by VFCCare part of Area C.In 2006, all Area
C agencies, excepttheSierra Madre Fire Department, entered into a Unified Response
Automatic Aid Plan to simplify and combine the numerous existingmutual and
Verdugo Fire Communications Services Agreement
August 1, 2017
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automatic aid agreements.The Unified Response Automatic Aid Plan provides a
borderless fire response area within Area Cwherethe closestfire apparatus would be
dispatched to an incident regardless ofthe agency origin of the apparatus or the city in
which the incident is located. In addition, the PlanprovidesArcadia with additionalfire
apparatus andfire personnelto incidents that would otherwise exhausttheArcadia Fire
Department’s daily staffing level.
DISCUSSION
Current dispatch technology and the regionalization approach provided by VFCC allow
the Fire Department on average to meet industry standards for response times. When
911 is dialed in Arcadia, the call initially goes to Arcadia Police dispatch and is
immediately transferredto VFCC once it is determined as afire or medical incident.
VFCC sends a pre-alert to the stations and apparatus, followed by a full dispatch with
text to a computer and printer. Vehicle locators in the system then determine the
closest resource to be dispatched.
The biggest advantage of contracting with VFCC for fire dispatch services is to be a
participantof the Unified Response Automatic Aid Plan.VFCC serves 13 agencies in
Area Cof Los Angeles Countywith a combined population of over 825,000 residents,
covering an area of 134 square miles. Together, the 13 agencies have 44 fire stations
and over 180 emergency response vehicles.
Additionalbenefits of 13 fire agencies combining resources and participating in VFCC
include:
•Economy of scale and cost-savings of personnel, computers, phones,and
dispatch and radiocommunication systems
•Centralization of the Unified Response Automatic Aid Planandcoordination of
the State Master Mutual Aid Plan
•Fast accessto the Governor’s OESresources through Resource Ordering and
Status System, a national system for dispatch ofmutual aid resources
•Participation in the Interagency Communication Interoperability System (“ICI
System”)digital trunked radio system
•Multipleradio frequencieslicensed through the Federal Communications
Commissionto allow sufficient radio communicationson major incidents and/or
multiple incidents with the region
•Enhanced response time when fire stations are alerted automatically through
computer-aided dispatch(“CAD”), which provides a hard-copy printout and
displays dispatch information on mobile computer terminals
•Vehicle Locators to monitor the closest resources when dispatching for incidents
•In-depth statistical analysis of fire and rescue incidents using data captured by
the CAD system
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August 1, 2017
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Another significantbenefitof contracting with VFCC is the professional services
provided bythe dispatchersthat arespecifically trained in fire and rescue incidents and
terminology. VFCC dispatchers areEmergency Medical Dispatchers (“EMD”)who can
provide vital emergency medicalinformation to the 911caller prior to Paramedic and
EMT arrival on scene.
Finally, it is worth noting that the Arcadia Fire Department jointly operated an in-house
dispatching center with the Arcadia Police Department prior to contracting with VFCC.
Due to the inherent differences between police and fire incidents, it was determined that
each department would be better served with dispatching services unique to the
department. If the Fire Department were to maintain its own dispatch center 24/7, 365
days a year, it is anticipated that personnel cost alone of hiring and training multiple
Emergency Medical Dispatchers would be greater than the $334,598that is budgeted
for this agreement for Fiscal Year 2017-18. In addition, there wouldbesubstantial initial
and ongoing costs for the purchase, maintenance, periodical upgrade, and the licensing
of dispatch equipment, radio frequencies, and software. Moreover, establishing our
own dispatch center would also have negative impacts on our participation in the
Unified Response Automatic Aid Plan within Area C and it would cause delay in
activating the State’s Master Mutual Aid Plan.
The most current Agreement with VFCC was approved by the City Council on
September 2014 and technically endedon June 30, 2017. While the Agreement
allowed for automatic renewalsthrough June 30, 2023, the staff report for the
agreement only sought approval for the initial term.Therefore, it is now necessary to
either approve the automatic renewal or to withdraw from the Agreement. A 90-day
withdrawal period (before the contract term ends) is available to VFCC or the City of
Arcadia should either party decide to terminate the Agreement. To enable VFCC to
continually provide critical and uninterrupted emergency fire and medical dispatch
services,it is recommended that the City of Arcadia opt to automatically renew its
contract with VFCC through June 30, 2023.
FISCAL IMPACT
The cost of the proposed contract for FY 2017-18is $334,598. The annualcontract
cost is determined by the charge per incident dispatched ($67.00)multiplied by the
actual number of calls dispatched during the preceding calendar year (4,994in calendar
year 2016).During the term of this agreement, the chargeper incident dispatchedmay
be increased each fiscal year by an amount not to exceed 5% per incident. As a point
of reference, since 2015, the cost per incident increased an average of approximately
2.5%.
Sufficient funds have been allocated in the FY 2017-18Fire Department’sOperating
Budget for this contract service.
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August 1, 2017
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RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council approvethe automatic renewal to the Fire
Communications Service Agreement with the VerdugoCities for Fire Dispatch Services
in the amount of $334,598.
Attachment:Current Amended and Restated Verdugo Fire Communication Service
Agreement