TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: Javier Carcamo, Finance Director
Anthony Conrad, Chief of Police
PREPARED BY: Paige Hartman-Salazar, Management Analyst - Special Projects
SUBJECT: title
First Amendment and Restatement of the Dispatch Service Agreement Between the City of Murrieta and the City of Menifee
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RECOMMENDATION
recommendation
Adopt Resolution No. 24-4776 entitled: A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Murrieta, California, Authorizing the First Amendment, and Restatement of the Dispatch Service Agreement Between the City of Murrieta and the City of Menifee; and Rescind Resolution No. 23-4666 Previously Authorized the First Amendment and Restatement.
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PRIOR ACTION/VOTE
On February 19, 2019, the City Council authorized staff to enter into negotiations with the City of Menifee to provide police dispatching services for the City of Menifee's new police department beginning July 1, 2020 (Vote 5-0).
On August 20, 2019, the City Council authorized staff to enter into an agreement between the City of Murrieta and the City of Menifee for police dispatch services (Vote 4-0-1).
On May 16, 2023, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 23-4666, authorizing the First Amendment and Restatement of the Dispatch Service Agreement between the City of Murrieta and the City of Menifee (Vote 5-0).
CITY COUNCIL GOAL
Provide a high level of innovative public safety and maintain a high-performing organization that values fiscal sustainability, transparency, accountability, and organizational efficiency.
BACKGROUND
The City of Murrieta (Murrieta) is a full-service City with its own Police and Fire & Rescue Departments. Calls for service for both departments are handled by the Public Safety Dispatchers Communication Center, which is budgeted and housed within the Murrieta Police Department. On July 13, 2017, a meeting was held at the request of neighboring cities, i.e., the City of Canyon Lake, Lake Elsinore, Wildomar, Menifee, and Temecula. The purpose of the meeting was to request that Murrieta explore the feasibility of contracting police and fire services to their respective cities.
On July 26, 2018, representatives from the City of Menifee (Menifee) met with the City Manager and Chief of Police to discuss the possibility of Menifee contracting for police dispatch services with the Murrieta Police Department. At the request of Menifee, the Murrieta Police Department completed a preliminary study to identify the operations and potential costs associated with providing police dispatch services to Menifee. The study was completed in August 2018. The findings of the preliminary study showed an impact on staffing levels and substantial financial savings, based on a shared cost model, if the Murrieta Police Department were to provide dispatch services to Menifee. To support Menifee, it was necessary to add additional dispatch personnel to meet the increase in call volume without diminishing response times to the City of Murrieta residents.
On November 7, 2018, the Menifee City Council passed a Resolution authorizing the formation of a municipal police department for the City of Menifee. The Resolution also called for the Menifee City Manager to negotiate with the Murrieta Police Department to form a "joint dispatch arrangement." On January 14, 2019, executive staff from both cities held a meeting to convey Menifee's desire to contract police dispatching services from the Murrieta Police Department. The City of Menifee was also interested in contracting for services with the City of Murrieta for areas closely associated with police dispatch services. On February 19, 2019, Murrieta City Council approved the concept of providing police dispatch services to Menifee and authorized staff to enter into negotiations with the City of Menifee to provide police dispatch services. Shortly thereafter, representatives of both cities met several times to draft a professional services agreement pertaining to the provision of police dispatching services to Menifee. Prior to the first call of service dispatched by the Murrieta Public Safety Dispatchers Communication Center for the Menifee Police Department, key personnel from the Murrieta Police Department and the Information Services Division worked diligently to implement the dispatch service operations to Menifee based on the scope of work of the agreement. On August 20, 2019, Murrieta City Council authorized entering into an agreement between Murrieta and Menifee for police dispatch services beginning July 1, 2020. The City of Menifee City Council approved the agreement on August 21, 2019.
Similar to other projects of this magnitude, dispatch operations and processes have evolved due to efforts to improve efficiency and effectiveness. During the previous year, City representatives from the Murrieta Police and Finance Departments met regularly with the City of Menifee counterparts to identify the necessary amendments to the agreement for memorializing current practices and processes to deliver dispatch services, language “clean-up” to clarify services, and expand on cost methodology. The most significant amendments to the agreement are summarized as follows:
• Add language to describe the “Fully Burdened Hourly Rate (FBHR);”
• Add on-call and biannual leave cash-out compensation as a component of cost reimbursement;
• Add language to identify “productive hours,” a factor used to calculate the FBHR;
• Add language to calculate cost reimbursement for Dispatch Supervisor positions separately from the Dispatcher positions’ FBHR. The current agreement calls for Dispatch Supervisor cost to be embedded into the Dispatcher Positions FBHR;
• Add language to describe the activity-based cost allocation methodology. This methodology allows for an equitable share of cost based on the actual activity, i.e., the number of calls being performed by the dispatch center;
• Add language that allows Menifee to pull voice recordings and be allowed to handle their Public Records Act requests directly;
• Add language for the Murrieta Information Services Division to maintain data for one year if Menifee were to change their Records Management System to a provider other than the current software; and
• Add language to trigger an amendment to the agreement if Murrieta is to provide dispatch services to another governmental agency.
Due to the number of proposed modifications to the agreement, staff brought the first amendment and restatement to the City Council on May 17, 2023, which was adopted but not acted upon. After further communication with Menifee and internal personnel during the past year regarding certain discrepancies in the verbiage within the agreement, staff proposes the following additional changes since the May 17, 2023, action, which Menifee has agreed upon:
1. Page 17 - Updated 1j as defined in the redlined agreement:
a. “j. Maintain appropriate staffing levels as established in the Communications Manual.”
2. Page 18 - Updated 3a to change the verbiage about maintaining software upgrades:
a. “Maintain vendor-recommended upgrades to the existing CentralSquare CAD and RMS, including licensed ancillary modules, to the multi-agency versions of the software.”
3. Page 18 - Updated 3c as discussed and based on recommended language from IT:
a. “c. Murrieta's CAD/RMS Administrators will be the main contact for any issues related to the CAD and RMS applications and will contact the Information Technology Services Help Desk following Murrieta's current normal business hours (0800 hours to 1700 hours) and after-hours (1700 hours to 0800 hours) procedures. Murrieta will provide 24 hours per day / 7 days per week access to and assistance from Murrieta technical support personnel to address critical issues related to CAD/RMS and/or network-related issues relating to CAD/RMS applications. If an after-hours incident does not meet the emergency threshold, Murrieta IT will direct Menifee to create a help desk ticket, and response to the issue will be on the next business day. Examples of what may constitute a critical emergency include issues that cause a business stoppage or disruption of critical business.”
4. Page 20: Updated 4c as defined in the redlined agreement.
a. “c. Upon discovery, provide notification to Menifee and Information Technology departments if the City of Murrieta SD-WAN becomes inoperable.”
5. Page 21: Updated 2d as defined in the redlined agreement:
a. “d. Conform to Murrieta call types and dispositions. Murrieta will collaborate in good faith with Menifee if there are any desired changes to call types or dispositions by either party.”
On May 1, 2024, the City of Menifee City Council approved the first amendment and restatement of the Dispatch Service Agreement Between the City of Murrieta and the City of Menifee to include all the abovementioned amendments. Therefore, the City of Murrieta staff proposes rescinding Resolution No. 23-4666 from May 17, 2023, and adopting Resolution No. 24-4776 which authorizes the revised first amendment and restatement of the agreement to include all the abovementioned amendments (Attachment 3).
FISCAL IMPACT
The reimbursement cost for dispatch services is included in the Biennial Operating Budget for Fiscal Years 2024/25.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Resolution No. 24-4776
2. First Amendment and Restatement of Dispatch Services Agreement (Redline)
3. First Amendment and Restatement of Dispatch Services Agreement (Final)