For City Council Meeting [October 26, 2021]
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
APPROVAL: Marcus Fuller, City Manager
FROM: Mark P. Kling, Chief of Police
Title
Request City Council to: (1) Adopt Resolution No. 7784 Amending the 2021-2022 Fiscal Year Budget; (2) Accept the California Office of Traffic Safety “Ride to Live” Motorcycle Education Grant in the Amount of $29,000; and (3) Authorize the City Manager or Designee to Execute All Documents.
Body
BACKGROUND
Funds provided by the California Office of Traffic Safety “Ride to Live” Motorcycle Education Grant will be utilized to conduct a variety of law enforcement operations and traffic safety programs. The activities will be on an overtime basis for first line officers, supervisors and administrative personnel needed to meet the grant reporting requirements.
There are no matching funds required for this grant. If this grant is accepted, the City will be reimbursed for all grant related law enforcement overtime activities during the grant operational period of October 1, 2021 through September 30, 2022.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION
For the past several years, the City has pursued and been awarded various grants from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) to help augment its traffic safety efforts. Because of the prolonged nationwide economic decline, more and more agencies are now applying for grant funding making the grant process even more competitive.
OTS has identified unsafe motorcycle practices as a rapidly increasing cause or contributing factor in motorcycle related traffic collisions. With grant assistance from OTS, the City will continue to make great strides in making the streets of Rialto safer.
In the past few years, the Rialto Police Department’s Traffic Bureau also recognized the increase in injury and fatal motorcycle collisions on our roadways and took aggressive steps to reduce the number of these types of collisions. Through the renowned “Hunt Study” it was found that untrained motorcyclists were the cause in most collisions involving a motorcycle. Beginning in 2017, our Motor Officers established a free civilian motorcycle rider training class called “Ride to Live.”
Since its inception, we have trained over 160 civilian motorcycle riders without cost to the students or the City. Due to budget constraints, the Motor Officers adjusted their schedule to work the required Friday and Saturday without incurring any overtime. Although there was no financial cost to the City, the schedule adjustments have diminished the number of officers on the street which puts a greater burden on the patrol officers who are left to handle the extra workload. For the police department to continue to offer this invaluable life-saving training without affecting our service to the community, financial assistance from OTS was required.
To this end, OTS has awarded the City of Rialto Police Department $29,000 through the “Ride to Live” Motorcycle Education Grant Program. The California Office of Traffic Safety will administer funds for this grant.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
The proposed action does not meet the definition of a project as defined by Section 15378 California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). A “Project” means the whole of an action, which has a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, and excludes the following:
1) Continuing administrative or maintenance activities, such as purchases for
supplies, Personnel-related actions, general policy and procedure making.
2) Organizational or administrative activities of governments that will not result in
direct or indirect physical changes in the environment.
GENERAL PLAN CONSISTENCY
The City of Rialto has outlined key goals and objects relating to public safety. The acceptance of this grant is consistent with meeting these objectives.
Goal 5-8: Provide effective and comprehensive policing services that meet the safety needs of Rialto.
LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney has reviewed and supports this staff report.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Operating Budget Impact
Accepting this grant will increase revenue in the amount of $29,000 in the OTS Grant Account No. 221-400-6985-7551. Offsetting increased expenditures of the same amount will occur in the amount of $26,895 in Account No. 221-500-6985-1020, $390 in Account No. 221-500-6985-1050, $500 in Account No. 221-500-6985-2021, and $1,215 in Account No. 221-500-6985-2022 for qualified expenditures such as overtime, benefits, travel, and supplies utilized by this grant.
This grant requires no local City match.
Capital Improvement Budget Impact
This report does not impact the Capital Improvement Budget.
Licensing
This action does not trigger a requirement for a business license.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1) Adopt Resolution No. ____ Amending the 2021-2022 Fiscal Year Budget;
(2) Accept the California Office of Traffic Safety “Ride to Live” Motorcycle Education Grant in the Amount of $29,000; and
(3) Authorize the City Manager or Designee to Execute All Documents