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COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

SHERIFF’S OFFICE

DATE:

December 29, 2008

BOARD MEETING DATE:

January 27, 2008

SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:

None

VOTE REQUIRED:

Majority

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

Sheriff Greg Munks, Office of Emergency Services-San Mateo County Area Coordinator

SUBJECT:

Agreement with Hormann America, Inc. for provision of an interactive high speed emergency alert system.

RECOMMENDATION:

Adopt a Resolution:

1.

Waiving the Request for Proposals (RFP) process;

2.

Authorizing the President of the Board to execute an agreement with Hormann America, Inc. for furnishing and maintaining a complete and upgraded high speed emergency alert system, for a two (2) year term commencing January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2010, in an amount not to exceed $260,000; and

3.

Authorizing the Sheriff or the Sheriff’s designee to execute contract amendments which modify the County's maximum fiscal obligation by no more than $25,000 (in aggregate), and/or modify the contract term and/or services so long as the modified term or services is/are within the current or revised fiscal budget.

VISION ALIGNMENT:

Commitments:

Ensure basic health and safety for all;

Responsive, effective and collaborative government; and

Leaders work together across boundaries to preserve and enhance our quality of life.

Goals:

#7: Maintain and enhance the public safety of all residents and visitors;

#22: County and local governments effectively communicate, collaborate and develop strategic approaches to issues affecting the entire County; and

#25: Residents express their support for regional, collaborative approaches to issues.

PERFORMANCE MEASURE(S):

Measure (Specific performance measure for the program is the response time to emergency incidents.)

FY 07-08 Actual

FY 08-09 Target

Number of incidents responded to by OES staff

39

40

Percent of emergency incidents responded to within one hour

100%

100%

BACKGROUND:

San Mateo County currently has two technology driven public alerting systems; 1) SMCAlert digital paging and email notification system, and 2) the Telephone Emergency Notification System (TENS), which calls home and business phones to notify the public and public employees of life threatening emergencies as well as potential property damaging situations.

In 2006, an evaluation committee was formed in order to develop a Request for Proposals (RFP) to assist the County in the identification and evaluation of public sector technology consulting services companies capable of providing a public emergency alert system. Hormann America was the only company capable of providing both the warning system and the siren capability the Sheriff's Office of Emergency Services was requesting.

On November 14, 2006, the County entered into a contract with Hormann America for a two year term expiring October 31, 2008. The contract was amended to allow for the installation of additional sirens and to extend the term to October 31, 2009 to allow sufficient time for the work to be completed.

DISCUSSION:

Although there is a current contract with Hormann America, which expires October 2009, it only represents the siren purchase and installation, which is 2/3 completed. The emergency notification system was not part of the current contract the siren installation.

The proposed new agreement will provide improved notification to first responders and the public in times of emergency. The system will continue to perform automatic emergency alerts of County emergency management personnel, police and fire personnel based on a non-geographical as well as a geographical area using an interactive geographic information system (GIS) interface. The emergency alerts will be accomplished with the system connected to digital (T1) telephone lines that are operational on a 24 hour, 7 days a week basis with no downtime for maintenance due to the redundant remotely located systems. The systems will be accessible via the web through a client browser. Security controls will continue to be in place to prevent unauthorized access. This new system makes no change to any County computers or networks as all products are web based.

The upgraded system will allow all cities within San Mateo County to use it at no cost to them. Due to technology enhancements this system will provide easier, more reliable service, with broader coverage while still incorporating the basics of the original system in a more powerful system.

The term of the proposed agreement is January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2010 and for an amount not to exceed $260,000.

Since Hormann America originally furnished and installed the emergency alert system and in order to maintain the continuity of the system, the Sheriff's Office is requesting that the RFP process be waived.

The contractor has assured compliance with the County’s Contractor Employee Jury Service Ordinance, as well as all other contract provisions that are required by County ordinance and administrative memoranda, including but not limited to, hold harmless, non-discrimination and equal benefits.

County Counsel has reviewed and approved the resolution and agreement as to legal form.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The not-to-exceed amount of this agreement is $260,000, and will be paid with funds from the FY 2008 State Homeland Security grant over a two year period. There is no impact on the County, OES, or Sheriff’s Office net General Fund.