Agenda - 06-23-2004-5k - Laserfiche WebLink

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ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: June 23, 2004 Action Agenda Item No. ~~ SUBJECT: Authorization for Staff to Bid and Acquire Grant Funded Decontamination Equipment DEPARTMENT: Purchasing/Emergency PUBLIC HEARING: (YIN) No Management ATTACHMENT(S): None INFORMATION CONTACT: Pam Jones, ext. 2650 Kent McKenzie, ext. 3030 TELEPHONE NUMBERS: Hillsborough 732-8181 Chapel Hill 968-4501 Durham 688-7331 Mebane 336-227-2031 PURPOSE: Ta consider authorizing the Purchasing Director to solicit and award a bid to purchase a federal grant-funded portable decontamination shelter with related equipment. BACKGROUND: In April 2004, the BOCC accepted $26,357 in bioterrorism preparedness grant funding from the Federal Human Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The purpose of this grant program is to establish a baseline response capability in hospitals and county EMS systems to address bioterrorism events, The primary use of this funding in Orange County will be to ptrchase a decontamination shelter capable of decontaminating non- ambulatory patients from an incident, The specified equipment would also provide capability for EMS to decontaminate persons involved in chemical incidents, terrorist or otherwise, Staff were recently informed by the State Office of Emergency Management that the HRSA grant funds must be fully expended, and reimbursement requested, by August 31, 2004. Given this short suspense, there is insufficient time under standing County practice (the cost of the decontamination equipment is expected to slightly exceed the Purchasing Director's $20,000 limit on awarding equipment bids) to solicit and award bids, receive the equipment, and seek reimbursement by the August 31 date, Staff propose that the Board authorize the Purchasing Director, as an exception to policy, to award the bid for the decontamination equipment to the lowest responsive bidder, If approved by the BOCC, this approach should allow for the acquisition, payment, and reimbursement actions to take place by August 31, The balance of this grant funding ($4,680) is earmarked to replace outdated UHF radio equipment in the County's communications center, This will provide access to the North Carolina Medical Communications Network, a statewide redundant UHF radio network being built by the State Office of EMS to link communications centers, hospitals, and State agencies.