REQUEST FOR DECISION
DATE: March 7, 2018 Report No. ADM-18-010
TO: Mayor and Council
FROM: Laurie Hurst, Chief Administrative Officer
and Chris Jancowski, Fire Chief
SUBJECT:
Title
Fire Dispatch Selection
End
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
That the Fire Dispatch Proposal received from the City of Surrey in response to the joint Fire Dispatch RFP process be accepted as the preferred proposal and that staff begin the process to conclude a transition program and contract.
Body
RELEVANT POLICY:
Purchasing and Disposal Bylaw, 2014, No.2845
STRATEGIC RELEVANCE:
Operational Strategy: Explore and identify efficiencies between local and regional initiatives
BACKGROUND:
The District of Saanich convened a meeting on November 18, 2017 including Fire Chiefs and CAOs representing municipalities receiving the Dispatch Services from the District of Saanich. The purpose of this meeting was to convey that the District of Saanich was moving to a new model of charging dispatch services resulting in excessive increases in costs for the Township of Esquimalt and others within the Capital Regional District.
As stewards of the public purse, it was difficult to justify a doubling of dispatch costs when there are other providers that likely charge considerably less. Staff, working with other municipalities, developed an RFP suitable for a joint submission.
Fire Dispatch Request for Proposals 2018-911 Fire was sent January 31, 2018 to Dispatch Service Providers including the CRD/City of Langford, the District of Saanich, the City of Campbell River, E-COMM, the City of Surrey, the City of Kelowna, the City of Kamloops, and the City of Prince George. The RFP was also posted on BC Bid. The closing date for the RFP was February 23, 2018.
On March 2, 2018 Fire Chiefs and CAO office representatives attended at the Town of View Royal fire hall to collectively open and evaluate the proposals submitted in response to the joint Request for Proposals.
Three proposals were received including the City of Surrey, the District of Saanich and the CRD/City of Langford.
The following criteria were used in our evaluation of the proposals:
• Transition to CREST Radio Network
• NFPA 1221 Standard for Installation, Maintenance, and Use of Emergency Services Communications Systems
• NFPA 1061 Standards for Professional Qualifications for Public Safety Telecommunications Personnel
• NFPA 1561 Standard on Emergency Services Incident Management System and Command Safety
• General Assessment and intended contract language
• Records Management System
• Fire Underwriters Score
• Transition from Current Provider
• Cost
The Fire Chiefs in attendance reviewed and evaluated the performance type criteria while the CAO representatives reviewed and evaluated the costs associated with each proposal and the contract language proposed. The outcome of our evaluation concluded that the proposal received from the City of Surrey is the preferred proposal.
The City of Surrey currently provides Fire Dispatch Service to its own forces and also has contracts for 911 Secondary Service Answering Point for fire, rescue and medical incidents for more than 30 jurisdictions including North Vancouver, West Vancouver, communities in the Squamish Lillooet Regional District and communities in the Columbia Shuswap Regional District.
The Surrey Fire Regional Dispatch Centre operates in a facility that has been built to be a hardened post-disaster rated facility. Surrey Fire Dispatch has a back-up evacuation site which is also a hardened post-disaster rated facility.
BUDGET:
The following table describes a comparison of the annual service costs proposed of the three submissions received.
Detailed Annualized Cost proposals:
The table above describes the annual fees outlined in the three proposals received.
The center cost column in the table describes the lowest cost proposal, which is received from the City of Surrey. In addition to the annual fees, the City of Surrey identified a non-recurring charge of $6,000 in the first year of operation to cover training and implementation costs.
Recognizing that we will be well past the 1st quarter of 2018, our budgets for the current year would include a portion of costs paid to the District of Saanich, our current provider, and a portion of the 2018 estimates received from the City of Surrey.
The District of Saanich has recognized that the timelines established for the RFP do not align well with current contractual arrangements and is prepared to offer (subject to Saanich Council’s approval) a further brief extension of one month, until April 30, at current rates, in order to allow sufficient time for the RFP process to proceed to conclusion (correspondence also included on this meeting agenda). Note: Sidney already has extended to the end of April, with Saanich’s approval. An additional extension of the current contract with Saanich will be required, for a period of between 3 and 6 months.
CREST
CREST has advised that the price from Motorola for a 2 console configuration “somewhere” outside of the CREST zone to achieve the same functionality as currently received is a very rough figure of about $150K for the hardware and another $25K for Motorola services. Historically CREST has supplied these consoles to existing dispatch providers in the region.
The City of Surrey is currently a user of a Motorola P25 radio site controller for dispatch console connectivity to the radio network. It is possible for Surrey Fire Dispatch to connect directly to the CREST P25 network and provide voice dispatch services directly to the purchasers through the existing network infrastructure. The non-core municipalities are scheduled to see transmitters in P25 format added through the CREST program in 2018.
ISSUES:
1. Rationale for Selected Option
The staff recommendation is based on the RFP evaluation process including criteria for level of service delivery and cost.
2. Organizational Implications
There are no organizational implications other than some staff time that will be required to conclude the process of transition details and contract.
3. Financial Implications
As stated above, budget for 2018 will be adjusted to include a portion of the year at current costs with Saanich, a portion of the year at increased costs with Saanich unless transition to new service provider occurs prior to the contract extension date, and remainder of 2018 at new rates should Council approve the staff recommendation.
4. Sustainability & Environmental Implications
There are no sustainability nor environmental implications.
5. Communication & Engagement
Should Council approve the staff recommendation, staff will proceed with concluding the transition and contract process which will include communication with both the current and new service providers.
ALTERNATIVES:
1. That the Fire Dispatch Proposal received from the City of Surrey in response to the joint Fire Dispatch RFP process be accepted as the preferred proposal and that staff begin the process to conclude a transition program and contract.
2. That Council not accept the preferred proposal and remain with current service provider.
3. That Council provide alternative direction to staff.