To: Board of Supervisors, County of Sonoma
Department or Agency Name(s): Emergency Management
Staff Name and Phone Number: Jeffrey DuVall / (707) 565-1152
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Community Emergency Response Team Consultant
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
A) Authorize the Chair to execute a Professional Services Agreement with Nuestra Comunidad for consulting services to act as the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) coordinator effective July 11, 2023, through June 30, 2025, with the option to extend the agreement through July 10, 2026.
B) Authorize the Director of Emergency Management, Deputy Director, or designee to extend Professional Services Agreement for the optional third year.
end
Executive Summary:
The proposed agreement with Nuestra Comunidad will assist the Department of Emergency Management’s Community Preparedness Program (CPP) develop a sustainable, robust countywide Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program by developing a network of CERT volunteers and training CERT leadership.
Discussion:
Background
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to the State of California to address the impacts of natural disasters that occurred in 2017. The CDBG Mitigation Planning and Public Services Program (MIT-PPS) was developed to support projects and activities that reduce risk to communities impacted by the 2017 disasters.
The goal of the program is to support projects and activities that address risks to community lifelines supporting health and safety and mitigating future disasters. Community lifelines, as defined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), are services that enable the continuous operation of critical government and business functions and are essential to human health & safety or economic security, build capacity for eligible jurisdictions, assist local entities with planning, and support public services.
The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) manages the state MIT-PPS program and disbursement of the related CDBG funding. On January 8, 2021, HCD issued a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the approximately $22.4 million in Community Development Block Grant Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) funding for the Resilient Planning and Public Services Program (MIT PPS). On March 9, 2022, the Sonoma County’s Department of Emergency Management (DEM) received notification that it was awarded $500,000 in MIT-PPS funds for the Community Emergency Response Team Training (CERT) Programs project.
Procurement
On October 26, 2022, DEM released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a Qualified CERT Consultant. The RFP closed on November 16, 2022. A total of 216 solicitations invitations were sent but only one proposal was received. The proposal was found to be underqualified for the expected needs of the program. DEM fine-tuned the RFP so that the scope better addressed the required understanding of the programmatic issues that need to be addressed in the CERT program. We also expanded the solicitation invitation list.
On February 1, 2023, a second RFP was released using a more robust scope of work; it closed on February 22, 2023. A total of 1,154 solicitation invitations were sent and, again, only one proposal was received. The proposal was from Nuestra Comunidad and upon evaluation was determined to be qualified, responsive and responsible.
Due to only one proposal being received, the department was obligated to request Non-Competitive Procurement waiver according to the Code of Federal Regulations, 2 CFR 200.320. The department received approval of the non-competitive procurement request on May 16, 2023.
The current performance period for the grant is through June 30, 2025, but an extension is anticipated due to HCD’s delay in issuing awards. As a result, the department is recommending the ability to extend the contract for an additional year, should the grant extension be approved.
Services to be Provided
1. Create a network of volunteer leadership program through outreach at community meetings and activities to provide local volunteers with training and coordination in response to disasters.
1.1. Recruit and train minimum of 75 new CERT volunteers each fiscal year from across the county with at least 2 of trainings offered bilingually or in Spanish. Target is 5-6 initial training offerings per year.
1.2. Provide input for web page and social media presence to support new organization.
1.3. Conduct meeting organization training and offer opportunities for CERT team members to participate in meeting organization in order to develop leadership within the CERT Teams so that the Countywide effort can move toward self-organization once the pilot program term ends.
1.4. Conduct bi-monthly leadership meetings to coordinate efforts and provide ongoing organizational support. This will include members of the Countywide team, Bodega Bay Team, and Northern Sonoma County Team. Bodega Bay CERT is a grassroots organization made up of some CERT members and some community members engaged in preparedness. The leader of this organization has recently qualified as train the trainer and is excited to join with the larger Sonoma County CERT for training and exercises as well as other educational opportunities. Northern Sonoma County CERT started a few years ago and has trained more than 150 CERT members. They are FEMA compliant. They are also excited to join a Countywide effort to train people in CERT and have additional resources and manpower available in disaster should we need them. A coordination team meeting has been planned for early August to develop a strategy of coordination and collaboration with these teams.
1.5. Develop understanding and protocols of co-operation and collaboration with existing CERT teams in the county
2. Train CERT Teams to allow communities to provide emergency measures and foster preparedness activities within their communities.
2.1. Conduct advanced, systemized training and exercises as well as leadership training and opportunities annually.
3. Maintain a roster of CERT volunteers countywide.
3.1 Facilitate development of Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs) with local jurisdictions for CERT team use in disaster
3.2. Meet twice per month with the Department of Emergency Management to review strategies and progress
Strategic Plan:
N/A
Racial Equity:
Was this item identified as an opportunity to apply the Racial Equity Toolkit?
No
Prior Board Actions:
10/26/2021: Adopted a resolution authorizing the Director and Deputy Director of the Department of Emergency Management to apply for funding; accept allocations of funding; execute grant agreement(s), and any amendments thereto; and execute for and on behalf of the County of Sonoma, any actions necessary for obtaining funding provided by the State of California’s Housing and Community Development Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Mitigation Resilient Planning and Public Services program (MIT-PPS).
Fiscal Summary
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Expenditures |
FY 22-23 Adopted |
FY23-24 Projected |
FY 24-25 Projected |
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Budgeted Expenses |
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$150,667 |
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Additional Appropriation Requested |
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Total Expenditures |
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$150,667 |
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|
Funding Sources |
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|
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General Fund/WA GF |
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State/Federal |
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$150,667 |
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Fees/Other |
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Use of Fund Balance |
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Contingencies |
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Total Sources |
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$150,667 |
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Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
Revenue and Expenditure appropriations for $150,667 have been budgeted in the Fiscal Year 2023-24 budget for the first year of the agreement. If additional appropriations are required during the fiscal year, they will be brought forward during consolidated budget adjustments. Future year budget projections will depend upon the progress and expenses in year one. There is no net cost to the general fund.
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Staffing Impacts: |
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Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
Additions (Number) |
Deletions (Number) |
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Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
None.
Attachments:
Nuestra Comunidad Agreement
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None.