Adoption of Resolution Accepting a Grant from the State of California, Department of Parks and Recreation, Division of Boating and Waterways in an Amount Not to Exceed $80,000 for the Purchase of a Patrol Boat and Boat Trailer; Appropriate up to $80,000 from the General Fund to Purchase Said Patrol Boat and Boat Trailer; and Authorize the City Manager, or His Designee to Execute Grant Funding and Purchase Agreements Necessary to Obtain Reimbursement for Both Expenditures. (Police)
Okay. Real quickly, let me interrupt. We move these items above so that we could dispose of them quickly. So I'd appreciate your indulgence. Thank you. No problem. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Members of the council, Paul Larry, chief of police. The staff report is pretty self-explanatory. The state is wordiness or wants to award us the $80,000 up to $80,000 to assist us in purchasing a boat to replace the current vessel that we have. You might be wondering, you know, what did we do to that boat that it needs to be replaced? The answer is really nothing. It's we've had it for almost 15, 14 years and it's just been normal wear and tear. And there's a there's a critical point in the world of the boat that's continuing to open up and seep water into the vessel. And it's just frankly, you know, we keep patching it up and it keeps leaking. So it's time to move on and get it get a different boat. Thank you. We have questions from council. So why does the police department need a patrol boat? Well, there are several reasons why. Aside from, you know, the enforcing the speed zones in the estuary, we have it there for water rescues if we need them. We also are patrolling the marinas and the harbors and trying to do what we can to help abate the derelict vessels that occasionally get the anchor outs, as they call them, that are out in the estuary. There was a lot of work done. As most of you know, in the last year and a half. Cal Recycle spent almost $2 million in cleaning up the estuary. That was a one shot deal. They're not coming back. And so it's really up to us now to do this. And we know that the county lacks the jurisdiction to enforce some of that stuff in the estuary. So it's it's really going to be on the police department. I swear I did see the comment in a local business letter supporting this, but I also see that the county has a semi-rigid boat that's parked right behind the county cutter. Yes. At Grand Marina. Is there did someone doing an analysis to see if the 80,000 from the general fund. Spent on basically leasing them from the county if they're not patrolling anymore and maintaining that for a certain period of time makes more economic sense then because it's already outfitted then purchasing a new boat for $160,000. The short answer is no. We didn't do a study and I have not spoken with the sheriff directly about it. However, I am aware of some conversation that was had between Mr. Gallop and Sheriff Ahern, and the initial response was that he wasn't inclined to make that boat available for lease. Okay. Clarification. Well, that team member decided. Roadie. I said one question. I wasn't clear the total cost of the boat. Do we have that estimate? No, we don't. There's a there's a variety. I mean, we could go in a few different directions here. There there is a boat out there that could cost upwards of a half a million dollars. And honestly, I'm not I'm not looking to do that. There's there's another boat that might serve our needs that's closer to $90,000 somewhere. You know, I'm going to shoot for the lower end, to be honest with you. But I need a I need a boat that's safe for the people. I would like to have a boat that allows us to go out in inclement weather because right now we only put our boat out in the summer in the boating season, months between men and when Fleet Week, Fleet Week wraps up. So I'd like to be out there a little more frequently than that, if we can hope that answers your question. I think so, yes. Okay. Member Ashcraft, thank you. So my clarification was, are we talking about a $160,000 boat or we're talking about an $82,000 grant and then the city would be reimbursed for the purchase price? Correct. So we don't have the final purchase price because we don't know what we're going to buy yet. So, yes, we would we would appropriate up to $80,000 out of the general fund. And once we submitted all the documents and signed the paperwork, then we would be entirely reimbursed for that up to $80,000. Right. So but as I understand, I mean, the the kind of boat the price range is more in the $80,000 slightly upward than twice that. Right. I right. I don't know that I'm going to spend twice that much money. I mean, the remainder would be out of the general fund. And I've got to be clearly I've got to be fiscally responsible. And I don't want to over purchase a boat that is, you know, beyond what we need or what would allow us to to work, you know, efficiently in the estuary. So if I can if I can get a boat for closer to $90,000, then I'll do that. But we're still I didn't want to put the cart before the horse and start shopping before I received approval to accept the grant money. So does the accepting the grant money require the city then at some point to pay a difference? If there is a difference? Yeah. If there is a difference, then we would have to find that either out of the general fund or or I could seek additional grant funds. So. And you don't have a range. You're not asking us to approve a dollar range? No, you're just asking us to approve this grant at this point. And then an open ended dollar range may come back to us at some point. Is that correct? Correct. But you would have to you would have to come back, right? I would have to come back anyway for. That approval. Motions as appropriate, $8,000. So so so let me let me try to explain it again. So the way this works is he goes out and gets a boat. He then submits his he submits his receipt to the state. State looks at and says, oh, you spent $90,000. Here's $80,000. So my question is then, are we required as a city to pay that extra 10,000? Yes. So then my next question would be, why does not this not come to us with the total amount, with some information, if we're speaking about 160,000 or if we're talking about a $90,000 boat, at least an estimate of what a ballpark figure. Okay. Well, I guess the short answer to that is that because I don't I couldn't really go shopping for the boat unless I knew that we were going to be able to even accept the grant money. Because, frankly, without it, I'm sort of I'm stuck in the mud here for a little while. I don't understand that. I'm sorry. Let me try again. So the way this works is he doesn't go shopping till he has. The acceptance from the state that he can go shopping. He gets acceptance from the state. He presents them with the receipt. Then he doesn't complete the transaction. The state says, okay, that's cool, we're going to send you 18,000. For argument's sake, he's already said that he doesn't want to spend more than $90,000. The $10,000 difference comes back to the council for the council's approval, at which point if the council says we don't want to spend $10,000 to access the other 80, then we walk away from the grant. Right? So that because that's okay. We're not committing to the difference then. No, you're not. Thank you. That's what I was trying to confirm. Thank you. Bellamy Yes, Madam Chair. I'm satisfied with the presentation by the Chief of police, Mr. Larry, as well as the city manager. We'd like to see us move forward. We do have speakers. Okay, let's hear the speakers. So we have speakers of Rockdale Lobby. Thank you. I hope you don't mind. But I can do it. Go in the microphone before you accuse me. My name is Proctor Lap. I'm the harbormaster at the Alameda Marina. Mayor Council. In early 2012, the estuary was plagued with a number of anchor out vessels, derelicts, abandoned vessels. It was a group put together called the Oakland Estuary Coalition. And through this group of harbor masters, police departments, state and federal agencies. A large cleanup program came to be, which ultimately spent close to $8 million to clean up the estuary. At the time that that was done, all of the principals said, without a doubt, we are not going to repeat this again. Cal the State Lands Commission. Cal recycle EPA, Coast Guard, all of whom put in a substantial amount of time and money, said, if you want to keep the estuary clean, it's up to you to maintain it. At that same time, the Oakland Estuary Coalition approached Supervisor Wilma Chan to try to get her to sponsor a new countywide anchor out ordinance. That did not happen. What she ended up doing was going to her legal staff who had the opinion that the Alameda County sheriff does not have jurisdiction on the estuary. The responsibility for law enforcement on the estuary also directly to the Oakland and Alameda Police Department. And so I am here to express my strong support and those of other marine industries on the estuary marina operators that we definitely need a patrol capability on the water and it needs to be a boat that is capable of handling all conditions. We can't outfit our police department with a a minimal capability that won't survive the needs of any kind of weather condition that they may be faced with. You all saw that windstorm we had a couple of days ago. Imagine sending somebody out on the water in that kind of a condition in a marginal boat. So you are trying to develop the island. You have this whole issue with Alameda Point, which includes Seaplane Lagoon. There are law enforcement responsibilities that totally surround our island. And what we know from this past year is that if there is not regular law enforcement on the water activity, these illegal anchor outs will filter back into the estuary. I have to commend the police, Alameda police, they've done a great job in dealing with this over the last year. But it's essential that they maintain regular, vigilant patrols on the Oakland estuary. And I think it's short sighted to be sitting here talking about an extra $10,000. My God. I mean, this is an important piece of equipment. You're asking people to go out and risk their lives. They should have the right equipment to do their job. Thank you. Thank you. Mark, AML, AML. Good evening. My name is Mark O'Malley. I'm the harbormaster at Ballantyne Marina, and I'm just in support of the grant as well. People's safety, you know, around the island, water and everything is important. So I'm just supporting it. Thank you. Chris McKay. Evening. I'm Chris McKay. I grew up here in Alameda. Water skiing and sailing on the estuary. And I'm the harbor master of all the marinas. And I just want to reiterate what Brock said and put a little urgency to it, because what we got cleaned up is starting to creep back and we have two or three boats that have been in our marinas that have been evicted, that are floating around, and there are some criminal elements. So I would say give them a good boat and as soon as possible it would be great. Thank you. Thank you, Tom. Chair I'm sorry. I don't have that, SHARON. Thank you. Mayor and council and members of staff and the attorneys and all the members of the Marine community are in the audience this evening. A pleasure to be here. I am a resident of Alameda for about 16 years. I've had two boats on the water. I do have a boat on the estuary at the present time. I'm the former port captain of the Alien Yacht Club. And I'm still a member. There and I am a member of the Oakland Yacht Club. I will tell you, I don't need to reiterate what Rock Club Locker said or Brock has said. I want to personally thank him and all the members of his committee. We're cleaning up the estuary. If you know what was in that estuary over the last two years or ten years, you'll be surprised what was taken out. I do want you to know that police functions in the estuary are highly important. I live right on the water at at Marina Village Harbor, and I look out from my my home on the water and I hear all the boats that go by. I have a nice crow's nest up there. I'm very fortunate to be there. And I've had I've been on occasion called the police department of Alameda because of speeding boats at night, going probably 35, 45 knots up and down the estuary without any navigation lights. And of course, I call the police department this was a couple of years ago. And they said, well, we don't have the capability to get out there, call Oakland. So I call the Oakland Police Department. And they said we don't have capability to get out there and call the county. So I called the county. County said, well, our boats are down right now and we can't get out there. Call the Coast Guard. So I called the Coast Guard and the Coast Guard said, call the city of Alameda. So so I do want you to know that the issue of who controls the estuary right now. Is very important. And it does. Appear that the weight of responsibility has focused on the city and our chief and our police force, as well as the city of Alameda. And I do encourage you to vote yes on this $80,000 grant. Thank you very much. If. John Spencer. That's our last speaker on this item. Good evening. I'm Shaun Svenson, owner of Swenson's boat, works on the Alameda Marina. Thank you very much for attending to this issue tonight. I think it's very important that you accept this grant. It would be foolish not to. It's very difficult to get these state grants. And I think the city should actually attempt to get more such grants for different items. The State Department of Boating and Waterways has a fairly robust grant program that has been relatively untapped by this city for a long time. Included in that in the in those grants are spill cleanup kits that can be located along the waterfront as long as they're for communal use and such other items. So I would encourage more grant requests in the future. I've spoken to people at the Department of Boating and Waterways and they often don't receive enough grant requests, believe it or not, to give away the money that they have. And in this day and age, that's very important. The police have a boat. It's falling apart. They need a new boat. You have a substantial source of relatively. Great if you're in a very small residual that you'll have to pay to get a new boat. So I strongly encourage you to pass this. Thank you. Thank you. You have emotion. Oh. I'm sorry, counselor. I'll make a motion earlier. I'd like to move adoption of the staff recommendation. I think the key phrase here is that we're. We're accepting a grant in the amount of $80,000 and. And I think that's it's it's great that R.J. was able to get that. So I certainly move adoption of staff's recommendation. I'll second that with a comment that because this is a piece of equipment, just like a patrol car, I'd like to see the appropriation come from a capital fund rather than the general fund so we can begin to manage. Maintaining this service and to maintain that you maintain it just like you maintain patrols with a police vehicle that comes from another fund. General fund. So if if that, if staff can look at that as part of this so that we can maintain the service and not go for years without it. I'm fine with the motion as is to get the process going, but for future we need to plan for the the demise of the boat that's being purchased because it's going to be used just like any other vehicle. That's the. Second. Yeah. Sorry. Well, all right. All those in favor. All right. That passed unanimously. Now we're going to go on to item 60. Recommendation to authorize the city manager or his designee negotiate and execute a ten year agreement for temporary assignment of vehicle or equipment with State of California Office of Emergency Services for the type one fire engine to be utilized for statewide mutual aid response.