HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 02131990 - IO.1 T6.
TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Contra
FROM: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE Costa
;.
DATE:
February �12 1990 County
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SUBJECT: STATUS REPORT ON DRCC
SPECIFIC REOUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Request all involved County staff to work closely and
cooperatively with staff from the City of Antioch to insure
a smooth transition from DRCC to dispatching fire and
emergency medical calls from Consolidated Fire District' s
Communications Center in Pleasant Hill and dispatching law
enforcement from the Sheriff ' s Communications Center in
Martinez, recognizing at all times that we are dealing here
with critical and time-sensitive calls which can involve
people' s lives.
2. Approve the transition plan described below for the
withdrawal from DRCC which involves the Sheriff maintaining
the DRCC dispatch operation for Sheriff ' s services, East
County Fire Districts and ambulance service until February
1, 1991.
3 . Approve Consolidated Fire District preliminary annual costs
of $270, 000 and one time cost of $805,000 in 1989-90 and
$1,037 ,000 in 1990-91.
4. Approve Sheriff preliminary annual costs of $528 ,000 and
onetime costs of $221 ,362.
5. Request the County Administrator to determine the most
feasible method of paying for the transition costs
associated with withdrawal from DRCC and provide his
recommendations to the Finance Committee by April 1, 1990
Yes
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE:
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATORRECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
APPROVE OTHER
SIGNATURE s: SUNNE WRIGHT McPEAK T4 POWERS
ACTION OF BOARD ON February 13 , 1990 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED X OTHER
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
X UNANIMOUS(ABSENT i ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN.
CC: ATTESTED— �3� /9940Please see Page 10
PHIL BATCHELOR,CL RK OF THE BOARD OF
SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
M382 (10/88)
BY GaCLlvL?�LOLa/ DEPUTY
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and for this purpose refer to the Finance Committee both the
- allocation of Measure "H" funds and the use of the Special
District Augmentation Fund to pay for the bulk of the
conversion and equipment upgrade costs for the DRCC move.
6. In connection with the issue of determining the most
feasible method of paying for the costs associated with the
withdrawal from DRCC, indicate that it is the intent of the
Board of Supervisors that funds from Measure "H" be used
only to the extent that they are included in the preliminary
Measure "H" budget for this purpose.
7. Request the County Administrator, Sheriff-Coroner and Chief,
Consolidated Fire District to prepare a report to the
Finance Committee by April 1, 1990 which:
A) outlines the original capital investment made in DRCC,
B) inventories the current capital available at DRCC, and
C) indicates the proposed disposition of each piece of
current inventory and its approximate value.
8. Request the County Administrator, Director of Personnel,
Sheriff-Coroner and Chief, Consolidated Fire District to
prepare a report to the Internal Operations Committee by
April 1, 1990 which identifies the total number of
Dispatcher positions filled at DRCC at this time, the number
of incumbents which are likely to transfer to the City of
Antioch, the number of vacancies which will then be left in
the Sheriff ' s DRCC Dispatcher operation, and what steps are
being taken to fill these vacancies so that the Sheriff ' s
DRCC operations will continue to be viable between July 1,
1990 and February 1 , 1991.
9. Request the County Administrator to make a complete, updated
status report to the Internal Operations Committee by May 1,
1990 which:
A) outlines the status of the implementation of each of the
above recommendations,
B) updates the status of the purchase and installation of
the upgraded equipment and remodeling at the Sheriff ' s
Communications Facility in Martinez and the Consolidated
Fire District' s Dispatch Center in Pleasant Hill,
C) identifies any problems which exist which require action
by the Board of Supervisors, and
D) outlines a timeline for completion of the remodeling and
installation of equipment as well as whether the February
1, 1991 withdrawal from DRCC is still on schedule.
10 . Authorize the Sheriff-Coroner, Director of General Services
and County Administrator to continue to study the
feasibility and methods of financing a move to an 800 Mhz
communications system and to report to the Board of
Supervisors on this subject as events warrant such a report.
11. Adopt a resolution declaring that an emergency exists at the
Consolidated Fire District communications center regarding
the ability of the facility to resist serious damage in the
event of a major earthquake and authorizing the County
Administrator to proceed in the most expeditious manner to
make modifications to the building to bring it up to current
seismic standards.
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FINANCIAL IMPACT
The transfer of fire dispatch from DRCC to Consolidated Fire will
result in operational savings of approximately $100 ,000 per year.
The capital cost will require an allocation from some source of
$1,842, 000 spread over 1989-90 and 1990-91.
The transfer of police dispatch from DRCC will save approximately
$15 ,000 in annual operating costs. The capital cost will require
a commitment of County financial resources of approximately
$221,000.
BACKGROUND
On October 31, 1989 the Board of Supervisors approved the report
from our Committee which reaffirmed the intent of the Board to
withdraw from DRCC. The Board directed the County Administrator
to meet with agencies affected by the DRCC withdrawal to
determine a realistic timetable for the transition from DRCC and
to determine the cost of all equipment and personnel needed to
make the transition. Our Committee received such a report on
February 12, 1990 and reviewed it is considerable detail with all
involved parties and agencies.
(1) Transition Plan:
On the basis of the County' s notification that the DRCC would be
discontinued as of July 1, 1990 , the City of Antioch initiated
steps to establish its own police dispatch service which is being
designed to serve the City of Antioch and, on a contract basis,
the City of Brentwood. The City of Pittsburg plans to contract
with the Sheriff for dispatch services.
The City of Antioch plans to begin its own operation on July 1,
1990. Accordingly, DRCC can not continue in its present form
beyond July 1, 1990 . A number of discussions have been held with
the affected agencies to determine the best plan for the
continuation of dispatch services after the termination of DRCC
and prior to February 1, 1991 when County agencies will be in a
position to provide the service.
Consolidated Fire has indicated that it will not be ready to take
over the dispatch function until February 1 , 1991 because of
needed modifications to the communications center and computer
aided dispatch (CAD) system which will be discussed more fully
below.
The Sheriff-Coroner has indicated that his Martinez communication
center could provide dispatch services for the police functions
on July 1 , 1990. Several alternatives were discussed for the
provision of dispatch service for the interim period of July 1,
1990 to February 1, 1991, some of which involved the Sheriff
withdrawing from DRCC July 1 , 1990 and leaving all or a portion
of the fire district dispatch at the DRCC facility in Antioch.
Indications are that the best plan from an operational and cost
standpoint would be to, in effect, continue DRCC less the cities
of Antioch and Brentwood until both the Sheriff and Consolidated
Fire are ready to take over the dispatch functions. The Sheriff
has agreed with this proposal in that it is in the best interest
of the affected agencies. However, the Sheriff has some concerns
about maintaining the DRCC function if too many of the DRCC
dispatchers are hired by the City of Antioch. In the event that
the Sheriff does lose an excessive number of dispatch personnel
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in Antioch, the fire districts could augment the dispatch staff
by temporarily assigning fire fighters to the dispatch function.
This would result in additional costs for the fire districts.
However, it is assumed that those costs would be offset- by salary
savings in the Sheriff ' s office related to the reduction in
dispatchers that may be hired by Antioch.
(2) Consolidated Fire Estimated Preliminary Costs:
The fire district has identified annual costs in the amount of
approximately $270 ,000. This cost, added to the operating costs
for the districts presently served by Consolidated, will equal
approximately $1,020 ,000 on a combined basis. The current annual
operating cost of the East County districts and the districts
presently served by Consolidated is approximately $1,121,000.
Thus the transfer of fire dispatch to Consolidated Fire will save
approximately $100,000 a year in operating costs. The annual
costs are as follows:
Annual Cost:
1. 3 . 6 Dispatch positions ( 1 post position) $ 204,120 A
2. 1 Data Base/Graphics Technician position 20,000 �B�
3 . Telephone service 40,000
4. Miscellaneous 5,880
TOTAL ANNUAL COST 270,000
(A) Salary cost does not reflect recent adjustment. Earlier
salary information from various reports is used for the
sake of consistency. Salary adjustments for these and
other personnel are self-balancing with respect to projected
savings.
(B) Proposed to be shared with San Ramon Valley Fire.
In addition to the operating costs, Consolidated Fire has
identified one-time capital and equipment costs of approximately
$1, 842 , 000. These costs are detailed below:
---Continued on Next Page----
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One Time Costs: 1989-90 1990-91
1. Add 20 PBX telephone lines to existing
PBX system $ 11500
2. Installation of PBX telephone lines at
East County Stations 7 ,000
3 . Add equipment and radio modules to
consoles 18,500
4 . Two paging encoders 8,500
5. Interface to F8 , F9, F15 base radios 2,500
6 . Re-configure F15 system to. add/relocate
receivers 7,000
7 . Add F16 base stations and voter system 10,000
8 . Database development and input 15,000
9. Computer Aided Dispatch upgrade
a. CAD software 92 ,000
b. Computer hardware 128,000
c. Teleprinter system
- w/printer ( 30) 55,000
d. Teleprinter system
- no printer ( 20) 25,000
CAD SUB-TOTAL 300,000 100,000 200,000
10. 40 channel logging tape recorder 45,000
11. 20 station printers for East County
stations 12,000
12 . Installation of printer lines
to East Co. stations 10,000 5,000
13 . Add microwave drop to Brentwood 5,000
14 . Add microwave drop to Riverview
( replaces DRCC drop) 15,000
15 . Additional Co. General Service Support 5,000 51000
16 . Building modifications:
a. Seismic upgrade existing
communications building 660,000
b. Add 1000 sq. ft. to
existing comm bldg 250,000
c. Replace generator at
Station 2 _ 40,000
950,000
d. Contingency @ 10% 95,000
BUILDING SUB-TOTAL $1 ,045,000 495,000 550,000
17 . New consoles for
communications addition 250,000
18 . Mapping work station and
plotter (County GIS) 75,000
TOTAL $805,000 $1 ,037,000
---Continued next page-------
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Approximately $394,000 of the District' s capital cost is included
in the 1989-1990 budget. The balance of the 1989-90 capital cost
in the amount of $411,000 will be partially covered by projected
Consolidated Fire District fund balance, a loan from Riverview
Fire District' s capital funds and a proposed loan or advance from
the SDAF unallocated operating fund balance. These loans and
advances will be paid back in 1990-91 from the fire district' s
SDAF capital fund. It is proposed that the portion of the cost
which is appropriately eligible for funding from the 1990-1991
Countywide Emergency Medical Services Benefit Assessment (Measure
"H" ) and which was anticipated in the preliminary budget for
Measure "H" funds be funded from this source and that the balance
be funded from the Special District Augmentation Fund or other
sources which may be identified by the County Administrator and
reported to the Finance Committee as is recommended above.
Approximately 50% of the one-time costs are related to building
alterations which were not identified in the earlier cost
estimates. The building alterations stem from the need to add
approximately 1000 square feet to the existing facility to
accommodate additional dispatch consoles and personnel needed to
absorb the East County fire district work load. As a result of
preliminary architectural work related to the building addition,
it was determined that the existing communications center has
some serious deficiencies in terms of the ability of the building
to remain operational in the event of a major earthquake. Since
the building is being modified to add additional space, the
district is required to modify the existing building to eliminate
the seismic deficiencies. Even if the district were not required
to make the seismic upgrades, the work should be done in view of
the fact that the communications center will be providing fire
dispatch services for 8 fire districts and ambulance services
covering a major portion of the County. Additionally, all other
emergency agencies indirectly depend on the continuous operation
of the communications center.
(3) Sheriff's Office Preliminary Costs:
The Sheriff ' s office has requested annual ongoing costs of
approximately $528 ,000 and one-time costs of approximately
$644,000. These costs are outlined below:
Annual Costs: Request Recommend
12 Dispatch positions
( 2 post positions) $528 , 000(A) $528 ,000(A)
TOTAL ANNUAL COST $528,000 $528 , 000
(A) Salary cost does not reflect recent adjustments. Earlier
salary information from various reports is used for the sake
of consistency. Salary adjustments to these and other
----Continued on next page-----
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Re uest Recommend
One Time Costs :
1. Staff training $ 17,000 $ 17,000
2 . 30 Spectra 35W radios 80,760 0
3 . 25 MTX-810 B3 Portable radios 34,875 0
4 . 1 MSF 5000 Base Station 10,489 0
5 . 1 Maxtrac Control 1 ,680 0
6 . 16 KDT-480 MDT' s 70,785 70,785
7 . 1 3-Bay Console w/4 Radio 14,457 14,457
Channels
8 . Hardware modifications 76,000 76,000
9 . Software modifications 15,000 15,000
10 . Update Geofile 15,000 15,000
11 . 2 Chairs 600 600
12 . 12 Headsets 2,520 2,520
13 . Increase Lockers 5,000 5,000
14 . Remodel/Enlarge Kitchen/Break 60,000 0
Room
15 . Parking Lot Remodel 100,000 0
16 . Remodel/Expand Office Space 110,000 0
17 . GSD Communications Services to
Install Equipment 30,000 5,000
TOTAL X644,166 221 ,362
It is estimated that approximately 600 of the annual cost and a
portion of the capital cost will be covered by a contract with
the City of Pittsburg. The balance of the capital costs will
have to absorbed by County resources such as the Sheriff ' s Office
and County Service Area P-6 .
Requests not recommended for funding include $128 , 000 for radio
equipment and $270 , 000 for facility improvements requested by the
Sheriff . The radios will not be needed at this time because the
General Services Department has verified the availability' of an
additional VHF radio frequency to be used by the City of Antioch.
This will allow the Sheriff to retain the present VHF frequency,
thereby eliminating the need, at this time, to purchase new, more
expensive 800 Mhz equipment.. There will be an unknown cost
(estimated by the General Services Department to be $10,000 ) for
the conversion of Antioch police radios to use their new
frequency. The Sheriff firmly believes that we are missing an
opportunity to start a County-wide planned transition to 800 Mhz
and is concerned that the compromise of moving his East County
staff from a duplexed frequency back to a simplex frequency is
risky, at best, and certainly less than ideal. Our Committee
has, therefore, included a recommendation that will permit the
Sheriff , General Services Department and County Administrator to
continue to study the feasibility of moving to an 800 Mhz system
------Continued on next page------
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at some time in the future when the considerable capital cost is
more realistically available.
The requested building and grounds construction in the amount of
$270, 000 is grudgingly relinquished by the Sheriff on the basis
that although the Dispatch Center in Martinez is just a year old,
it was under funded, trimmed at the time of original planning and
was not designed for expansion or flexibility when the
administrative wing was added. The Sheriff states that he is
once again being required to absorb an increase in staff and
function without a corresponding addition of space to accommodate
the change. Our Committee wishes to acknowledge this need and
recognize the need to provide more adequate facilities for the
staff at the earliest opportunity once funding can be identified
for these modifications.
It should be noted that the above cost figures are preliminary
estimates based on the best information available to date. We
believe that the final actual costs will not exceed the amount
shown above and there is a possibility that the actual costs will
be less than estimated, as in the case of the radio equipment
discussed above.
Although the cost information presented in this report represents
annual cost savings of $100 ,000 for fire districts and $15 ,000
for the Sheriff, the transfer of dispatch service from DRCC
involves a substantial capital cost. These cost figures are
based on a comparison with the current DRCC operation. In
reality, the cost information should be considered in relation to
the costs of upgrading DRCC as identified by Schema Systems,
Inc. , the consulting firm hired to study DRCC.
The consultant estimated the costs of an upgraded DRCC under two
alternative plans . Under these alternatives annual costs for the
fire districts , including Consolidated and current contract fire
districts, range from $1, 147 , 200 to $1 , 162 , 800 . Comparing these
costs to the cost of the service to be provided by Consolidated
Fire indicates an annual savings of $127, 200 to $142 ,800 .
In the case of capital expenditures, the capital costs
recommended by Schema Systems, Inc. , range from $1 , 019 , 200 to
$1,728 , 400 . The recommended capital costs of transferring
dispatch to the Sheriff and Consolidated Fire total approximately
$2, 063 , 000 . However, it should be noted that $770 , 000 of the
total cost is related to improving the ability of the
Consolidated Fire communications building to withstand a major
earthquake and should be undertaken regardless of whether the
move from DRCC is undertaken at this time.
In addition to the structural improvement discussed elsewhere in
this report, the expenditures proposed by Consolidated Fire will
provide the East County fire districts with improved service
including the following:
♦ Trained fire and medical dispatch personnel and staff.
♦ Telephone extensions of the Consolidated Fire District' s PBX
to each fire station and support facilities (dispatch
back-up, training, disasters, administration and public
access) .
♦ Improved emergency radio coverage, (additional sites, State
frequencies) .
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Emergency medical dispatching and prioritization (call taker
gives EMS pre-arrival instructions to caller while units are
responding) .
♦ Coordinated mutual/automatic aid dispatch.
♦ Consideration of the unique requirements/conditions of each
fire district and standardization for efficient emergency
operations.
♦ Increase in service level to all citizens served by the
dispatch center. System design objectives are to process
and dispatch appropriate resources within 60 seconds 90a of
the time.
♦ Improved insurance service office grading.
The transfer of a portion of the police dispatch function from
DRCC to the Sheriff ' s Martinez communications center will benefit
the Sheriff and East County police agencies in the area of
officer safety. The move will result in a reduction of the
number of law enforcement units on the police radio frequencies
that will exist after the transition. This will provide more
speedy access to the air waves. The East County Sheriff ' s
personnel will gain access to the modern Martinez computer aided
dispatch system (CAD) , management information system (MIS) , and
records management system (RMS) . The overall Sheriff ' s
Communication system will benefit from a better use of personnel
and resources.
(4) Emergency Declaration:
Consolidated Fire has asked that the Board of Supervisors adopt a
resolution declaring that the seismic safety deficiencies found
to exist in the district communications center constitute an
emergency in that the vital communications and dispatch functions
of the communications center could be subject to disruption in
the event of a major earthquake. By declaring the emergency and
authorizing the County Administrator to expedite the seismic and
equipment upgrades to the communications facility, the completion
time will be reduced by approximately 2 - 3 months. The
declaration will shorten the project time by allowing the
district to eliminate the usual Request for Proposal procedures
for the selection of an architect and the competitive bid
procedures for awarding the construction contract. The emergency
declaration will also enable the district to take over the DRCC
functions at the earliest possible time in accordance with the
previous directions of the Board of SuPervisors.
Once the recommendations proposed in this report are approved by
the Board of Supervisors, staff will notify all affected agencies
of the transition plan, coordinate with the Sheriff ' s office and
the fire districts regarding staff support for a continuation of
the DRCC function in Antioch and with the assistance of the
Architectural Division and the Communications Division of the
General Services Department continue to work toward identifying
reductions in the estimated costs of the DRCC transition.
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cc: County Administrator
Sheriff-Coroner
Chief, Consolidated Fire Protection District
Chief, Riverview Fire Protection District
Chief, Byron Fire Protection District
Chief, East Diablo Fire Protection District
Chief , Oakley Fire Protection District
City Managers, Antioch, Pittsburg, Brentwood
Director of General Services
Health Services Director
Regional Ambulance Company