For City Council Meeting [October 26, 2021]
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
APPROVAL: Marcus Fuller, City Manager
FROM: Sean Grayson, Fire Chief
Title
Request City Council to 1) Approve the Purchase of an Incident Support Fire Apparatus from the City of Loma Linda in the Amount of $125,000, and 2) Authorize the City Manager to Execute a Purchase Contract and any Related Documents.
(ACTION)
Body
BACKGROUND
The Rialto Fire Department maintains a fleet of apparatus to meet its service mission for the City. In addition to the primary response units which include fire engines, fire trucks, ambulances and command vehicles, the fire department also maintains several specialized units. One such unit is an incident support unit that provides the ability to fill self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) bottles on scene of a fire and provides lighting, firefighter rehabilitation and other incident support functions. For more than 15 years the fire department used a truck and service body in combination with a trailer, referred to as Breathing Support 204 (BS204) to provide this function. The air fill component on the trailer was determined to be unserviceable in 2021 and was taken out of service. In order to continue to meet Fire Department needs on fires and other incidents, a replacement for the unit is needed.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION
The City of Loma Linda owns a truck mounted solution for incident support referred to as Incident Support 251 (IS251). Loma Linda plans to list the unit for sale through a broker but has offered the unit to local fire departments for direct sale. IS251 is a purpose-built incident support unit that is configured for all of the functions that Rialto’s BS204 unit provided, but also has additional lighting including a telescoping light mast used to support fire and police investigations. A photo of the unit is provided below.
IS251 is 10 years old with approximately 4,700 miles, having been purchased new and placed in service in 2011. Based on historical usage, similar units have a 25 to 30 year service life meaning it is anticipated to be in-service in Rialto for more than 14 years. The offer price is $125,000 which includes a 10% discount from market value of the unit as Loma Linda will not need to sell the unit through a broker.
BS204 was costly to maintain and incurred more than $30,000 in repair and maintenance costs over its five most recent years of services. When placed out of service the estimated value for BS204 was $5,000 by auction as surplus. On June 8, 2021, the City Council approved the sale of the unit to Fire Apparatus Solutions (FAS) for $25,560 in credit toward repair and maintenance costs for fire department apparatus performed by FAS. New replacement cost of the trailer component of BS204 is $80,000, which does not include the truck used to pull the trailer. The new replacement cost of IS251 would be approximately $560,000 against the sale price of $125,000 for the unit.
The Fire Department does not currently have a mobile or fixed SCBA fill station and cannot respond to incidents to fill SCBA bottles which is needed for structure fires and other incidents. The Fire Department can, at times, take a crew out of service to travel to adjoining jurisdictions to fill SCBA bottles, but this is not a viable or reliable long-term solution. The Fire Department also has other apparatus with lighting, but not in the configuration to provide incident support in the same fashion as BS204 did, or IS251 would. The Fire Department does not have another unit with on-scene rehabilitation capabilities. Other fire departments have incident support units, but they are often unavailable for mutual aid response to the City.
Staff recommends the City Council approve a purchase of IS251 directly from Loma Linda, through a contract included as Attachment 1.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
The request is not a Project as defined by Section 15378 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines. 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. By definition, a Project does not include: The creation of government funding mechanisms or other government fiscal activities which do not involve any commitment to any specific project which may result in a potentially significant physical impact on the environment according to Section 15378 (b)(4) of the CEQA Guidelines.
GENERAL PLAN CONSISTENCY
The City of Rialto General Plan establishes various guiding principles, goals, and objectives through which the City looks to improve the community and protect the quality of life for our residents. The proposed item supports the General Plan in the following areas:
5-3.1: Provide for fire personnel, equipment and fire stations to have adequate and appropriate resources to meet the needs and serve all areas of Rialto.
LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney has reviewed and supports this staff report.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Operating Budget Impact
Funds are budgeted and available in the Fire Department GEMT account, General Fund Account number 209-500-5175-3050, for the $125,000 purchase amount.
Capital Improvement Budget Impact
There will be no impact to the Capital Improvement Budget for authorizing the proposed agreement.
Licensing
The purchase of the incident support apparatus from the City of Loma Linda does not require a business license or a disclosure form.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council:
• Approve the purchase of an incident support fire apparatus from the City of Loma Linda in the amount of $125,000, and
• Authorize the City Manager to execute the purchase contract and any related documents.