Item Coversheet


LEGISLATIVE MEMORANDUM


TO:


Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
FROM:
THRU: Joan Junkala-Brown, Community & Ecocnomic Development
DATE:

12/3/2020
RE:

Consideration of a grant application to Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation to obtain dive equipment for the Police Department dive team.

Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation provides funding for lifesaving equipment for first responders through its no-match grant program.  The “Foundation” emerged in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina when Firehouse Subs co-founders Chris and Robin Sorensen, both former firefighters, donated food to first responders in Mississippi in 2005.  The need to support first responders in the field became a corporate mission and Firehouse Subs launched its grant award program. 

 

The City of Palm Bay Fire Department received Foundation funding in 2018 for battery operated cutter tools commonly known as “The Jaws of Life” which are used to rescue accident victims trapped in vehicles.

 

The City of Palm Bay Police Department’s six-officer dive team has been responding to what are often emergency calls for assistance and participating in training exercises using equipment that is many years old, and in a condition which potentially exposes divers to biological contaminants and toxic chemicals present in what are often murky, swamp-like dive conditions with unknown hazards.

 

The current dive-gear equipment inventory includes:

 

  • Drysuits (DUI manufacturer) – 5 total (2 purchased in 2016, the other 3 purchased in 2005)

  • Regulators (3 Sherwood and 3 AquaLung) – (all purchased before 2005)

  • Buoyancy Compensators (Zeagle) – 4 (all purchased approximately 2005)

  • AGA Full Face Masks (Divator) – 5 ( 2 purchased around 2015, 3 purchased approximately 2000, 1 is just used for parts to keep others functioning)

  • OTS Wireless Communications (Buddy Phones) – 1 system and it is broken (purchased approximately 2000)

     

 

The City of Palm Bay Police Department would like to pursue a grant not to exceed the maximum award amount of $50,000, to replace the existing, aging dive equipment, including new suits, masks, and wireless communication phones for the six-officer dive team.

 

The funder application provides the following statement/requirement. “Only one vendor quote can be submitted. Your application will be marked incomplete if more than one quote is submitted.”   In order to comply with this requirement and avoid disqualification, the City has historically submitted a single vendor quote and has requested that the Foundation purchase and donate the equipment.  

 

The new Firehouse Subs Public Safety funding cycle will open on January 1, 2021, at which time, with Council approval, a completed grant application will be submitted for consideration as one of only 600 applications accepted quarterly by the Foundation.   Award notifications for prevailing applicants will be issued approximately two months following submission.

 

Approval is also being sought so that if the City of Palm Bay application is not funded the first quarter of 2021, authorization is granted to re-submit the application quarterly until such time as the grant may be awarded to the Palm Bay Police Department for this equipment or until another funding stream is utilized for this purchase. The Foundation grant policy provides guidance which includes a request that awardee organization/agencies apply no more frequently than every two years.   Should the City receive an award in 2021, the next window to apply for this grant  with a new request would begin in 2023.  

REQUESTING DEPARTMENT:
City Manager's Office, Community & Economic Development, Police Department

FISCAL IMPACT:
If awarded, there will be no match required. A cost-savings will be realized over the first two years after the dive gear is put into service as the new equipment will not require the repair and upkeep presently needed to maintain the aging suits, masks and masks. The funder application provides the following statement/requirement. “Only one vendor quote can be submitted. Your application will be marked incomplete if more than one quote is submitted.” In order to comply with this requirement and avoid disqualification, the City has historically submitted a single vendor quote and has requested that the Foundation purchase and donate the equipment.

RECOMMENDATION:

Motion to request approval to submit a grant application to Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation for the purpose of obtaining dive equipment for the City of Palm Bay Police Department dive team and to re-submit quarterly, if needed, to continue competitive efforts to secure this grant funding in 2021.