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CC 2021-02-09_08e COVID 19 Vaccine Reimbursement Agreement MEMORANDUM TO: CITY COUNCIL FROM: WHITNEY MCDONALD, CITY MANAGER SUBJECT: CONSIDERATION OF AGREEMENTS FOR REIMBURSEMENT OF COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH COVID-19 VACCINATION EFFORTS AND AUTHORIZE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE DATE: FEBRUARY 9, 2021 SUMMARY OF ACTION: Approve and authorize the City Manager to execute a reimbursement agreement with the County of San Luis Obispo (County), the incorporated cities within the County, and the Five Cities Fire Authority, and associated agreements as may be required by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) or the State Office of Emergency Services (OES), to facilitate the reimbursement of costs incurred by the City associated with supporting the County’s COVID-19 vaccination efforts. IMPACT ON FINANCIAL AND PERSONNEL RESOURCES: There are no direct fiscal impacts related to the proposed action; however, approving and authorizing the execution of the reimbursement agreements will facilitate the recovery of costs incurred by the City in supporting the County’s COVID-19 vaccination efforts, such as overtime and other extraordinary expenses directly related to the City’s assistance at the County’s vaccine clinics. RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended the City Council approve and authorize the City Manager to execute the Agreement Between the County of San Luis Obispo, the Cities of Arroyo Grande, Atascadero, Grover Beach, Morro Bay, Paso Robles, Pismo Beach, San Luis Obispo, and the Five Cities Fire Authority (FCFA) for Countywide Covid-19 Vaccination Effort Assistance (Agreement) and any ancillary agreements required by FEMA or OES to enable reimbursement of the City’s costs associated with the COVID-19 vaccine efforts. BACKGROUND: The County Public Health Agency has been working closely with emergency services providers throughout the County to prepare, open, and begin operating three Public Points of Distribution (PPODs) to administer COVID-19 vaccines to the public. Through these efforts, the PPODs are designed to administer up to a total of 3,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines per day. The effective administration of vaccines through the PPODs Item 8.e. - Page 1 CITY COUNCIL CONSIDERATION OF AGREEMENTS FOR REIMBURSEMENT OF COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH COVID-19 VACCINATION EFFORTS AND AUTHORIZE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE FEBRUARY 9, 2021 PAGE 2 is essential to controlling and ending the COVID-19 pandemic. Because the timing and scale of a countywide vaccination effort exceeds the operational capacity of the County and its Public Health function, the County has requested the assistance of the cities, their emergency services providers, and disaster service workers to enable the PPODs to operate properly. The managers of the County and all seven cities have developed a proposed agreement that will enable the cities and the FCFA to receive reimbursement of any additional or extraordinary costs incurred in supporting the PPODs in the event that the County receives federal or State funds for such purposes. ANALYSIS OF ISSUES: Through the Agreement (Attachment 1), the City would commit to assist the County’s vaccination efforts with City resources that would be reimbursable by the County with federal or State funding received for the vaccination effort. The Agreement outlines eligible versus non-eligible costs for reimbursement and the process in which the County will provide reimbursement to participating agencies. The Agreement, which requires approval by the County of San Luis Obispo Board of Supervisors, is drafted to include the Cities of Arroyo Grande, Atascadero, Grover Beach, Morro Bay, Paso Robles, Pismo Beach, San Luis Obispo, and the FCFA. The City’s participation in the vaccination effort will likely come from law enforcement and disaster service worker time at the Arroyo Grande PPOD. Since the Arroyo Grande PPOD opened at Arroyo Grande High School on January 25, 2021, the City has provided one uniformed police officer and 1-2 disaster service workers to provide administrative support at the site. If the City incurs costs associated with overtime or other wages that would not have otherwise been incurred in order to send these personnel to the PPOD, these costs may be reimbursed under the Agreement. However, reimbursement will only occur from federal or State funds that are received by the County, if any, for these purposes. Pursuant to the Agreement, the amount of reimbursement will be contingent on the amount of financial assistance the County receives from the State and federal government. If the County receives 100% of the total vaccination effort costs, the City will receive 100% of its eligible costs. If the County receives less than 100%, the City will receive the percentage of funding that was provided to the County. Any costs not recovered from the County may be submitted for COVID-19 cost reimbursement through FEMA and/or the State of California. As the parties to the Agreement evaluate options for reimbursement from potential federal or State sources, other agreements may be required to comply with specific FEMA or OES provisions. These agreements are likely to be standard and non-negotiable in nature, while also necessary to enable reimbursement from State and federal agencies. It is recommended that Council authorize the City Manager to execute any such standard agreements on behalf of the City. Item 8.e. - Page 2 CITY COUNCIL CONSIDERATION OF AGREEMENTS FOR REIMBURSEMENT OF COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH COVID-19 VACCINATION EFFORTS AND AUTHORIZE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE FEBRUARY 9, 2021 PAGE 3 ALTERNATIVES: The following alternatives are provided for the Council’s consideration: 1. Approve and authorize the City Manager to execute the Agreement and any ancillary agreements required by FEMA or OES to enable reimbursement of the City’s costs associated with the COVID-19 vaccine efforts; or 2. Approve and authorize the City Manager to execute the Agreement and require staff to return to Council for authorization of execution of any ancillary FEMA or OES agreements; or 3. Provide other direction to staff. ADVANTAGES: Authorizing the City Manager to execute the Agreement and any ancillary agreements required by FEMA or OES will enable the City to recover costs associated with assisting the COVID-19 vaccination efforts. DISADVANTAGES: No disadvantages have been identified to authorizing the execution of reimbursement agreements related to the COVID-19 vaccination efforts. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: Not required. PUBLIC NOTIFICATION AND COMMENTS: The Agenda was posted at City Hall and on the City’s website in accordance with Government Code Section 54954.2. Attachments: 1. Agreement Between the County of San Luis Obispo, the Cities of Arroyo Grande, Atascadero, Grover Beach, Morro Bay, Paso Robles, Pismo Beach, San Luis Obispo, and the Five Cities Fire Authority for Countywide Covid-19 Vaccination Effort Assistance Item 8.e. - Page 3 Page 1 of 5 AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE COUNTY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO, THE CITIES OF ARROYO GRANDE, ATASCADERO, GROVER BEACH, MORRO BAY, PASO ROBLES, PISMO BEACH, SAN LUIS OBISPO, AND THE FIVE CITIES FIRE AUTHORITY FOR COUNTYWIDE COVID-19 VACCINATION EFFORT ASSISTANCE THIS AGREEMENT (“Agreement”) is made and entered into on February 2, 2021 by and between the Cities of Arroyo Grande, Atascadero, Grover Beach, Morro Bay, Paso Robles, Pismo Beach, and San Luis Obispo (collectively, the “Cities” or individually, a “City”), the County of San Luis Obispo (“County”), and the Five Cities Fire Authority (“Authority”). WITNESSETH: WHEREAS, the Cities, County, and Authority (collectively, the “Parties” or individually, a “Party”) agree that a coordinated and cooperative vaccination response to the COVID-19 pandemic is in the best interest of all residents of San Luis Obispo County; and, WHEREAS, the Parties agree that an expedited COVID-19 vaccination effort is essential to protect public health and safety of San Luis Obispo County residents and to fully reopen local businesses and schools to support the economic recovery process for our region and return daily life to as close to that which existed prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic; and, WHEREAS, the Parties understand that the timing and scale of this countywide vaccination effort exceeds the operational capacity of the County and its Public Health function and the Cities and Authority commit to assist this effort with resources that would be reimbursable by the County with Federal and/or State funding received that was dedicated to pay for this vaccination effort; and, WHEREAS, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (H.R. 133), which was signed into law on December 27, 2020 by President Trump, includes $4.5 billion in funding to be allocated to states, localities, and territories to plan, prepare for, administer, monitor, and track coronavirus vaccines and ensure broad distribution and access; and, WHEREAS, in addition to receiving Federal funding from H.R. 133, a Party may receive additional funding for vaccine distribution from the Federal government as well as from State government such as through Governor Newsom’s proposed State budget for FY 2021-22, which includes $350 million for State- sponsored vaccine distribution efforts; and, WHEREAS, President Biden has indicated that additional Federal funding may be made available to states and local agencies to support vaccination efforts and defray or cover all costs; and WHEREAS, the Parties agree to work together to support this significant and historic vaccination effort with resources specified below at the request of the County Public Health Officer and consistent with the “Vaccination Letter of Expectation” approved by the Public Health Officer and the County’s Incident Management Team to protect the health and safety of all San Luis Obispo County residents. NOW, THEREFORE, the Parties agree as follows: 1.RECITALS: The above recitals are true and correct and are incorporated hereby by this reference. ATTACHMENT 1 Item 8.e. - Page 4 Page 2 of 5 2. ASSISTANCE AGREEMENT: The following is an Assistance Agreement between the above-named Parties negotiated specifically for the COVID-19 vaccination of citizens of San Luis Obispo County (“Incident”). 3. SCOPE OF ASSISTANCE: The Parties commit to providing necessary resources to carry out the COVID- 19 vaccination effort throughout the County as requested in the “Vaccination Letter of Expectation” approved by the County Public Health Department and the County’s Incident Management Team and attached hereto as Exhibit A. These resources include staffing and out of pocket expenses such as Personal Protective Equipment that represent marginal costs for the vaccination effort as set forth in Sections 4 and 5 below. Staffing assistance from the Cities and Authority will largely come from each Party’s respective fire department, though staffing from other Party departments may also be used if necessary. Necessary resources will be determined by each Party in consultation with the County and the County Incident Management Team based on resource capacity and availability, as some Parties do not have a separate fire department but are served by a multi-agency fire service or are themselves a fire department/authority. 4. REIMBURSABLE COSTS: Additional costs being borne by a Party related to the incident will be included in those considered for reimbursement. The following items are reimbursable costs to a Party by the County for assistance to the County in this COVID-19 vaccination effort which would be similar to reimbursable costs incurred by the County: a. Additional staff hired specifically to support the Incident. b. Additional staff hired to provide substitute/backfill for existing Party staff who are assigned to support the Incident. c. Existing staff that is furloughed or otherwise unable to work due to COVID-19 restrictions or office closures, but brought back to support the Incident. d. Salary (including both base pay and any applicable overtime incentives, but excluding Party overheads such as employee benefits, insurance and payroll taxes) for staff working on the Incident who are not relieved of normal duties. i. Because assignments of hourly personnel are anticipated to be in addition to normal duties, and not instead of, in all cases where staff is eligible for overtime incentives, cost for both base pay and overtime incentives will be included, regardless of whether the individual is being paid overtime. e. Cost for equipment, consumables, and other needs specifically purchased for use while providing support to the Incident including, but not limited to: Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), food, water, paper, pencils, and pens. f. Cost for equipment and consumables taken for use at the Incident that will require replacement at the end of the Incident such as items listed in subsection 4.e above. 5. EXCLUDED FROM REIMBURSABLE COSTS: The following items are Party expenses that will not be eligible for reimbursement by the County with Federal or State funding associated with vaccination efforts. Where appropriate, such expenses will be tracked, and documentation of such expenses will be provided to the County, as they may be reimbursable through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) or the State of California and information related to the types of costs will be provided by each Party to the County: a. Staff assigned to the Incident who are relieved of normal duties. b. Agency and management overhead for staff assigned to the Incident. c. Existing equipment and consumables that are not purchased for the Incident and do not Item 8.e. - Page 5 Page 3 of 5 require replacement at the end of the Incident. d. Costs for non-expendable property purchases made by a Party that can be repurposed for non-Incident purposes. e. Costs incurred by a Party not directly related to COVID-19 vaccination activities. 6. REIMBURSEMENT: The County commits to reimburse the Cities and Authority for eligible costs defined in Section 4 using Federal or State funding received by the County dedicated to COVID-19 vaccination efforts. In the event that Federal or State funding does not fully cover the reimbursable costs incurred by the Cities or Authority for the vaccination efforts, the County will reimburse Cities or Authority based on the formula defined below in subsection 6.b. The County agrees it will pursue additional reimbursement from FEMA and the State of California for all such costs on behalf of all the Parties. Where reimbursement is received from FEMA or the State, the County will provide funds to all Parties in accordance with this Agreement. a. To ensure timely and accurate cost tracking for reimbursement, all Parties agree to provide the County with documentation of ongoing total eligible costs/expenditures incurred within thirty (30) days of each completed quarter and within thirty (30) days of the termination of the County led vaccination effort, hereinafter referred to as the “Final Cost Reporting.” Should a cost be excluded due to untimely submission, such costs will still be included with costs submitted for COVID-19 cost reimbursement through FEMA and/or the State of California. b. In the event that Federal or State funding provided to the County is less than the total costs incurred by all Parties, the County will reimburse each City or the Authority the proportion of the funding received in comparison to the total costs. i. Example: If the County receives 75% of the total costs incurred by Parties, the County will reimburse each Party 75% of their individual agency eligible costs. 1. If the total vaccination effort cost is equal to $5,000,000 and the total Federal and State funding received by the County is $3,750,000, a Party with an eligible total cost to provide assistance of $500,000 would be reimbursed $375,000 by the County. c. Reimbursement will be issued within sixty (60) days following the receipt by the County of eligible Federal or State funding, or within sixty (60) days of the Final Cost Reporting if Federal or State funding is received by the County prior to the termination of the County led vaccination effort. d. The Parties acknowledge that other eligible funding received for vaccination work will be applied towards reimbursement of eligible costs identified in Section 4. 7. OTHER PARTIES: Should the County seek the assistance from other government agencies located in the San Luis Obispo County in relation to the County-wide vaccination efforts not party to this agreement, including special districts, an amendment of this agreement adding said party should be completed in agreement by all existing Parties. 8. LIABILITY AND INDEMNITY: Nothing in this Agreement shall be deemed to create an employee/employer relationship between the Parties or as between any Party and another Party’s respective employees. All third-party claims against any Party shall be adjudicated pursuant to the applicable tort claims act and shall be referred to the agency or agencies whose employees or agents were involved in the incident that gave rise to the claim. Each Party shall be solely responsible for the acts, errors or omissions of its participating employees and agents and shall be solely responsible for any claims or liabilities arising out of the services and activities of its participating employees and agents, including but not limited to worker’s compensation. No Party shall seek indemnification from Item 8.e. - Page 6 Page 4 of 5 another Party for, and shall hold each other Party harmless against the acts, errors or omissions of the Party’s employees and agents. 9. NON-DISCRIMINATION: All Parties shall not discriminate against any person or class of persons in violation of any and all Federal, State, and local non-discrimination laws. 10. COMPLIANCE WITH ALL LAWS: All Parties agree to abide by all laws and regulations applicable to the expenditure of public funds, including but not limited to, the audit of the expenditure of these funds by Federal, State, or County for compliance with regulations and the inclusion of provisions guaranteeing compliance with all labor laws and regulations pertinent to public funds. 11. SEVERABILITY: The invalidity of any provision of the Agreement shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision of the Agreement. 12. TERM: This Agreement is effective as of the Effective Date above and shall continue in effect until terminated by all the Parties. Any Party may terminate their participation in this Agreement by sending written notice of termination to the other Parties. This Agreement shall automatically terminate upon the successful completion of the vaccination efforts and as determined by the County Public Health Department and the Incident Management Team. 13. NOTICES: Any notices required herein shall be sent to the following individuals: If to County: Wade Horton Administrative Office 1055 Monterey St. D430 San Luis Obispo, CA 93408 If to City of Arroyo Grande: If to City of Atascadero: If to City of Grover Beach: If to City of Morro Bay: If to City of Paso Robles: If to City of San Luis Obispo: If to Five Cities Fire Authority: 14. COUNTEPARTS AND EXECUTION: This Agreement may be executed in counterpart signatures and transmitted by electronic mail with the same force and legal effect as an original. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Parties have executed this Agreement as of the Effective Date: Item 8.e. - Page 7 Page 5 of 5 SIGNATURES County of San Luis Obispo: ____________________________ __________ Signature/Title Date City of Arroyo Grande: ____________________________ __________ Signature/Title Date City of Atascadero: ____________________________ __________ Signature/Title Date City of Grover Beach: ____________________________ __________ Signature/Title Date City of Morro Bay: ____________________________ __________ Signature/Title Date City of Paso Robles: ____________________________ __________ Signature/Title Date City of Pismo Beach: ____________________________ __________ Signature/Title Date City of San Luis Obispo: ____________________________ __________ Signature/Title Date Five Cities Fire Authority: ____________________________ __________ Signature/Title Date Item 8.e. - Page 8 Attachment 1 - Exhibit A Item 8.e. - Page 9 Attachment 1 - Exhibit A Item 8.e. - Page 10 Attachment 1 - Exhibit A Item 8.e. - Page 11 Attachment 1 - Exhibit A Item 8.e. - Page 12