Title
Environmental Management Department recommending the Board:
1) Approve the addition of one (1) new 2019 Chevrolet Tahoe to the Environmental Management Department fixed asset list;
2) Approve and authorize the purchase of one (1) new 2019 Chevrolet Tahoe for the Hazardous Materials, Incident Response Team, as a carryover vehicle that was unable to be purchased during Fiscal Year 2017-18;
3) Authorize the Purchasing Agent to utilize the State of California competitively bid Contract 1-18-23-23D for the purchase of one (1) Chevrolet Tahoe for the Hazardous Materials, Incident Response Team;
4) Make findings that this purchase is exempt from competitive bidding in accordance with Purchasing Ordinance 3.12.16, Section D;
5) Authorize the Purchasing Agent to sign a purchase order to the awarded State vendor, Elk Grove Auto/Winner Chevrolet of Elk Grove, CA. in the amount of $36,951.00 plus applicable delivery, fees, and taxes (estimated at $2,837.70) for a one-time purchase following Board approval; and
6) Approve and authorize the Chair to sign a budget transfer in the amount of $303,771, adjusting the Environmental Management Department’s budget for Fiscal Year 2018-19 to allow for the addition of grant funding, fixed asset funding, closure of the County Service Area No. 10 Litter Fund, and purchase of load cells for the Scalehouse Automation project. (4/5 vote required)
FUNDING: Non-General Fund, County Service Area No. 10 - Solid Waste, County Service Area No. 10 - Liquid Waste, and County Service Area No. 10 - Litter Funds.
Body
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
Following the adoption of the Fiscal Year 2018-19 budget and Fiscal Year 2017-18 year-end, the Environmental Management Department (Environmental Management) identified changes requiring a budget transfer, including grant funding, a fixed asset that was budgeted in FY 2017-18 but not purchased prior to year-end, the transfer of funding due to the closure of a special revenue account for the County Service Area No. 10 (CSA #10) Litter Fund, and additional salary and benefits funding for an unanticipated retirement payout. Additional detail is provided below.
Grant Amounts and New HD31 Household Hazardous Waste Grant
The Fiscal Year 2018-19 budget includes revenue from several grant awards; however, the awarded amounts differ from the Department’s estimates. Environmental Management was awarded the HD31 Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Grant in the amount of $34,771. Environmental Management has not been awarded this grant in recent years; therefore, it was not included during the Fiscal Year 2018-19 budget. Environmental Management intends to use these grant funds to procure new flooring at the Bass Lake Fire Station where HHW collection events are held and also to conduct temporary HHW collection events at various locations throughout the County. The last change for grants is the removal of the Food and Drug Administration Retail Standards Grant. This grant was originally anticipated to be a carry-over from the prior year’s budget; however, the funds were able to be completely expended during Fiscal Year 2017-18. The overall net increase of $41,762 in grant funds available is reflected in the Budget Transfer form (Attachment A).
Closure of CSA #10 - Litter Fund
Environmental Management is proposing to close this fund due to changes made in billing processes over the last few years. Previously, Environmental Management would receive a portion of funding from the Department of Transportation (DOT) at the beginning of each fiscal year as DOT contribution towards the provision of roadside litter cleanup services on County maintained roadways. These funds, along with solid waste franchise fees, were deposited into the CSA #10 - Litter Fund and a fund balance has accumulated, with interest, over several years. Recently, a change was made to instead bill DOT at the end of each fiscal year based on actual costs incurred with a not-to-exceed annual amount of $100,000. As a result of the changes, a special revenue fund is no longer needed. There is a remaining balance of approximately $103,000 in the CSA #10 - Litter Fund to be transferred to the CSA #10 - Solid Waste fund.
Re-budgeting Certified Unified Program Agency Vehicle
The 2017-18 Budget included a 2018 Ford Expedition, four-wheel drive, special service vehicle on the Fixed Asset list. Once this purchase was approved and Environmental Management proceeded with submitting the purchase order, it was discovered that due to delays with production, delivery by the end of Fiscal Year 2017-18 would not be possible and that this purchase would need to be carried over to the Fiscal Year 2018-19 budget.
Environmental Management was later notified that the County, rather than going out to bid for its vehicles, intended to utilize the State’s current bid and contract for vehicle purchases. This resulted in a change in the make and model of the vehicle, and due to year-end constraints, this change was not considered during the Fiscal Year 2018-19 final budget process. Environmental Management now intends to purchase one (1) 2019 Chevrolet Tahoe, four-wheel drive, special service vehicle, to be used for the purposes originally intended, such as emergency response to hazardous materials incidents. The purchase will be made utilizing grant funds awarded by the California Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA), Forum Environmental Protection Trust Fund.
The County Purchasing Ordinance, Section 3.12.160, describes exceptions that may be made to the competitive bidding process. The purchase of these fixed assets falls under (D) of this section, which requires that the item may be procured from a vendor that has a contract with another public agency; that the contract was awarded utilizing a competitive bidding process substantially the same as the County's; and that the item and terms of the transaction are the same, or substantially the same. For the vehicle purchase, Environmental Management is able to utilize the State of California competitively-bid Contract 1-18-23-23D with Winner Chevrolet of Elk Grove, CA. The County has also complied with the requirement for a comparative market analysis, as required by the purchasing ordinance.
Environmental Management requests that this vehicle be added to the fixed asset list. This change in vehicle will result in an increase to overall costs in an estimated amount of $156.44 as previously approved by the Board; however, the available grant funding for this vehicle purchase is $45,000. The remaining funds will be used to outfit the vehicle appropriately for program use.
Scale House Automation Project
During Fiscal Year 2017-18, Environmental Management contracted for the purchase and installation of upgrades to the existing Scale House at the Union Mine Disposal Site. The purpose of this upgrade was to allow for automation and reporting of weight calculations for liquid waste haulers while also improving accuracy. During the installation of the software and equipment, it was discovered that the load cells in the existing scale could not fully function with the new software and equipment, and needed to be replaced. The replacement of the original load cells will allow the scale to become fully-automated and function as intended, will increase the accuracy of weighed incoming trucks and corresponding revenue, and will also prolong the useful life of the scale. The additional cost for this equipment and installation is approximately $45,000. The project, including the additional replacement of the load cells, is funded through County Service Area No. 10 - Liquid Waste.
ALTERNATIVES
The Board may choose not to approve this budget transfer. This would result in Environmental Management not having an accurate fund balance for FY 2018/19, not being able to expend various grant funds for planned projects and purchases, not being able to close the CSA #10 Litter Fund, and not being able to complete the Scale House Automation project at the Union Mine Disposal Site.
PRIOR BOARD ACTION
The Board accepted the HHW grant award on October 16, 2018 (Item 7, File No. 18-1107). On May 15, 2018, (Item 10, File No. 18-0643), the Board approved the purchase of one (1) new 2018 Ford Expedition, four-wheel drive, special service vehicle.
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
N/A
CAO RECOMMENDATION / COMMENTS
It is recommended that the Board approve this item.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item would result in the addition of $41,762 in overall unanticipated increases to grant funding, an increase of $68,009 in appropriations from County Service Area No. 10 - Solid Waste, an increase of $45,000 in appropriations from County Service Area No. 10 - Liquid Waste, and the closure of the County Service Area No. 10 - Litter Fund account. There is no change to Net County cost associated with this item.
CLERK OF THE BOARD FOLLOW UP ACTIONS
1) The Clerk of the Board will obtain the Chair’s signature on the original budget transfer and will forward the budget transfer to the Auditor/Controller for processing.
2) The Clerk of the Board will forward one (1) copy of the signed budget transfer to the Community Development Services, Administration and Finance Division, for further processing.
STRATEGIC PLAN COMPONENT
Infrastructure, Healthy Communities, Public Safety
CONTACT
Greg Stanton, REHS, Director
Environmental Management Department