Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, January 12, 2021
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER APPROVING AN EMERGENCY PURCHASING AGREEMENT WITH BEST BUY, ROCK STEADY PRODUCTIONS INC. AND VERSA PRODUCTS, FOR THE PURCHASE TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT AND COVID-19 PROTECTIVE SUPPLIES TO ENABLE CITY STAFF TO WORK IN SAFE WORKING ENVIRONMENT AND PREVENT AND COMBAT THE SPREAD OF COVID-19 (CITY COUNCIL)
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I. SUMMARY
Staff recommends authorizing Best Buy, Rock Steady Productions, Inc. and Versa Products for the purchase of emergency equipment and related services, including sneeze guards, acrylic separation barriers, metal framing, mounting brackets and installation. The purchase and installation of separation barriers are needed for staff throughout the City Hall, the Community Center and Corporate Yard for protection of staff and the prevention of the spread of COVID-19.
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
1. WAIVE the formal bidding procedures as outlined in CMC Chapter 6, 2611 Exceptions to Bidding Requirements for Purchases Other Than for Public Projects
2. APPROVE the award of purchase orders of electronic equipment from Best Buy in the amount of $29,854.72.
3. APPROVE the award of purchase orders for acrylic separation barriers from Versa Products in the amount of $30,407.09.
4. APPROVE the award of purchase orders for acrylic separation barriers from Rock Steady Productions, Inc. not to exceed $40,000 for fiscal year 2020/2021.
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III. ALTERNATIVES
TAKE any other action the City Council deems appropriate.
IV. BACKGROUND
On March 19, 2020, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-33-20 which required “all individuals living in the State of California to stay home or at their place or residence except as needed to maintain continuity of operations of the federal critical infrastructure sectors”. On March 17, 2020, the City Council adopted resolution 20-053 declaring the existence of local emergency in response to COVID-19 pandemic. As a health measure, the Director of Human Resources and Risk Management issued a telecommuting agreement for eligible employees. Eligible employees were provided software and/or hardware to operate efficiently and effectively while telecommuting. The City Manager authorized the purchase of twenty (20) Microsoft Surface Book 2 laptops from Best Buy under purchase order no. 22001215 in the amount of $29,854.72. Due to the massive nationwide shift to work from home due to COVID-19, laptops were in very limited supply. Best Buy was chosen as the only vendor with inventory and ability to deliver in a timely manner at market price. These laptops were issued by the Information Technology Division to staff that were approved to telecommute by the Director of Human Resources and Risk Management.
On May 18, 2020, Governor Newsom revised the criteria for counties to allow for expanded Stage 2 business activities. As such, city halls in Southern California began to reopen to the public over the next couple of weeks. On June 2, 2020, City Council authorized the Disaster Council to prepare a plan for reopening and submit a plan to the County of Los Angeles Health Department. On June 09, 2020 City Council provided direction to staff to prepare a reopening plan for the City Hall and other City facilities that included the placement of hand sanitizer, installation of Plexiglas, removal of furniture, designated routes, signage and placement of floor markers to ensure the safety and protection of staff and residents to reopen City Hall and other City facilities.
The City Council declared emergency resolution no. 20-053 established emergency procedures to provide the City Manager (Director of Emergency Preparedness) authority to approve purchases above the existing City Manager spending authority and obtain vital supplies, equipment, and such other properties found lacking and needed for the protection of life and property during the emergency (CMC 3705). Under Section 3(b) of the resolution establishing Disaster Council, the procurement ordinance is suspended “to the extent reasonably necessary to address the effects of COVID-19 pandemic”. The City Manager authorized the following purchases of custom acrylic barriers for the protection of staff:
|
Vendor Name |
Purchase Order No. |
Amount |
Areas Installed |
|
Versa Products |
22001357 |
$5,913 |
City Hall’s Customer facing areas |
|
|
22001402 |
$24,993 |
Anderson Park Calas Park, Carson Park, Del Amo Park, Dolphin Park, Dominguez Park, Hemingway Park, Mills Park, Scott Park, Stevenson Park, Veterans Park, Community Center, and Corporate Yard |
|
Rock Steady Productions |
22100046 |
$20,993 |
Human Resources, Treasury, Engineering, Planning, City Manager’s Office, Public Safety, Purchasing, Central Services, Public Information, Front Lobby and Council Chambers and City Hall |
|
|
22100269 |
$1,976 |
City Clerk’s Office and Community Development |
|
|
22100666 |
$3,120 |
Finance and Information Technologies |
The City chose Versa Products and Rock Steady Productions for the purchase and installation of acrylic separation barriers with metal framing and mounting brackets throughout the City due to their ability to deliver and install within the scheduled requirements. The total expenditures for Versa Products for acrylic separation barriers spent in fiscal year 2019/2020 is $30,407.09. The total expenditures for Rock Steady Productions for acrylic separation barriers spent in fiscal year 2020/2021 is $26,364.19.
Under CMC 2611(d)(2), “expenditures made during a locally declared emergency or in an emergency situation must be reported to the City Council at the next regular City Council meeting if approval for such expenditures would otherwise have been subject to the approval for the City Council.” The Finance director will continue to monitor and work directly with Purchasing staff to ensure that emergency expenditures are reported to the City Council on a timely manner at the next regular City Council meeting.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
Staff will request reimbursement for expenditures through the FEMA’s Disaster Recovery assistance program. Upon review and approval, FEMA reimburses the 75% of the cost of COVID-19 related expenditures. The funds for these services are paid through the General Fund earmarked for the Emergency Operations Center, account number 101-99-999-999-6501.
VI. EXHIBITS
N/A
Prepared by: Tarik Rahmani, Finance Director