City Council Meeting:  August 14, 2007

Agenda Item:  1B

To:                   Mayor and City Council 

From:              Jim Hone, Fire Chief

Subject:          Acceptance and Appropriation of FY 2006 Urban Area Security Initiative Grant Funds

 

Recommended Action

Staff recommends that City Council authorize the City Manager to accept the FY 2006 Urban Area Security Initiative Grant funds and authorize budget changes outlined in the Budget/Financial Impact section of this report.

 

Executive Summary

Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) provides no-match grant funding for costs associated with updating and implementing each State's Homeland Security Strategy (SHSS) and to enhance the capability of local agencies to prevent and respond to threats and/or incidents of terrorism.  The City will receive $440,538 in 2006 UASI funds which will be used for equipment and training in direct support of overall regional security goals. 


Discussion

Background

As a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security through the Office for Domestic Preparedness has been providing financial assistance to state and local governments through a variety on no-match grant programs.

 

The UASI grant program was created to support large “core” cities and those other cities with contiguous borders to the core city.  The UASI grant program is 100% federally funded from the Department of Homeland Security to the State of California.  The City of Los Angeles acts as the core city for the UASI grant and allots funds to Santa Monica.

 

 The Santa Monica Fire Department serves as the point of contact for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and coordinates with other city departments to address the homeland security needs of the City of Santa Monica.

 

The City of Santa Monica has directly received approximately $3.2 million of Department of Homeland Security no-match grant funding since 2001. These funds have purchased necessary equipment, supplies and training in direct support of overall regional goals to promote effective information gathering, sharing and response to threats and/or acts of terrorism.  

 

 Specifically these funds provided:

  • Authorized training, tools and equipment to meet the minimum State and Regional requirements for Weapons of Mass Destruction, Personal Protective Equipment, Hazardous Material Response Team and Urban Search and Rescue Team for the Fire Department.
  • Impact/shatter-resistant glass for areas of the Public Safety Facility and vehicle location and personnel notification hardware and software for the Police Department.
  • Authorized training and personnel notification hardware and software, Geographical Information System (GIS) crisis information and mapping system, and equipment to improve emergency communications for Emergency Management.
  • Traffic barricades and hand washing stations for the Environmental and Public Works Management Department.
  • Hazardous Materials Vehicle and all specialized equipment for detection, identification and mitigation of hazardous materials incidents.
  • Urban Search and Rescue tools and equipment.
  • Fire and police personnel alerting and notification system.
  • Satellite Phone for Emergency Operations Center.
  • Regional Communications Center Radios, Mobile Data Terminals and other equipment related to transition to Operational Control Division of the City of Los Angeles Fire Department.
  • Testing device for air purifying respirators.

The 2006 no-match UASI grant funds will be used by the Fire Department to purchase chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or explosive certified self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA); for training to sustain Hazardous Materials (Haz-Mat) Response and Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Teams; and to provide weapons of mass destruction (WMD) response training.

 

Budget/Financial Impact

The following 2007/08 budget changes will be necessary:

1)     Establish budget for revenue account number 20312.406792($440,538).

2)     Appropriate $236,418 to Capital Outlay account 20312.588592 for purchase of SCBA units.

3)     Appropriate $204,120 to Supplies/Expenses account number 20312.555392 for training costs associated with WMD response, Haz-Mat and USAR training.

 

Prepared by:

Cindy Tomlinson, Sr. Administrative Analyst - Fire

 

Approved:

 

Forwarded to Council:    

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jim Hone

Fire Chief, Fire Department

 

P. Lamont Ewell

City Manager