TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council FROM: Fire Chief Jon Bennett SUBJECT: Resolution #17-2014; Red Bluff Fire Department annual agreement with

Cal Fire for dispatch services. RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION: It is recommended the City Council adopt Resolution No.17-2014 authorizing City Manager Richard Crabtree to renew and sign the contract with Cal Fire for the City of Red Bluff fire and emergency medical dispatch services for the period July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015. SUMMARY: Staff has reviewed the 2014/15 dispatch contract and has identified an increase of $8,441 over the cost of the previously-approved 2013/14 dispatch agreement. This increase is a result of personnel employment cost increases. If approved by City Council, the term of the new contract is July 1, 2014 until June 30, 2015. As a note: the $109,347.00 is a maximum billable rate for this service. However, Cal-Fire will bill the City only for the actual annual costs of the service; not to exceed the quoted cost estimate. Over the past eleven years the actual cost of dispatch services has never met the quoted maximum amount. PREVIOUS COUNCIL ACTION: At the April 16, 2002 general meeting, the City Council initially authorized the dispatch agreement with Cal Fire for the City of Red Bluff fire and emergency medical dispatch services. Since that time, the City Council has annually re-authorized this agreement for dispatch services with Cal Fire. DISCUSSION: Annual dispatch service fees are roughly based upon the number of emergency requests processed by the Cal-Fire Emergency Command Center (ECC) on behalf of the Red Bluff Fire Department (RBFD) as compared to the staff time required to complete the required tasks. Therefore, Cal-Fire has determined that the current workload placed on the ECC by the City’s call volume meets the requirements for the staffing of one Full-Time Communication Operator. The City is then responsible for those expenses incurred by

AGENDA REPORT

Meeting Date: June 17, 2014 Agenda Item # ______ City Manager Approval:

Cal-Fire as the result of salary and benefits cost of one Communications Operator, as well as an administrative fee for program oversight. Last year the RBFD responded to 3,370 requests for emergency service; as of this staff report we are currently slightly ahead in run volume as compared to the same time last year. The City will only be billed for the actual cost of the employee, which is typically a lesser expense than the cost estimate provided at the start of each new contract year. Through this dispatch contract the Cal-Fire Emergency Command Center (ECC) performs the following responsibilities: processing of the request for emergency service, dispatching of appropriate response units and personnel, performance of incident accountability of responding units to and from an incident, acts as the central point of ordering and dispatch for additional resource needs, tracking of time sensitive critical events, maintains the status of resources and personnel, and providing a common communications network for resources in the field. This is a vital all encompassing task that begins the moment the dispatcher answers a 911 telephone line to the point that all units have returned to their respective quarters. For reasons of fiscal concern surrounding the City budget, the option of consolidating Fire dispatch with Police has been evaluated in the past. However, the Police Chief and I both agree that the current workload and duties of Police Safety Dispatchers would not allow for the additional needs of the Fire Department without generating the need to hire three to four additional full-time dispatch personnel at an estimated expense of $250,000 to $300,000. The estimated cost of increased staffing, training required for dispatching of fire and EMS services, and the re-programming of communications equipment would far exceed the current expense for Cal-Fire dispatch services. CITY FISCAL IMPACT: $109,347 shall be the maximum cost to the City under this agreement. These funds are budgeted for under Professional and Contractual Services 11-31-340-100. ATTACHMENTS:

1) Resolution No. 17-2014. 2) Proposed contract agreement for dispatch services from July 1, 2014 – June 30,

2015.

The City of Red Bluff is an equal opportunity provider

CITY OF RED BLUFF

RESOLUTION NO. 17-2014

A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO ENTER THE CITY OF RED

BLUFF INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY AND

FIRE PROTECTION (CAL-FIRE) FOR FIRE AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL DISPATCH

SERVICES.

WHEREAS, the Fire Department has requested that the Red Bluff City Council of the City of Red

Bluff authorize the City Manager to sign and renew the agreement with CALFIRE for Fire and

Emergency Medical Dispatch Services for the period July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2015.

The foregoing resolution was adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Red

Bluff held on June 17, 2014, and adopted by the following vote:

AYES:

NOES:

ABSENT OR NOT VOTING:

________________________

Daniele Jackson, Mayor

Attest:

________________________

Jo Anna Lopez, City Clerk