City Council Meeting

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F.2.h.

Meeting Date:	12/07/2021
Contact:	Isom Cameron, Deputy City Manager

COUNCIL ACTION

Motion by Councilmember Marks with a second by Councilmember Brown-Patrick to approve as presented. Motion passes 7-0.

AGENDA ITEM:

Consider authorizing the City Manager to negotiate and execute a service contract in the amount of not-to-exceed $107,800 with Berry Dunn, McNeil & Parker, LLC to conduct a Needs Assessment related to the Computer-Aided Dispatch System used by the Southwest Regional Communications Center and participating Public Safety Agencies

BACKGROUND:

The Southwest Regional Communications Center (SWRCC) serves the communities of Cedar Hill, DeSoto, and Duncanville as well as the University of North Texas Dallas. SWRCC is a primary Public Safety Answering Point, which answers incoming 9-1-1 calls and seamlessly integrates with the Police and Fire departments of each entity to dispatch response equipment and personnel. SWRCC is located in DeSoto and is staffed by City of Desoto personnel; however, the cost of operating the center is shared among each of the participating cities.

In January 2020, SWRCC transitioned from the OSSI/SunGard Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) System to the Zuercher Pro Suite CAD/Records Management System (RMS) and Jail Management System (JMS). The implementation process resulted in a system that fails to meet several operational needs for the partner organizations. Some issues associated with the current CAD/RMS include: data output format, system speed, data duplication, mobile mapping limitations, mobile app limitations, and inaccessibility of premise information. Therefore, SWRCC seeks an independent review of the operational needs of the participating organizations and of the current CAD/RMS implementation in order to develop alternatives to address identified functionality gaps.

FINDINGS:

On July 7, the City of DeSoto advertised a Request for Proposals (ACM-2016-RFP) to identify qualified firms capable conducting a needs assessment related to the CAD and RMS systems utilized by SWRCC and participating agencies. Responses were received from the seven firms identified below:

Berry Dunn
Client First Technology
Federal Engineering
Galena Group, Inc
Mission Critical Partners, LLC
National Public Safety
Windbourne Consulting, LLC

A proposal evaluation committee consisting of the Deputy City Managers and Assistant City Managers from the participating cities along with a member of the SWRCC leadership team reviewed and scored the proposals based on the following criteria:

• Quality of response and project understanding and approach
• Experience of firm and identified team members with public safety CAD/RMS equipment
• Proposed approach to quantifying and preparing recommended resolutions to identified operational issues
• Availability of key personnel and support resources
• Proposed timeline

The four highest-scoring firms were invited to make in-person presentations and answer questions from the evaluation committee with representatives from the partner agencies. Berry Dunn received the highest score out of all responding firms, and the evaluation committee unanimously agrees to recommend Berry Dunn as the firm to conduct the CAD/RMS Needs Assessment.

FINANCIAL IMPACT:

The cost of operating the SWRCC is shared among the participating cities. During the FY 2022 Budget process, the proposed contribution share for each of the three participating cities of DeSoto, Cedar Hill, and Duncanville included $40,000 each for a total of $120,000 available in the SWRCC budget for the CAD/RMS Needs Assessment.

RECOMMENDATION:

Staff recommends Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a service contract in the amount of $98,000, for Berry Dunn McNeil & Parker, LLC to conduct a Needs Assessment related to the Computer-Aided Dispatch System used by the Southwest Regional Communications Center and participating Public Safety Agencies and approve total contract budget of $107,800, which includes 10% contingency.

MANAGEMENT REVIEW

Attachments
RFP
Berry Dunn Proposal
Award Recommendation