Crime & Safety
Fifth Round of Responses to Fire Contractors Made Public
San Carlos released fifth edition of questions-and-answers from RFP bidders for fire services.
The fifth round of responses has been made public by the city of San Carlos.
Discussed in these 51 questions are data gathering issues, medical and retiree benefits, hazardous materials responsibilities, functionality responsibilities, salaries, and details of employee contracts.
Find out what's happening in San Carloswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
San Carlos Patch will continue to publish the city’s responses to potential contractor’s questions as they are released.
The deadline for bids is Dec. 3rd.
Find out what's happening in San Carloswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Response to Questions from Proposers Fire & Emergency Services RFP
Updated on November 19, 2010
Q1. Retiree Medical Benefits – Verification of the City’s desire to provide Post Retirement Health Care for employees that may transition to Cal Fire. (It is our understanding that employees receive this benefit after 15 years with the District, the State standard is 20 years). The City assumes that the future fire services contractor will provide all salary and benefits to the employees that are transitioned from the Belmont-San Carlos Fire Department (BSCFD) to the new contractor and that the City will compensate the contractor as part of the proposal price in the service agreement. In the response to the Fire & Emergency Services RFP, the responders should describe their proposed level of salary and benefits for the employees to be transitioned.
Q2. Current Salaries – Request a copy of the Current Salary Schedule for employees in all classifications at the Belmont-San Carlos Fire Department. A copy of the Current Salary Schedule for the employees of the BSCFD is available on the BSCFD web site under the heading of “Administration, Labor Agreements, Salaries Effective July 1, 2010” or directly by accessing:
http://www.bscfd.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=2 25
Q3. Employee Contracts – Request a copy of the Current Fire JPA MOUs and any updates or side letters. A copy of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for each of the BSCFD bargaining units is available on the City of Belmont web site under the Human Resources Department as follows: IAFF Local 2400
(Firefighters Unit) http://www.belmont.gov/doc_center.asp?d_id=240003163 AFSCME Local 829 (Clerical Unit) http://www.belmont.gov/doc_center.asp?d_id=240003164 BSCFD Fire Management Unit http://www.belmont.gov/doc_center.asp?d_id=240003165 Q4. Current Budget – Request a copy of the Current Fire JPA Budget. A copy of the 2010-11 Adopted Budget for the BSCFD Fire JPA is available on their web site at: http://www.bscfd.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=111&Itemid= 237
Response to Questions from Proposers Fire & Emergency Services RFP
Q5. Start Dates – Request a copy of the Name, Birth Date and Start Date (along with any subsequent start dates if the employee left the fire agency and then returned) of each member of the BSCFD staff in order to calculate retiree medical benefit expenses. The City has an initial list of this information from the City of Belmont Finance Department that we can make available to the RFP proposers.
Q6. Allocating Employees – We understand the City’s interest in assuring that “all” current District employees retain positions, either with Belmont or San Carlos. How might these employees be allocated amongst the 2 agencies upon the dissolution of the District? The City is interested in exploring ways to provide current BSCFD employees with positions before, during and after the dissolution process. The BSCFD employees have not been assigned or “allocated” to a specific agency after the dissolution process. In order to respond to this aspect of the RFP, it would be appropriate for the proposers to assume that half of the BSCFD employees would be available to staff Fire and Emergency Services in the City of San Carlos.
Q7. Battalion Chief Coverage – The RFP discusses Chief Officer coverage for San Carlos. The RFP infers that a 10 minute travel time is acceptable but is silent regards simultaneous incidents that may preclude or delay Battalion Chief Response. Would the City allow a longer travel time be allowed for a “covering” Battalion Chief from another agency? The City understands that if there is more than one simultaneous incident that occurs with the need for Battalion Chief response there will be a need for a covering Battalion Chief. The City would ask that the contracting agency make the arrangements for such covering assignments as part of their day to day management of the Fire and Emergency Services function for San Carlos.
Q8. Administrative & Clerical Support – Will City staff be available to provide administrative and clerical functions in support of the City’s Fire Department? The RFP was written with the assumption that existing BSCFD support staff may transfer to the future Fire and Emergency Services providers for San Carlos and Belmont to perform such work. Proposers can suggest alternative approaches, including City of San Carlos provision of administrative and clerical staff, if they desire. However, the cost of such City-provided staff will be added to the cost of proposals that use such an approach. (November 5th Update starts on the next page at Question # 9 through Question # 26) 2 Response to Questions from Proposers Fire & Emergency Services RFP
Q9. Employee Transfers – How does the BSCFD plan to handle the transfer of employees to the new fire and emergency services provider? Can you provide a general overview? Staff members from the City of San Carlos, the City of Belmont and the BSCFD are meeting monthly to develop and plan the BSCFD dissolution process. This will include the matter of transferring current BSCFD employees to the fire and emergency services provider(s) selected by the two cities that begin services on or before October 12, 2011. Once the dissolution and transfer process is more fully developed and the provider(s) for each City are selected, we will have more detail on the process.
Q10. Fire Stations – who owns these facilities? Are they available for use by the contract provider? Is there a rental cost to the service provider? Ownership of the 4 fire stations in the BSCFD will be discussed as part of the dissolution process of the BSCFD Fire JPA. BSCFD assets will be shared based on the amount that each city (San Carlos and Belmont) paid towards fire and emergency services. Since San Carlos is currently paying 53.4% of BSCFD agency service costs, it is safe to assume that both San Carlos stations will become assets of the City of San Carlos upon dissolution of the Fire JPA. The City is assuming that the fire and emergency service provider will deliver services from the two existing stations in San Carlos. The City is also assuming that there will be no charge for the use of these stations by the provider.
Q11. Fire Stations – who maintains these facilities? Are things like building maintenance, repairs, improvements and landscape maintenance handled by the City maintenance staff? Who pays for utilities (water, sewer, phone, gas, electric, cable TV, internet connections, etc.)? Will these be paid by the City or by the contractor under the new service arrangement? The BSCFD is responsible for all building maintenance, repair, improvement and landscape maintenance costs. Effective July 1, 2010 this has been changed somewhat by shifting major building maintenance costs to the two cities (San Carlos and Belmont). BSCFD is also responsible for payment of all utility costs at the two fire stations. For purposes of the RFP response, the City would prefer that the proposers include these costs in their cost of providing fire and emergency services. However, the City is open to discussing how these costs are handled with the new service provider. This is particularly true if City provision of these services would be lower than if they were handled by the new service provider.
Response to Questions from Proposers Fire & Emergency Services RFP
Q12. Furnishings, office equipment, computers and IT equipment and other goods – who owns these items? Are they available for the contractor to use? Does the City have an internal system for purchasing such goods? How will they be maintained or replaced when necessary? These items are currently owned by the BSCFD. As part of the dissolution process, these items will be allocated to the two cities based on the amount paid towards services. It is safe to assume that San Carlos will receive the items in the two stations in San Carlos as a result of this formula (see answer to Question # 10). The City assumes that these items will be available for the contractor to use. There may be a process whereby these items are valued and the contractor purchases these items during the contract negotiation phase. That is still to be determined by the City. The City has a decentralized approach to purchasing. Each City department does its own purchasing. The City assumes that the contractor would be responsible for purchasing these items as part of the operation of the fire and emergency services contract. However, this is an area that is subject to discussion during the development of the contract for services.
Q13. Fire/EMS/Emergency Support equipment in the fire station (back up tools, hose, EMS supplies, shop equipment and tools – who owns these items? Are they available for the contractor to use? How will they be maintained or replaced when necessary? Same response as Question # 12.
Q14. PPE & SCBA – What type of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) are in use by BSCFD and are they to be transitioned to San Carlos? The Fire Chief reports that the current PPE is Globe Turnouts – 2 sets per person. SCBA is Scott Breathing Apparatus that was acquired by the BSCFD in 2007. These items are currently owned by the BSCFD. As part of the dissolution process, these items will be allocated to the two cities based on the amount paid towards services. It is safe to assume that San Carlos will receive the items in the two stations in San Carlos as a result of this formula (see answer to Question # 10). 4 Response to Questions from Proposers Fire & Emergency Services RFP
Q15. Office Space for Command, Fire Prevention and Support Staff – Ownership – Who owns these facilities, Are they available for use by the contract services provider? Will rent be charged by the City to the contract services provider? The BSCFD Command, Fire Prevention and Support staff currently have offices on the second floor of San Carlos City Hall. No one has come forward with a proposal to rent this space from the City so it is available for continued use by the Fire Command, Fire Prevention and Support Staff if desired. The City Staff notes that during the October 18th Special City Council Meeting on Fire and Emergency Services, there was some interest by Council Members in having a Fire Command Presence at the City, very similar to the Police Services agreement. In that agreement, the City pays extra for a San Carlos “Substation” managed by a Sheriff’s Office Captain that services as the Bureau Chief. Proposers to this RFP may want to offer something along these lines as an Optional Extra Service. When responding to the RFP, the City suggests using the current BSCFD rental amount ($28,800 per year) as the annual rental payment for the use of this space if it is part of the proposal.
Q16. Office Space for Command, Fire Prevention and Support Staff – Maintenance & Utilities – who maintains these facilities? Are things like building maintenance, repairs, improvements and landscape maintenance handled by the City maintenance staff? Who pays for utilities (water, sewer, phone, gas, electric, cable TV, internet connections, etc.)? Will these be paid by the City or by the contractor under the new service arrangement? The City is responsible for all building maintenance, repair, improvement and landscape maintenance costs for this office space since it is part of the City Hall complex. The City assumes that this would also be the case if the new service provider were to use this office space. The City is also currently responsible for payment of all utility costs for the office space since it is at City Hall. Payment of utilities going forward would be subject to discussion over the use of this office space at City Hall.
Q17. Office Space for Command, Fire Prevention and Support Staff – Furnishings – Furnishings, office equipment, computers and IT equipment and other goods – who owns these items? Are they available for the contractor to use? How will they be maintained or replaced when necessary? 5 Response to Questions from Proposers Fire & Emergency Services RFP The furnishings and equipment for this office space is currently owned by the BSCFD. As part of the dissolution process, these items will be allocated to the two cities based on the amount paid towards services. It is safe to assume that San Carlos will receive some of the items in City Hall office space as a result of this formula (see answer to Question # 10). The City assumes that these items will be available for the contractor to use. There may be a process whereby these items are valued and the contractor purchases these items during the contract negotiation phase. That is still to be determined by the City. The City assumes that the contractor would be responsible for purchasing, maintaining and replacing these items as part of the operation of the fire and emergency services contract if they intend to use them as part of the City Hall office space. However, this is an area that is subject to discussion during the development of the contract for services.
Q18. Information Technology and Computers – Is the contractor expected to be “on” the City of San Carlos computer system? Can the contractor use the City phone system? Who owns the IT equipment, hardware and software? Are they available for the contractor to use? Does the City have GIS capability within its existing staff that the fire contractor can utilize or will GIS functions need to be met by contract personnel and resources? BSCFD Computer and IT equipment is owned by the Fire JPA. As part of the dissolution process, these items will be allocated to the two cities based on the amount paid towards services. It is safe to assume that San Carlos will receive a majority of this equipment as a result of this formula (see answer to Question # 10). The City assumes that there will be a transfer of this equipment to the new provider of Fire and Emergency Services as part of the contract process where the City receives a credit towards the first year’s service cost for the value of the equipment. BSCFD currently uses a consultant (Dugger & Associates) for assistance with Computer and IT purchasing, support, configuration, networking, etc. The City assumes that the proposer will either use their existing IT resources or a consultant such as the one used by BSCFD for IT support. BSCFD currently uses the City phone at Fire Station 13 and City Hall. The City assumes that the proposer will provide their own phone system for Fire Station 13 going forward. As for phones at City Hall, using the City Hall phone system is an option. The City has a GIS system that will be available. However, the City no longer has a GIS Analyst on staff. So the proposer will likely need to provide for some contract GIS services to create reports with the system.
Response to Questions from Proposers Fire & Emergency Services RFP
Q19. Vehicle Fleet – Ownership – Who owns the BSCFD vehicles? Are they available for use by the contract provider? Who determines which vehicles will be allocated upon dissolution to the stations in San Carlos and Belmont? Is there a rental cost or debt service to be paid by the City or contractor? Who replaces the vehicles? BSCFD owns the vehicles used the Fire JPA in San Carlos and Belmont. As part of the dissolution process, the vehicles will be allocated to the two cities based on the amount paid towards services. It is safe to assume that San Carlos will receive a majority of the vehicles as a result of this formula (see answer to Question # 10). The City assumes that there will be a transfer of the vehicles to the new provider of Fire and Emergency Services as part of the contract process where the City receives a credit towards the first year’s service cost for the value of the vehicles. The City assumes that the new service provider will be responsible for replacing the vehicles in the future. This would include developing specs, purchasing, operation and maintenance.
Q20. Vehicle Fleet – Maintenance – Who currently maintains the BSCFD vehicles (routine maintenance, repairs, improvements)? Who does the City expect to maintain the fleet? Does the City have fleet maintenance capability? It is our understanding that the BSCFD vehicles are repaired and receive routine maintenance with contract services. Since the City has minimal internal Fleet services (1 mechanic on-staff), the City assumes that the service provider will be responsible for arranging for contract repair and maintenance services for vehicles that are used for fire and emergency services.
Q21. Equipment & Apparatus carried on fleet – Who owns the BSCFD equipment and apparatus? Are they available for use by the contract provider? Who determines how the equipment and apparatus is allocated upon dissolution to the stations in San Carlos and Belmont? Is there a rental cost or debt service to be paid by the City or contractor? Who maintains and replaces the equipment and apparatus? BSCFD owns the equipment and apparatus used the Fire JPA in San Carlos and Belmont. As part of the dissolution process, the equipment and apparatus will be allocated to the two cities based on the amount paid towards services. It is safe to assume that San Carlos will receive a majority of the equipment and apparatus as a result of this formula (see answer to Question # 10). 7 Response to Questions from Proposers Fire & Emergency Services RFP The City assumes that there will be a transfer of the equipment and apparatus to the new provider of Fire and Emergency Services as part of the contract process where the City receives a credit towards the first year’s service cost for the value of the equipment and apparatus. The City assumes that the new service provider will be responsible for replacing the equipment and apparatus in the future. This would include developing specs, purchasing, operation and maintenance.
Q22. City Budget process – What role does the City staff expect the contractor to play in budget preparation? As a City department or as a Contractor? The City operates with some services provided in-house and others provided partially or totally by contract. In the case of fire and emergency services, the City envisions that a manager from the service provider will participate in Department Head level staff meetings as well as the budget process. As a contract provider, a line item budget submittal is not anticipated. However, as a member of the City team, the service provider will participate in the budget process and will have an opportunity to present both service enhancement and service reduction proposals for the provision of fire and emergency services in San Carlos during the annual budget process as do other City departments.
Q23. Service Delivery – How will components of the service delivery that may be more economical to be paid directly by the City rather than by the contractor be budgeted? As a general rule, the City is looking for a response to the fire and emergency services RFP that includes provision of all services by the contractor. However, the City is interested in a discussion in the RFP responses on areas where the contractor believes overall service costs can be reduced and/or be provided more efficiently if done by the City rather than the contractor.
Q24. Training Officer – This position is currently cost shared 1/3 each with BSCFD, Redwood City Fire Department and Woodside Fire Department. Does the City expect this arrangement will continue or change? Is it fair to assume that the San Carlos share of the arrangement would change to 1/6th from 1/3rd if the arrangement did continue? The City is interested in continuing to share this position. This will depend in part in the resources that the contracting agency brings to the table as to whether the sharing would be with the current partners (Redwood City and Woodside) or with the new agency’s staffing and any resource sharing arrangements they may have in place. That would also affect the costs to each agency of the shared position. 8 Response to Questions from Proposers Fire & Emergency Services RFP
Q25. Fire Marshall – This position is currently cost shared 1/3 each with BSCFD, Redwood City Fire Department and Woodside Fire Department. Does the City expect this arrangement will continue or change? Is it fair to assume that the San Carlos share of the arrangement would change to 1/6th from 1/3rd if the arrangement did continue? Here the City would like to make a correction to the RFP and the Fire Study written by TriData. The Fire Marshall at BSCFD is currently shared with the Redwood City Fire Department but not the Woodside Fire Department. The City is interested in continuing to share this position. This will depend in part in the resources that the contracting agency brings to the table as to whether the sharing would be with the current partner (Redwood City) or with the new agency’s staffing and any resource sharing arrangements they may have in place. That would also affect the costs to each agency of the shared position.
Q26. PERS Retirement Costs – How will the City and the Belmont Fire Protection District reconcile the PERS side fund liability? The City of San Carlos and the Belmont Fire Protection District (BFPD) are discussing the PERS side fund liability as part of the dissolution process. The City assumes that the BSCFD employees that work for the contractor will become employees of the contractor after the service termination date of the BSCFD (on or before October 12, 2011).
Q27. Employee Unions – Is a group or are individual employees represented by a union? Which union? Who is the point of contact for each union? There are three employee bargaining units at BSCFD (Firefighters, Clerical and Fire Management). Two of these groups are represented by unions – the Firefighters Unit (represented by IAFF Local 2400) and the Clerical Unit (represented by AFSME Local 829). See Question # 3 for web links to the MOUs with these groups. Contacts for these unions are: Ed Hawkins President IAFF Local 2400 1710 South Amphlett Boulevard, Suite 110 San Mateo, California 94402 ehawkins2400@aol.com (650) 574-2400
(November 9th Update - Questions # 27 thru # 29 – BSCFD Employee Information) 9 Response to Questions from Proposers Fire & Emergency Services RFP Sharon McAleavey Business Agent AFSCME Local 829 144 Brentwood Drive South San Francisco, CA 94080 (650) 637-1996 ext. 11
Q28. Employee Contribution to PERS – Who pays the “employee contribution” to PERS? Is it paid by the employee or the employer? The City understands that BSCFD employees pay the employee contribution to PERS. These contributions are made pursuant to IRS Section 414(h)(2).
Q29. Detailed Employee Information Needed from BSCFD – Current employee information: the following information will be necessary to give an accurate estimate of the “Red Circle” or “Y Rated” cost option for the proposal and possible purchase of years of service towards post-retirement health care. Very specific employee information may be considered sensitive or confidential. As a suggestion: information can be provided absent employee name by utilizing unique identifier for each individual (simple as employee 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 etc.) Questions specific to each employee: 1. Name or unique identifier 2. Date of birth (at least Month and Year) 3. Date of hire by Belmont-San Carlos FD (or South County Fire Authority) 4. Date of Appointment 5. Dates of breaks in service if applicable 6. Current base pay step 7. Bonuses or pay adjustments above base pay a. b. c. d. Etc Paramedic pay Paramedic assistant pay Haz Mat pay 8. V acation / Sick leave balances-approximate 9. Bargaining group / union The City understands the need for detailed employee information when responding to the RFP for Fire and Emergency Services. This request has been forwarded to the BSCFD and the Finance and Human Resources Departments for the City of Belmont. We will provide this information to the proposers as soon as it is made available. 10 Response to Questions from Proposers Fire & Emergency Services RFP
Q30. New Aerial Ladder Truck – What is the status of the new aerial ladder truck purchased by BSCFD? Is it still in play? The new Aerial Ladder Truck ordered by BSCFD is being manufactured at this time and is scheduled for delivery early next year to BSCFD. There are several options for the new truck including considering it as part of the assets of the Fire JPA or assigning it to another agency. That decision will be made as part of the discussion between BSCFD and the two parent agencies during the dissolution process. Belmont has announced that they plan to make a proposal regarding the acquisition of the new Aerial Ladder Truck to BSCFD and San Carlos. The City has been told that the Belmont proposal will include a recommendation from the Belmont Fire Consultant to modify the new Aerial Ladder Truck prior to being placed in service.
Q31. Questions on Compensation, Red Circled Rates and the MOUs – To whom should questions be directed concerning compensation, MOU interpretations and red circled rates? Will the answers then go out to all agencies? The City has received several questions regarding compensation and the MOU terms at BSCFD. This information will be shared with the proposers. See answers to questions # 2, 3, 26, 27, 28, 29.
Detailed questions in this area can be coordinated through Brian Moura at the City. The City will provide answers with the assistance of BSCFD and the Belmont Human Resources and Finance staff. Q32. Emergency Preparedness Coordinator – BSCFD currently shares the cost of an Emergency Preparedness Coordinator with Police. How will this be handled going forward? The Emergency Preparedness Coordinator position is currently shared (and funded) by three agencies – Belmont Police, San Carlos Police and BSCFD. The City also pays an annual contribution to County OES for Emergency Preparedness planning and training that is included in the Police Department budget. The three agencies involved in the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator will need to discuss the position during the dissolution process. As part of the responses to the RFP, the City would be interested in the role that each proposer sees in terms of providing these services and programs like CERT for the City of San Carlos. (Nov 10th Update -
Questions # 30 thru # 51 – Questions from Nov 3rd Proposers Conference) 11 Response to Questions from Proposers Fire & Emergency Services RFP
Q33. Fire Stations & Office Space – Two fire stations and office space in San Carlos City Hall are being included in our assumptions about available resources. Will there be rent charged to the future provider? See answers to questions # 10 - 12 and # 15 - 17
Q34. Facilities Maintenance – Does the City envision that the provider will fund the maintenance and replacement of facilities? See answer to question # 11
Q35. Fire Station Ownership – Are the 2 fire stations owned by the JPA or the City of San Carlos? See answer to question # 10
Q36. Fleet Records & Condition – Can we get more details on the Fire Department Fleet and its Service Records to get a sense of the equipment, vehicles, etc.? Some things we’d like to see are the year and mileage to gain a better understanding of the degree of maintenance. We’ve checked with the BSCFD Fire Chief on this. The Fire Chief provided a roster of current equipment and vehicles in the BSCFD which is attached.
Q37. Fire Prevention – What is the City’s expectation of Fire Prevention? Is it an engine based inspection program? Hazardous materials program? How many permits are issued per year? How many business inspections are done each year and what type? . BSCFD Fire Marshall Jim Palisi has provided us with the following answers to this question: “The expectations of the Bureau of Fire Prevention is to be complaint with the California Health and Safety Code (State Law) Sections 13145 and 13146 for state mandated inspections, that must be completed by the service provider. An engine company based fire inspection program cannot be fully determined at this time. This will be dependent upon the known service provided to the city from the new provider. Daily staffing will have to be evaluated at that time to determine the frequency of inspections.”
(Nov 19th Update - Questions # 36 & # 37 – Questions from Nov 3rd Proposers Conference) 12 Response to Questions from Proposers Fire & Emergency Services RFP “Hazardous material inspections are included in the current inspection program regardless if the inspections are performed by Fire Bureau staff or Suppression staff. It must be noted that the fire code permit process was not adopted out of the fire code as the department does not have proper staffing levels to complete the process. Therefore, the inspections were inclusive to an increased level of fire code inspection process if permits were issued.” “There are approximately 175 business inspections are performed by the two stations in San Carlos staffing. (Fire Company) only. The state mandated inspections are performed by the one 40 hour fire inspection. (There are 386 hotel, motel, and apartment inspections) and 17 public and private schools.”
Q38. Hazardous Materials Unit – Is Belmont talking about taking over the Haz Mat Unit? Someone needs to take it on. While we can’t speak for Belmont, the City of San Carlos remains open to be part of the Haz Mat Unit going forward along with the future provider of Fire and Emergency Services in San Carlos. The City has been encouraged that all of the neighboring fire agencies have expressed some interest and willingness to consider working to host this service if that is the decision that San Carlos reaches. One area of concern the City has is the level of reimbursement for the unit. In the current year, employee salaries in the Fire Department increased by 5.5% to 5.75%, yet the County did not increase their Haz Mat compensation to BSCFD. San Carlos has indicated that it is not in a position to subsidize this service. The City believes that all of the fire agencies in the County would feel the same way. Another key consideration will be the need for training funds. The City believes that it is highly likely that not all of the Haz Mat team members will join the same agency. So whichever fire agency takes over the Haz Mat function for the County, they will need training funds to fill out the balance of their Haz Mat team going forward. The City suggests that these topics be considered and discussed at the Fire Chief’s retreat on future provision of Haz Mat Unit services.
Q39. Detail on Current Haz Mat Unit Costs – To better understand the cost of providing Haz Mat services is there a formula the City can use to determine it? The City, as the current service provider, needs to do this. Please define the full cost of the Haz Mat Unit (what the number is) and how you arrived at it. 13 Response to Questions from Proposers Fire & Emergency Services RFP The Haz Mat Unit services are currently being provided by BSCFD, not the City. The Fire Chief at BSCFD has provided a copy of his report on the Haz Mat program to the BSCFD Fire Board to address this question. It is attached.
Q40. Employee Allocation – How will the allocation of employees be made? We’re assuming on a seniority basis, but the skill level also needs to be considered. See answers to questions # 6 and # 9.
Q41. Tour of Fire Facilities – What is the best way to approach getting a tour of the current Fire facilities in San Carlos? The Fire Chief has agreed to arrange for tours of the current Fire facilities in San Carlos. You can contact the BSCFD Fire Chief’s Office and they will schedule the tours with the BSCFD duty Battalion Chief.
Q42. Performance and Accountability – What is the City’s expectation on performance and accountability? How often and who will report to the City Council? The City envisions a contract for services with the selected fire provider. The contract would spell out in some detail the services to be provided and performance standards and metrics. While the contract would be managed by the City Manager or his/her designee, the fire provider would give formal quarterly reports to the City Council. In addition, reports on key services and events would be expected.
Q43. Improving Fire Data – Was TriData able to identify what they were looking for that they couldn’t find? Answers to this can help the other agencies improve their data. TriData found that information in several areas related to service calls, type of calls, location of calls (San Carlos? Belmont? Outside of Service Area? etc.) was lacking. To date the information they had requested has not been found. During their review of the TriData report, several members of the City Council expressed interest in ways to improve the tracking and reporting of data related to Fire and Emergency Services in the future. The City would be interested in seeing this addressed in the responses by the fire providers to the RFP. City Staff believes that it is highly likely that this question will be raised by the Council Members during the provider presentations in December. 14 Response to Questions from Proposers Fire & Emergency Services RFP
Q44. Capturing Better Fire Data – Is TriData planning to come back and report on how to better capture data? During the discussion of their report at the Council Meeting on October 18th, TriData consultants described the types of fire data they would like to see from a future fire provider. TriData has indicated that while this work is outside the scope of their current contract with San Carlos they are agreeable to take on such an assignment if contracted to do so by the proposing agency or the City.
Q45. TriData Questions – Is TriData available for questions? If the fire proposers would like to ask questions of TriData, they should work through Brian Moura, Assistant City Manager for the City, who is managing the TriData contract.
Q46. Budget Process – What is the expectation of the City for budget and administrative processes? Will the fire provider staff be active in the City’s budget process or simply submit an invoice as a contractor would? See answer to question # 22.
Q47. Contract with County Sheriff – Is the City’s contract with the County Sheriff for Police Services done? Can we look at that for clues and direction of the City’s expectations for contract public safety services? Yes, the City’s contract with the County Sheriff for Police Services is available on the City’s www.epackets.net web site. You may also want to look at the Council Meetings leading up to that point to view the process of presentations to the Council, questions asked, contract proposal terms and the final documents. The web site (www.epackets.net) has copies of all of the proposals, consultants reports, staff reports and meeting videos from those meetings for review.
Q48. City Council Members – Will all of your current Council Members remain seated over the course of the project’s duration? Yes. 15 Response to Questions from Proposers Fire & Emergency Services RFP The project timeline projects provider presentations to the City Council on December 15, 1010, City Council discussion and direction on a preferred provider in late January 2011, Council consideration and action on a provider agreement in late February and implementation of the new service arrangement from April to October 2011. All of the current Council Members will remain on the Council during this period.
Q49. Employees – Are BSCFD employees currently employed by the JPA? Does the JPA have a direct relationship with CalPERS? Yes. BSCFD employees are employees of the Fire JPA and the Fire JPA does have a contract with CalPERS for retirement benefits.
Q50. Finance and Human Resources Services – What is Belmont’s compensation for providing HR and Finance services to BSCFD? The City of Belmont will receive $263,996 during the current fiscal year for these services. The amount of the payment to Belmont increases each year based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Q51. San Carlos Budget Challenges – Can you give us an overview of the City of San Carlos budget situation? I understand that the City has experienced 10 years in a row of budget cuts. Where does the City’s structural budget deficit stand today? The City of San Carlos has experienced a series of budget challenges since the dot com crash. The City has experienced 11 years of consecutive budget cuts. This includes a reduction of employees from over 125 in 2001 to 65 today. Over the past 7 years, four revenue measures were placed before the voters. This included two with funds for Fire and Emergency Services, one for a Community Shuttle Service (SCOOT) and one for a General Sales Tax Measure last year. All of these revenue measures failed at the polls. Last December, the City Council faced a budget deficit of approximately $4.3 Million. By moving ahead with previously agreed to budget cuts exceeding $700,000, the budget deficit was reduced to $3.5 Million. 16 Response to Questions from Proposers Fire & Emergency Services RFP In March 2010, the Council considered “two paths” (further service cuts and exploring outsourcing) and choose to explore outsourcing as a way to maintain and even somewhat enhance key services. That program included setting targets of savings from Landscape Maintenance ($500,000 per year), Police ($2 Million per year) and Fire ($1 Million per year) as well as approaching employee groups for further reductions in compensation. To date, the City has contracted out Payroll, Landscape Maintenance and Police services. This has enabled the City to maintain existing services and to obtain budget savings that are at or above the projected levels. With Fire, the City has seen costs increase by 20% in the first four years of the revised JPA agreement and an additional 13.1% this year. The City Council froze their Fire JPA contributions at the 2009-10 level in this year’s budget while work began on options to provide Fire and Emergency Services in San Carlos at the current service level and at a reduced cost (target of $1 Million per year in savings). The report on Fire and Emergency Services options prepared by TriData offers some options and insights on how this goal may be achieved. At the October 18th Special City Council Meeting on Fire and Emergency Services, a majority of the Council Members expressed interest in the TriData report and recommendations. Proposers can expect that they will receive questions on how their proposal to San Carlos responds to that report and some of the opportunities outlined such as looking at paramedic truck service, cross-staffing paramedic truck and engine apparatus, potential consolidation of neighboring stations in the hillside areas of San Carlos, Redwood City and the County and other report findings. These can be addressed under the “Other Services and Options” section described on page 10 of the RFP.
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