[Public Safety Committee on March 4, 2025.]
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COMMITTEE, AND I'M CALLING THIS MEETING TO ORDER IN CHAMBERS.WE ARE JOINED, UM, BY COUNCIL MEMBER TWILA CARTER AND STAFF FROM THE OFFICES OF COUNCIL MEMBER TARSHA JACKSON.
COUNCIL MEMBER FRED FLICKINGER, COUNCIL MEMBER TIFFANY THOMAS.
COUNCIL MEMBER ANNE HUFFMAN, COUNCIL MEMBER JOAQUIN MARTINEZ.
AND COUNCIL MEMBER JULIAN RAMIREZ.
THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR BEING HERE TODAY.
UM, TODAY WE HAVE ONE PRESENTATION, UM, FROM THE FLEET MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT, UM, DIRECTOR GLASSCOCK, IF YOU WANNA COME FORWARD.
WE ARE GOING TO BE TALKING ABOUT THE EMERGENCY VEHICLE TENURE FLEET PLANS, AND WHENEVER YOU ARE READY.
IN TODAY'S DISCUSSIONS, I'LL BE PRESENTING FLEET PLANS FOR THE MOST WIDELY USED EMERGENCY RESPONSE VEHICLES.
I'LL ALSO PROVIDE SOME INFORMATION ON CURRENT FLEET CONDITIONS AND TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT SOME OF OUR CHALLENGES.
WE'LL START THE PRESENTATION WITH A DISCUSSION OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
THE DEPARTMENT OPERATES A TOTAL OF 977 VEHICLES OF THAT TOTAL, 744 ARE ON ROAD WHILE 233 ARE OFF ROAD.
ROUGHLY 60% OF THE ON ROAD FLEET IS BEYOND USEFUL LIFE BENCHMARKS THAT ARE SET UP BASED ON AGE AND MILES OPERATED.
SO OUR FOCUS TODAY WILL BE THE FOUR VEHICLE TYPES THAT ARE HIGHLIGHTED IN GREEN AT THE TOP OF THE TABLE ON THE LEFT.
THESE ARE THE PRIMARY VEHICLES USED BY THE FIRE DEPARTMENT FOR DAILY OPERATIONS.
SO FIRST ON THE LIST ARE AMBULANCES.
I'M GONNA RUN THROUGH THIS TABLE IN SOME DETAIL TO PROVIDE, UH, SOME CLARITY ON THE INFORMATION THAT'S BEING PRESENTED.
I KNOW WE'VE GOT A LOT OF ACRONYMS IN HERE, A LOT OF FLEET BUZZWORDS, SO PLEASE DON'T HESITATE TO STOP ME IF YOU'VE GOT ANY QUESTIONS ON, UH, ON WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
SO, STARTING WITH THE, UH, CURRENT FLEET NEEDS AT THE TOP OF THE TABLE, YOU'LL SEE DAILY PVR.
THIS IS PEAK VEHICLE REQUIREMENT.
THIS IS THE GREATEST NUMBER OF VEHICLES USED TO PROVIDE DAILY SERVICE.
SO IN THE CASE OF THE AMBULANCES, THE FIRE DEPARTMENT HAS INDICATED THEY NEED 113 AMBULANCES TO HANDLE THEIR NEEDS WITH FULL STAFFING.
THEN MOVING TO THE RIGHT MAINTENANCE SPARES.
MAINTENANCE SPARES ARE ADDITIONAL VEHICLES THAT ARE NEEDED TO COVER ROUTINE MAINTENANCE AND ACCIDENTS SO THAT WE CAN ENSURE THE PEAK VEHICLE REQUIREMENT IS SATISFIED.
SO, IN OTHER WORDS, WE NEED A FEW EXTRA VEHICLES SO THAT WE CAN DO OUR PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE, BRAKE JOBS, THAT SORT OF THING WITHOUT IMPACTING DAILY SERVICE.
SO INDUSTRY STANDARDS TYPICALLY GO FROM 10 TO 20% ON THE NUMBER OF SPARES ALLOWED.
IN OUR PARTICULAR CASE, WE'RE DEALING WITH AN AGED FLEET.
WE'RE DEALING WITH VEHICLES THAT RUN 24 HOURS A DAY, AND WE'RE DEALING WITH LONG DELIVERY DAYS.
SO THAT'S WHY WE PUSH THAT SPARE RATIO UP TO 20%.
SO THEN WE GET TO THE TOTAL DAILY FLEET NEEDS.
SO THIS IS A SUM OF THE PEAK VEHICLE REQUIREMENT AND THE SPARES.
SO THIS PARTICULAR FIGURE IS THE SIZE OF THE FLEET THAT WE NEED TO HANDLE AMBULANCE OPERATIONS WITHIN THE CITY OF HOUSTON.
MOVING TO ANNUAL ACCIDENT ATTRITION.
THIS IS A NUMBER OF VEHICLES THAT ARE LOST EACH YEAR DUE TO ACCIDENTS IN THE, UH, CASE OF AMBULANCES.
WE HAVE LOST THREE ANNUALLY FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS.
AND, UH, WHAT WE FIND IS OUR EMERGENCY RESPONSE VEHICLES ARE ESPECIALLY PRONE TO ACCIDENTS BECAUSE OF THE SITUATIONS THAT, UH, THEY NEED TO OPERATE IN.
AND THEN FINALLY AT THAT TOP, UH, TOP, UH, HEADING, UH, TABLE, ADDITIONAL UNITS NEEDED FOR EMERGENCY ACTIVATION.
SO THESE ARE ADDITIONAL UNITS THAT HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED BY THE FIRE DEPARTMENT AS NEEDED WHEN WIDE SCALE EMERGENCY RESPONSE ACTIVITIES ARE PUT INTO PLACE.
SO LIKE IN THE CASE OF HURRICANE RESPONSE, THAT SORT OF THING WHERE THERE'S EXTRA STAFF DEPLOYED, FIRE DEPARTMENT IS INDICATING THEY CAN USE A 10 ADDITIONAL AMBULANCES ON TOP OF THEIR DAILY FLEET MEET.
MOVING DOWN IN THE TABLE TO CURRENT REPLACEMENT INFORMATION,
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THE USEFUL LIFE BENCHMARKS FOR AMBULANCES ARE FIVE YEARS OF AGE AND 120,000 MILES PER OPERAT OF, OF OPERATION.WHEN IT COMES TO PURCHASE PRICE, WE SHOW BOTH THE REPLACEMENT COST AND AN EXPANSION COST.
SO THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO WITH REPLACEMENT WILL TYPICALLY BRING A NEW UNIT IN AND THEN TAKE SOME COMPONENTS OFF THE UNIT THAT'S BEING REPLACED, SUCH AS A RADIO LAPTOP HOLDER SORT OF THING, AND THEN REMOUNT THEM IN THE NEW UNIT.
WITH EXPANSION VEHICLES, THOSE ARE ADDITIONS TO THE FLEET.
NOTHING'S BEING REPLACED, SO EVERYTHING HAS TO BE PURCHASED NEW.
IN THE CASE OF THE AMBULANCES, THERE REALLY ISN'T MUCH DIFFERENCE BECAUSE THE AMBULANCES ARE DELIVERED PRETTY MUCH, UH, READY TO ROLL.
UM, AND SO BOTH COSTS ARE HELD, UH, EQUAL AT $356,000.
SO THIS IS WHAT WE'VE PAID FOR OUR LAST AMBULANCE ORDERED.
THEN THE ANNUAL COST INFLATION RATE WE SELECTED FOR AMBULANCES IS 5%.
AND THIS IS A, THIS IS A WHOLE LOT OF WISHFUL THINKING.
UM, OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS, WE'VE SEEN THE PRICE OF AMBULANCES INCREASE BY 30%.
NOW, A LOT OF THIS IS STILL BEING ATTRIBUTED TO LEFTOVER COVID SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES.
UH, WE'RE HOPING THAT'S THE CASE BECAUSE WE, IF WE HAD TO GO OUT 15% A YEAR IN OUR REPLACEMENT PLAN, WE'D REALLY BE LOOKING AT SOME HIGH COST FIGURES.
MOVING TO THE CURRENT AMBULANCE FLEET INFORMATION, WE HAVE 129 ACTIVE AMBULANCES.
THE AVERAGE AGE IS 10 YEARS OLD, AND, UH, THE AVERAGE AMBULANCE HAS BEEN OPERATED ALMOST 284,000 MILES.
THIS IS ROUGHLY 80 MILES PER DAY.
AND THAT, OF COURSE, THAT'S AN AVERAGE.
WE DO HAVE LOTS OF UNITS THAT DO WELL OVER A HUNDRED MILES EVERY DAY, UM, BECAUSE OF AGE AND HIGH USAGE, IT'S NO SURPRISE THAT 88% OF THE AMBULANCE FLEET IS BEYOND USEFUL LIFE BENCHMARKS.
AND HERE'S WHERE THINGS REALLY GET CHALLENGING.
OUR CURRENT FLEET IS SEVEN UNITS LESS THAN THE TOTAL DAILY FLEET NEED.
SO THIS MEANS WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH AMBULANCES, WE'RE SHORT A BIT.
SO THAT CUTS INTO OUR MAINTENANCE SPARES, WHICH MAKES IT A LITTLE MORE CHALLENGING TO KEEP UP WITH DAILY NEEDS FOR THE DEPARTMENT.
UM, WE'RE OPERATING 35 AMBULANCES WITH MORE THAN 400,000 MILES IN SERVICE RIGHT NOW.
UM, WE'VE GOT THREE THAT HAVE BEEN, THAT HAVE BEEN OPERATED IN EXCESS OF 500,000 MILES.
SO WAY TOO MANY MILES FOR THAT TYPE OF VEHICLE.
BUT THAT'S SIMPLY THE CASE THAT WE'RE IN.
THE AVERAGE AGE OF THE AM AMBULANCE FLEET IS TWICE THE USEFUL LIFE BENCHMARKED.
YOU NEVER WANT YOUR AVERAGE AGE TO BE MORE THAN THE USEFUL LIFE BENCHMARK BECAUSE RELIABILITY AND AVAILABILITY SUFFER.
BUT THAT JUST HAPPENS TO BE THE CASE THAT WE'RE IN.
WE'RE NOW SEEING SOME INCIDENTS OF STRUCTURAL FAILURE RELATED TO AGE, BECAUSE THESE THINGS HAVE BEEN OPERATED SO LONG, REALLY TOO LONG.
WE'VE GOT 35 OR 37, EXCUSE ME, AMBULANCES IN ORDER THREE HAVE JUST BEEN DELIVERED.
THE DELIVERIES HAVE BEEN VERY, VERY SLOW THOUGH.
AND, UH, IN FACT, WE'RE SEEING, UH, TWO YEAR WAIT TIMES FOR THE, UH, FOR THE UNITS TO COME IN.
AND THEN JUMPING DOWN TO THE REPLACEMENT PLAN AND THE COLUMN AT THE, UH, AT THE LEFT OF THE TABLE, THE FLEET COUNT IS THE TOTAL DAILY NEED SET BY THE FIRE DEPARTMENT WITH MAINTENANCE SPARES INCLUDED THE AVERAGE FLEET AGE THAT WE'VE LISTED THEIR CHANGES.
AS WE BIND NEW VEHICLES AND AS WE PUT THE OLDER VEHICLES INTO RETIREMENT, WITH A TARGET AVERAGE AGE OF FOUR YEARS UNDER THIS PLAN, AMBULANCES WILL TYPICALLY BE REPLACED AT THE EIGHT TO NINE YEAR, UH, MARK VERSUS WHAT WE'RE DOING NOW.
UM, THE 25 UNIT PURCHASE GOAL FOR 2026 INCLUDES UNITS TO COVER ACCIDENT LOSSES.
SO WE'LL FOLLOW THE SAME METHODOLOGY FOR EACH YEAR OF THE PLAN, TRYING TO MAINTAIN THAT, UH, AVERAGE AGE.
AND WE BELIEVE THIS WILL SIGNIFICANTLY DO A, UH, REDUCE A LOT OF THE RISKS THAT WE'RE CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING WITH THE AMBULANCE FLEET.
IT'S GOT BIG LADDERS IN THE BUCKETS THAT ARE USED TO ADDRESS, UH, UM, INCIDENTS IN, IN, UH, UH, HIGHRISE BUILDINGS.
THE AVERAGE AERIAL IS 14 YEARS OLD AND HAS BEEN OPERATED MORE
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THAN A HUNDRED THOUSAND MILES OFF.ALMOST HALF THE UNITS ARE BEYOND USEFUL LIFE BENCHMARKS.
WE STILL HAVE A FEW RUNNING AROUND THAT WERE BUILT IN THE 1990S.
SO A COUPLE OF THINGS TO NOTE.
FIRST, WE HAVE 13 MORE AERIALS THAN WHAT ARE NEEDED FOR DAILY OPERATION, AND THERE'S A SPECIFIC REASON FOR THAT THAT I'LL TALK ABOUT IN A BIT.
SECOND, WE'RE LISTING AN ANNUAL INFLATION RATE OF 5% FOR THE LIFE OF THE AERIAL REPLACEMENT PLAN.
AGAIN, THIS IS VERY HOPEFUL THINKING.
UM, WE'RE HOPING THE MARKET WILL SETTLE BACK TO PRE COVID CONDITIONS.
OVER THE LAST THREE YEARS, WE'VE SEEN AERIAL PRICES INCREASE 12% ANNUALLY.
SO MOVING ON TO THE AERIAL REPLACEMENT PLAN, OUR TARGET AVERAGE AGE IS 10 YEARS, WHICH WILL RESULT IN VEHICLES GETTING REPLACED AT THE 20 YEAR MARK, WHICH IS IN LINE WITH THE NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION ASSOCIATION STANDARDS.
SO NOW WE'RE GONNA MOVE TO THE ENGINE, OR WHAT'S COMMONLY KNOWN, AT LEAST WITHIN THE, UH, FLEET HERE IS A PUMPER.
THE ENGINE OR, AND PUMPERS ARE THE, UH, EXCUSE ME, THE PUMPER IS THE GO-TO VEHICLE FOR THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
THE AVERAGE PUMPER IS 11 YEARS OLD AND HAS 124,000 MILES OF OPERATION.
53% OF THE PUMPERS ARE BEYOND USEFUL LIFE BENCHMARKS AND PUMPERS, LIKE, UH, LIKE ALL EMERGENCY VEHICLES ARE PRONE TO ACCIDENTS.
SO WE'VE ALL SEEN WHERE PUMPERS HAVE BEEN USED AS BARRICADES ON FREEWAY TO PROTECT THE, UH, EMERGENCY STAFF WHILE THEY ATTEND TO AN ACCIDENT.
WE'VE ALL SEEN PUMPERS RUN THROUGH, UH, INTERSECTIONS WITH, UH, LIGHTS FLASHING, SIRENS BLARING.
UNFORTUNATELY, TOO MANY MOTORISTS DO NOT SEE THEM OR SIMPLY CHOOSE TO IGNORE THEM AND RUN RIGHT INTO 'EM, VERY PRONE TO ACCIDENTS.
ACCIDENT REPAIRS CAN COST MORE THAN A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS AND TAKE MORE THAN A YEAR TO COMPLETE, BECAUSE THE COMPONENTS, BODY COMPONENTS ARE ALL CUSTOM BUILT MATERIALS.
WE CURRENTLY HAVE SIX PUMPERS DOWN FOR ACCIDENTS, AND, UH, UM, WE HAVE AN ADDITIONAL THREE UNITS THAT ARE DOWN FOR BODY REPAIRS THAT HAVE RESULTED FROM METAL FATIGUE OR THAT'S JUST WEAR AND TEAR.
WITH REGARD TO THE REPLACEMENT PLAN, WE'VE TARGETED AN AVERAGE PUMPER LIFE OF SEVEN YEARS WITH REPLACEMENTS COMING AT 15 YEARS.
AND THIS WILL KEEP US IN LINE WITH THE NFPA STANDARDS FOR FIRE APPARATUS.
SO I NEED TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MARKET CONDITIONS THAT WE'RE WATCHING VERY CLOSELY.
IT'S NOT ONLY A CONCERN FOR US, IT'S A CURRENT CONCERN FOR EVERY AGENCY NATIONWIDE.
WE'VE SEEN A, A RECENT CONGLOMERATION OF FIRETRUCK MANUFACTURERS THAT HAS BEEN FUNDED BY PRIVATE EQUITY FIRMS, WALL STREET JOURNAL'S NOW REPORTING THAT 70 TO 80% OF US FIRETRUCK PRODUCTION IS NOW CONTROLLED BY THREE GROUPS.
THE ORDERS FOR, FOR, UH, FIRETRUCKS REALLY SPIKED WITH THE, UH, ARPA FUNDING.
WITH THOSE INCREASED ORDERS, THESE THREE GROUPS ACTUALLY CUT PRODUCTION.
SO INSTEAD OF RESPONDING TO THE INCREASE IN ORDERS, THEY PULLED BACK ON PRODUCTION.
AND WITH THAT, WE'VE SEEN TWO TO FIVE YEAR DELIVERY DAYS, UH, DELAYS WITH UNITS, AND OF COURSE, THIS IS HAPPENING NATIONWIDE.
UM, AND WITH THE, UH, WITH THE SUPPLY ISSUES, OF COURSE, COME THE HIGHER PRICES.
UM, AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, THE COST OF AN AREA IS INCREASED 36% IN THREE YEARS.
THE COST OF A PUMPER, THE MOST COMMON FIRE TRUCK HAS INCREASED 49% SINCE 2022.
BIG ISSUE THAT, THAT, UH, THAT WE'RE WATCHING.
UM, WE'RE ALSO SEEING SIMILAR SUPPLY ISSUES, SUPPLY AND COST ISSUES WITH OUR REPLACEMENT PARTS ARE REPLACEMENT PARTS FOR OUR CURRENT UNITS.
THE, UH, THE COST OF THOSE HAVE REALLY SHOT THROUGH THE ROOF HERE OF LATE.
SO THIS MONOPOLIZING IS GETTING A LOT MORE ATTENTION NOW THAT IT'S BEEN REPORTED THAT THE LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT HAD DIFFICULTY RESPONDING TO THE RECENT LOS ANGELES FIRES BECAUSE HALF OF THEIR FLEET WAS DOWN AND, UH, THEIR FLEET WAS DOWN WAITING ON REPLACEMENTS AND WAITING ON REPLACEMENT PARTS.
SO THAT'S REALLY BROUGHT SOME ATTENTION TO THE ISSUE.
HOPEFULLY WE CAN GET SOME THINGS MOVING THERE.
AND AGAIN, SOME OF THE BLAME CONTINUES TO BE, UH, LEFTOVER COVID ISSUES.
HOWEVER, WE'VE SEEN OTHER INDUSTRIES LIKE OUR SOLID WASTE VEHICLES, SOME OF OUR HEAVY DUMP TRUCK VEHICLES, THOSE SORT OF THINGS, THEY'VE BOUNCED BACK MUCH BETTER THAN THE, UH, FIRE TRUCKS HAVE.
SO UNTIL WE GET A LITTLE MORE CLARITY ON WHAT'S GOING ON HERE, WE'RE NOT TAKING ANY FIRE TRUCKS OUT OF THE FLEET.
WE'RE TRYING TO KEEP EVERYTHING OPERATIONAL THAT WE CAN, THOSE THAT WE CANNOT KEEP
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RUNNING, WE'RE KEEPING THEM ON HAND AS A SOURCE OF SPARE PARTS FOR THE VEHICLES THAT, UH, THAT WE'VE GOT RUNNING.SO, AGAIN, A BIG CONCERN FOR US.
TALKING A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE LIGHT DUTY VEHICLES OPERATED BY THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, THEY INCLUDE, UH, 370 UH, UNITS.
THESE UNITS ARE TYPICALLY OPERATED BY DISTRICT CHIEFS, FIRE MARSHALS, AND ARSON INVESTIGATORS.
THE AVERAGE UNIT'S A LITTLE MORE THAN 11 YEARS OLD WITH 116 MILES OF OPERATION, 52% OF THE LIGHT DUTY FLEET.
BEYOND USEFUL LIFE BENCHMARKS, THE TYPICAL COST OF, UH, ONE OF THESE LIGHT DUTY VEHICLES IS ALMOST $48,000.
AND THE REASON FOR THAT IS BECAUSE MOST ARE UPFITTED WITH SPECIAL EQUIPMENT, UH, TO PERFORM THEIR DAY IN AND DAY OUT, UH, DUTIES.
SO THE TARGET AVERAGE AGE FOR THE LIGHT DUTY REPLACEMENT PLAN IS SIX YEARS, AND WE ANTICIPATE REPLACEMENTS OCCURRING AT THE 12 TO 14 YEAR MARK.
SO THIS TABLE SUMMARIZES THE ANNUAL FUNDING NEEDS FOR FLEET PROJECTS OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
ANNUAL COSTS FOR THE FOUR PRIMARY VEHICLES WE DISCUSSED ARE LISTED COSTS ARE ALSO INCLUDED FOR THE MISCELLANEOUS ON-ROAD VEHICLES AND OFF-ROAD VEHICLES THAT WE DID NOT DISCUSS, BUT ARE A BIG PART OF THE, UH, DEPARTMENT'S OPERATION.
AT THE BOTTOM OF THE TABLE, YOU'LL SEE FUNDING AMOUNTS PROGRAMMED FOR THE, UH, FIRE DEPARTMENT UNDER THE FISCAL YEAR 25, CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN, AS WELL AS DIFFERENCES OR GAPS BETWEEN THE FUNDING NEED AND THE FUNDING AVAILABLE.
AND THERE'S SEVERAL REASONS FOR THIS, THESE FUNDING DIFFERENCES, SOME OF WHICH INCLUDE THE, UH, RECENT HIGH PRICE INCREASES THAT, THAT I MENTIONED.
SECOND, WE'RE LOOKING AT HIGHER VEHICLE QUANTITIES IN THE EARLY YEARS OF THE PLAN.
AND THIS IS IN ORDER FOR US TO DRIVE THE AVERAGE AGE OF THESE FLEETS DOWN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
AND IN SOME CASES, FUNDING FROM THESE UPCOMING YEARS WAS PULLED IN PREVIOUS YEARS TO HANDLE PROJECTS WHERE THERE WAS AN URGENT NEED.
SO WHAT WE'RE LEFT WITH IS THE BALANCE OF THOSE ORIGINAL, UH, AMOUNTS.
SO, CHAIR, IF IT'S OKAY WITH YOU, BEFORE WE, UH, MOVE TO THE, UH, POLICE DEPARTMENT, UH, I KNOW WE'VE, WE'VE PUT OUT A LOT OF NUMBERS HERE.
UH, IF THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS THAT ARE SPECIFIC TO THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, UH, WE'D BE HAPPY TO RESPOND.
UM, AND WE DO HAVE A QUESTION FROM COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ'S OFFICE.
UM, CHAIR, THANKS FOR BEING HERE.
SO YOU MENTIONED THAT THE MAINTENANCE SPARE IS 20%, UH, THAT YOU'RE USING, IT REALLY DEPENDS ON THE MODEL.
IT RANGES FROM, FROM 10% TO 20%.
AND AGAIN, IT'S REALLY DEPENDENT ON THE AVAILABILITY OF REPLACEMENT VEHICLES.
SO FOR A LIGHT DUTY VEHICLE THAT'S RELATIVELY COMMON THAT WE CAN REPLACE RELATIVELY EASY, WE'LL USE A, A SPARE RATIO OF, OF 10% WHEN IT COMES TO A MORE COMPLEX VEHICLE, ESPECIALLY IF, IF THAT PARTICULAR FLEET IS AGED, WE LIKE TO HAVE A FEW EXTRA VEHICLES ON HAND.
OR IF IT'S A TYPE OF VEHICLE THAT'S FREQUENTLY INVOLVED IN ACCIDENTS, UH, UH, ADDITIONAL VEHICLES ON HAND TO HELP US TO MEET THE DAILY SERVICE NEEDS.
UM, AND OTHER THAN THE, OTHER THAN THE COST ASSUMPTIONS, THE INFLATION AND THE OTHER COST ASSUMPTIONS, HAVE THE BASIC ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT VEHICLE, UM, RATES OF DETERIORATION AND USAGE BEEN THE SAME OVER THE LAST DECADE THAT THE CITY HAS USED OR HAVE SOME OF THOSE ASSUMPTIONS, UM, CHANGED IN, IN BIG WAYS? I'M SORRY, THE ASSUMPTION, UH, WHAT ASSUMPTIONS WERE YOU SPEAKING? LIKE WHEN YOU PROJECT YOUR, YOUR NEEDS FOR WHEN THE VEHICLES ARE GONNA FALL APART, HAVE THOSE BASIC, UM, ASSUMPTIONS STAYED THE SAME OVER THE LAST DECADE OR SO, OR HAVE SOME THINGS CHANGED IN IMPORTANT WAYS? SO, SO WE'RE, THAT'S REALLY KIND OF DYNAMIC, AND SO WE'RE ALWAYS WATCHING THE FLEET TO SEE, TO SEE HOW WELL IT'S, IT'S, UH, HANDLING THE NEEDS.
SO IN TERMS OF AVAILABILITY, RELIABILITY, UH, COST PER MILE IS SOMETHING THAT WE ALSO USE TO MEASURE.
SO, SO THERE'S A LOT OF METRICS THERE THAT GO INTO DETERMINING WHEN IT IS WE NEED TO START THINKING ABOUT GETTING RID OF A VEHICLE.
SO, SO ONE THING I, I, I WANNA MAKE CLEAR, WE COULD HAVE A VEHICLE THAT IS WELL BEYOND THE USEFUL LIFE BENCHMARK FOR AGE, BUT IF IT'S STILL PROVIDING VALUE FOR THE CITY, WE'RE GONNA KEEP IT.
WE'RE, WE'RE NOT, WE'RE NOT GONNA GET RID OF IT.
UM, SO, SO THIS IS REALLY MORE A GUIDE THAN ANYTHING ELSE.
UM, AND, AND IT'S A GUIDE THAT WE TRY TO HONE IN ON THE EXPERIENCE THAT WE'VE HAD.
BUT AGAIN, THERE'S ALWAYS GONNA BE EXCEPTIONS HERE AND, AND, UH, AND WE TAKE A LOT OF TIME TO MAKE SURE
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WE'RE JUST NOT ARBITRARILY DISPOSING.DO WE HAVE TIME FOR ME TO KEEP ASKING FOR IT? MM-HMM
UM, SO IN THE 2026 COLUMN FOR THE FUNDING NEEDS, UM, SO WOULD WE EXPECT THAT THOSE WOULD BE BAKED INTO THE, THE PROPOSED BUDGET FOR THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, OR THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS? SO, SO THOSE ARE BEING SUBMITTED NOW AS PROPOSALS.
FOR THE, UH, FOR THE FY WHAT IS IT, 26 UPCOMING, UH, CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN.
SO, UH, ALL THE PROPOSALS WILL BE SUBMITTED BY ALL THE CITY DEPARTMENTS, AND THEY'LL GO THROUGH THE VETTING PROCESS AND THEN EVENTUALLY, UH, PUT TOGETHER AS A PROPOSAL FOR COUNCIL APPROVAL.
AND LAST QUESTION, THE, YOU MENTIONED THIS CONGLOMERATE OF A COUPLE OF BIG COMPANIES THAT ARE WHATEVER.
UM, A, CAN YOU MAYBE SEND US THE LINK TO THE ARTICLE YOU WERE REFERENCING IN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ABOUT IT MM-HMM
AND B, ANY ATTEMPTS TO ACTIVELY ENGAGE, YOU KNOW, AT THE HIGH LEVEL OF LEADERSHIP OF THOSE COMPANIES ABOUT OUR NEEDS, OR NOT TOO MUCH? WE'VE, WE'VE TALKED TO 'EM A LOT AND I'M GONNA LIST SOME OF THE THINGS THAT, UH, A LITTLE LATER THAT, THAT WE'RE DOING AS, AS STRATEGIES TO TRY TO DEAL WITH, WITH SOME OF THOSE SITUATIONS.
UM, WE'VE ALSO, UH, OUR FIRE DEPARTMENT'S IN TOUCH WITH OTHER FIRE DEPARTMENTS, WE GET IN TOUCH REGULARLY AS WELL WITH OUR VENDORS TO, TO TRY TO SET THE BEST COURSE POSSIBLE TO, UH, TO BE IN THE BEST POSITION POSSIBLE TO ADDRESS THE SITUATION.
AND BEFORE WE GO FURTHER, I DID WANNA ANNOUNCE THAT WE WERE JOINED, UM, DURING THE PRESENTATION VIRTUALLY BY COUNCIL MEMBER THOMAS, AND HERE IN, UM, VIRTUALLY BY, UM, STAFF FROM COUNCIL MEMBER PLUMMER'S OFFICE, AND THEN HERE IN, UM, CHAMBERS, UM, STAFF FROM MAYOR PRO TEM CASSICK STADIUM'S OFFICE, ALCORN'S OFFICE, AND COUNCILMAN CASTILLO'S OFFICE.
UM, DIRECTOR, CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UM, THE MAINTENANCE DELAYS WHEN SOME OF THESE, UM, TRUCKS COME TO THE FLEET DEPARTMENT FOR MAINTENANCE ABOUT, YOU KNOW, HOW LONG THAT IS TAKING? I KNOW YOU'VE DONE A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF WORK TO REALLY, UM, MAKE THAT GO MUCH SMOOTHER AND FASTER, BUT CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT? OH, SURE.
AND, AND, AND I'VE GOT A SECTION LATER IN THE PRESENTATION TO KIND OF REVIEW SOME OF THAT.
UH, BUT AGAIN, SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE DEALING WITH, AND, AND A LOT OF IT'S LEFTOVER, UH, SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES, IS AVAILABILITY OF REPLACEMENT PARTS.
UH, ALSO A HUGE CHALLENGE HAS BEEN FINDING SKILLED MECHANICS.
UM, IT'S A, IT'S AN ISSUE THAT, UH, THAT HAS BEEN CONTINUOUS.
AND IT'S NOT JUST US, IT, IT'S, IT'S EVERY, UH, AGENCY IN THE COUNTRY.
WE'VE MANAGED TO MAKE SOME INROADS, UH, SINCE, UH, OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS, WE'VE GONE FROM A VACANCY RATE OF, UH, 25%.
I THINK RIGHT NOW WE'RE AT, UH, 15%.
UH, BUT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE REALLY FOCUSING ON IS TRYING TO FIND, UH, SKILLED, EXPERIENCED MECHANICS.
WE, WE'VE, WE'VE DONE A LOT OF JOB FAIRS, A LOT OF, UH, OUTREACH AND, AND WE'RE FINDING THE ENTRY LEVEL AND THE ONE TO THREE YEARS OF EXPERIENCE.
WHAT WE'RE REALLY LOOKING FOR NOW ARE ADVANCED LEVELS THAT CAN BE MORE PRODUCTIVE, UH, IN TERMS OF DIAGNOSTICS, UH, THAT SORT OF THING.
AND REALLY SLOW DOWN, UH, THE AMOUNT OF TIME THAT, UH, VEHICLES ARE IN THE, UH, GARAGE.
WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT, UH, AT SOME DIFFERENT CONTRACT OPPORTUNITIES THAT, THAT I'LL DISCUSS A LITTLE LATER AS WELL.
AND STAFF FROM MAYOR PROM CAST'S OFFICE.
THANK YOU CHAIR, AND THANK YOU DIRECTOR FOR THE PRESENTATION.
AND PARDON ME IF I MISSED THIS, BUT WHAT IS THE DISPOSAL PROCESS OF, UM, VEHICLES OR EQUIPMENTS THAT ARE DISPOSED OF? OKAY, SO THERE'S A, THERE, THERE'S ACTUALLY AN ACID DISPOSAL POLICY.
SO, AND, AND IT FOLLOWS STATE LAW.
SO EVERYTHING THAT, THAT, UH, THAT WE DISPOSE OF HAS TO BE AUCTIONED OFF OR, OR SCRAPPED.
AND SO, SO A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT THINGS THAT WE DO, UH, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO, TO CRITICAL VEHICLES, AND I'LL GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE.
POLICE CARS, UH, IF IT'S A POLICE CAR THAT'S BEEN WRECKED, UM, WE WILL TAKE THAT CAR AND PULL THE ENGINE OUT, PULL THE TRANSMISSION OUT, ALL THE GOOD POT BODY PANELS OFF SO THAT WHEN WE DISPOSE THAT VEHICLE, IT'S BASICALLY JUST A CARCASS, UH, THAT GOES AWAY.
NOW FOR VEHICLES THAT ARE STILL OPERABLE, THAT HAVE, UH, A LITTLE MORE VALUE TO THEM, THEY GET SENT TO AN AUCTION.
AND, UH, THE AUCTION PROCEEDINGS ARE OVERSEEN BY, UH, A RA.
AND WHAT HAPPENED WITH, WHERE, WHERE DOES THAT FUNDING GO FROM THE AUCTION? SO THE FUNDING, UH, FOR VEHICLES THAT ARE DISPOSED, DEPENDING ON THE DEPARTMENTS, IF IT'S AN ENTERPRISE DEPARTMENT SUCH AS THE AIRPORT OR PUBLIC WORKS, THEIR PARTICULAR VEHICLES, BECAUSE THEY WERE BOUGHT WITH ENTERPRISE FUNDS, GOES BACK INTO THOSE RESPECTIVE DEPARTMENTS.
VEHICLES THAT WERE BOUGHT WITH GENERAL FUND PROCEEDS GOES INTO ACCOUNT.
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ACCOUNT.THAT ACCOUNT WILL BUILD UP FUNDS AND WILL HANDLE, UM, THINGS LIKE, UH, UM, SHORTAGES DURING VEHICLE PURCHASES.
UH, SO SAY, SAY WE ORDER 10 VEHICLES AND WE COME UP $5,000 SHORT, THEN WE USE MONEY FROM THAT ACCOUNT TO COVER THAT SHORTAGE SO WE CAN ENSURE THAT PROCUREMENT IS COMPLETE.
SO THERE ARE SOME VERY DISTINCT USES FOR, FOR THAT MONEY THAT ARE APPROVED BY COUNSEL AND, AND ALLOCATED BY COUNSEL.
I DON'T SEE ANYONE ELSE IN THE QUEUE, SO IF YOU WANNA PROCEED WITH THE PRESENTATION.
SO MOVING TO THE, UH, POLICE DEPARTMENT, THE ACTIVE, UH, POLICE FLEET INCLUDES A LITTLE OVER 4,000 VEHICLES.
HALF OF THE, UH, ON-ROAD UNITS ARE BEYOND USEFUL LIFE BENCHMARKS.
THE POLICE FLEET AND ITS OPERATION ARE SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT THAN THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
POLICE UNITS ARE TYPICALLY LIGHTER DUTY VEHICLES THAT CYCLE OUT OF THE FLEET QUICKER.
I THINK IT'S SAFE TO SAY THAT THE FIRE DEPARTMENT TYPICALLY RESPONDS TO SCENES WHILE THE POLICE DEPARTMENT INVESTS HEAVILY AND LOOKING FOR SCENES.
AND WITH THAT LOOKING COMES LOTS AND LOTS OF MILES, UM, AND JUST, JUST, UH, UH, AND SOME OF THESE MILES EVEN I SEE 'EM EVERY DAY, BUT THEY STILL KIND OF STAGGER ME.
SO IF YOU LOOK AT THE THREE VEHICLE MODELS THAT ARE HIGHLIGHTED IN GREEN AT, IN THE TABLE, SO IT'S GOING TO BE PATROL AND INVESTIGATIVE AND LIGHT DUTY UNITS.
THOSE PARTICULAR VEHICLES TOGETHER, ON AVERAGE TRAVEL 124,000 MILES EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR.
AND, UH, UH, A TOTAL OF MORE THAN 45 MILLION MILES A YEAR ARE TRAVELED BY THOSE PARTICULAR VEHICLES.
AND SO, UH, LOTS AND LOTS OF MILES THAT THE, UH, UH, POLICE DEPARTMENT IS PUTTING ON THEIR FLEET.
PATROL VEHICLES, WE'VE GOT A LITTLE MORE THAN 1600 PATROL VEHICLES.
THE AVERAGE UNIT IS SIX YEARS OLD AND HAS BEEN OPERATED 66,000 MILES.
48% OF THE PATROL VEHICLES ARE BEYOND USEFUL LIFE BENCHMARKS.
AND, UH, AND ONE INTERESTING NOTE, UH, WE LISTED THE, UH, 30 MILES PER DAY FIGURE FOR OPERATION BY PATROL UNITS.
AND OF COURSE, THIS FIGURE WAS CALCULATED OVER THE LIFETIME OF THE, UH, 1600 PATROL VEHICLES.
WE'VE BEEN PICKING UP A TREND OVER THE LAST, UH, 12 MONTHS THAT, UH, FIGURE IS MOVING MORE TO 40 MILES PER DAY.
SO WE'RE SEEING A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN PATROL MILES, UH, OPERATED ON A DAILY BASIS.
AND OF COURSE, WITH, UH, WITH ALL THESE MILES COMES LOTS OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACCIDENTS.
OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS, 84 PATROL UNITS HAVE BEEN LOST ANNUALLY DUE TO ACCIDENTS.
THE BIGGEST ISSUE WE HAVE WITH THE PATROL FLEET IS THE COUNT.
WE ARE 140 VEHICLES SHORT WHEN COMPARED TO THE DAILY FLEET NEED FOR ACTIVE UNITS.
AND SO IT'S A COMBINATION OF ACCIDENTS AND, UH, PURCHASE LIMITS THAT WERE IMPOSED ON US BY, UH, BY FORD MOTOR COMPANY OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS AS THE PRIMARY DRIVERS OF THIS SHORTAGE.
IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THESE NUMBERS, THE, THE, UH, DETERMINATION OF EXACTLY HOW MANY PATROL VEHICLES SHOULD BE, UH, OPERATED ON A DAILY BASIS WAS GIVEN TO US BY THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, WITH THE ASSUMPTION THAT TWO PATROL OFFICERS WOULD BE RIDING AND EACH VEHICLE.
SO IF THAT'S EVER CHANGED, EVEN, EVEN A LITTLE BIT, SAY WE GO TO SINGLE PATROL, UH, UH, UH, OFFICER VEHICLES, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO HAVE AN ACCOMPANY INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF PATROL UNITS.
SO WITH REGARD TO VEHICLE COST BETWEEN, UH, 2022 AND 2024, WE SAW THE PRICE OF PATROL CARS INCREASE 54%.
AND OF COURSE, THIS WAS ALL KIND OF RELATED, AGAIN, OR ATTRIBUTED TO THE, UH, COVID SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES FOR 2025.
HOWEVER, WE SAW THE COST DROP 5%.
AND SO WE'RE HOPING THAT THIS TREND CONTINUES.
UH, WE'RE HOPING THAT THE OTHER VEHICLE TYPES FOLLOW SUIT, BUT, UH, BUT AGAIN, WISHFUL THINKING.
UM, THE PATROL VEHICLE, UH, REPLACEMENT PLAN INCLUDES A TARGETED FLEET AVERAGE OF FOUR YEARS.
SO THIS WILL ACCOMMODATE REPLACEMENTS OCCURRING AT EIGHT YEARS, WHICH IS THE INDUSTRY STANDARD.
INVESTIGATIVE UNITS ARE TYPICALLY UNMARKED VEHICLES THAT, UH, PROVIDE A WIDE VARIETY OF INVESTIGATIVE AND SURVEILLANCE ACTIVITIES.
[00:30:01]
DEPARTMENT OPERATES A LITTLE MORE THAN 1400 UNITS.BIGGEST ISSUE WITH THE INVESTIGATIVE FLEET IS AGE 57% ARE BEYOND USEFUL LIFE BENCHMARKS.
AND, UH, 330 OR MORE THAN 13 YEARS OLD, SIX YEARS IS A TARGET AVERAGE REPLACEMENT AGE FOR THE, I'M SORRY, TARGET AVERAGE AGE FOR THE, UH, INVESTIGATIVE REPLACEMENT PLAN, THIS WILL GIVE US A TYPICAL REPLACEMENT OF REPLACEMENT LIFE OF 13 YEARS.
POLICE LIGHT DUTY VEHICLES ARE A COMBINATION OF MARKED AND UNMARKED UNITS THAT ARE USED FOR SPECIFIC AND GENERAL TASKS.
EXAMPLES INCLUDE THE MOBILITY, RESPONSE VEHICLES, PUBLIC OUTREACH, AND ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS.
THE AVERAGE AGE OF THE FLEET IS LESS THAN THE ASSOCIATED USEFUL LIFE BENCHMARK.
THIS IS A GOOD THING, AND THIS JUST HAPPENS TO BE THE ONLY FLEET THAT WE EVALUATED HERE, WHERE THE, UH, UH, AVERAGE AGE WAS, UH, ABOVE THE USEFUL LIFE BENCHMARK.
SO, SO WE'RE REALLY HAPPY, UH, FOR THIS PARTICULAR CASE.
SO THE REPLACEMENT PLAN THAT WE'VE PUT TOGETHER IS SET TO KEEP THINGS ABOUT WHERE THEY ARE TODAY WITH AN ANNUAL PURCHASE OF 30 VEHICLES.
SO FLEET PLAN COSTS FOR THE, UH, POLICE DEPARTMENT ARE SUMMARIZED IN THIS TABLE.
THE FIRST FOUR YEARS OF THE PLAN ARE COMPARED TO THE FISCAL YEAR 25 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN ALLOCATIONS.
THE BOTTOM ROLE INDICATES THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE REPLACEMENT PLAN TOTALS AND THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN AMOUNTS SIMILAR TO FIRE DEPARTMENT.
REASONS FOR FUNDING DIFFERENCES INCLUDE THE UNPRECEDENTED PRICE INCREASES.
WE WE'RE ALSO FRONT LOADING PURCHASES, AGAIN, TO GET THE AVERAGE AGE OF THE FLEETS DOWN AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.
AND AGAIN, IN SOME CASES, FUNDING WAS PULLED FROM THE UPCOMING YEARS TO ADDRESS SPECIFIC CHALLENGES IN YEARS PAST, AND THAT'S LEFT A REDUCED AMOUNT, UH, AVAILABLE FOR USE.
AND THEN ON TOP OF THAT, WE'RE ALSO DEALING WITH THE ACCIDENT ATTRITION.
SO, HERE'S A, UH, COST TABLE OF THE COMBINED FIRE AND PLACEMENT REPLACEMENT PLANS.
OVER THE 10 YEAR PERIOD, WE'RE LOOKING AT A TOTAL COST OF $563 MILLION FOR THIS PLAN.
WITH CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN FUNDING LEVELS KEPT CLOSE TO WHERE THEY ARE NOW WITH AN ANNUAL 5%, UH, INCREASE, THE CIP WILL COVER ROUGHLY $366 MILLION OF THIS COST.
SO THAT LEAVES AN UNFUNDING BALANCE OF APPROXIMATELY $197 MILLION.
SOME OF THIS UNFUNDING BALANCE CAN BE COVERED WITH DISCRETIONARY GRANTS.
THE ADMINISTRATION IS ALSO LOBBYING STATE OFFICIALS FOR EMERGENCY VEHICLE FUNDING.
SO WE'RE HOPING SOMETHING COMES UP FROM THOSE EFFORTS.
AND, AND ONE THING I WANNA POINT OUT IS THIS IS A, THIS IS A RELATIVELY CONSERVATIVE PLAN.
UH, I KNOW IT'S, IT'S A LOT OF MONEY THAT'S INVOLVED HERE.
UM, SOME, A AGENCIES LOOK AT REPLACING VEHICLES AS SOON AS THEY REACH THE USEFUL LIFE BENCHMARK.
WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH IS SIMPLY TO GET THE FLEET AVERAGES BELOW THE USEFUL LIFE, UH, UH, BENCHMARK.
UM, WHEN IT COMES TO PLAN BENEFIT, OR WE'RE LOOKING AT ELIMINATING A LOT OF THE CURRENT VEHICLE SHORTAGES, UM, THE PLAN ALSO BRINGS EMERGENCY FLEETS CLOSER IN LINE WITH INDUSTRY STANDARDS FOR USEFUL LIFE AND TECHNOLOGY.
SO, ONE THING I WANNA POINT OUT THERE, THINK ABOUT, UH, ONE OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT'S AERIALS.
THAT'S, UH, THAT'S 25 YEARS OLD.
I STILL IN USE, OF COURSE, THIS IS THE AERIALS, THE LADDER WITH THE BUCKET.
WE'VE GOT, UH, UH, FIRE PERSONNEL IN THOSE BUCKETS, UH, ADDRESSING SCENES.
SO THESE 25-YEAR-OLD TRUCKS ARE EQUIPPED WITH 25-YEAR-OLD TECHNOLOGY, RIGHT? THAT TECHNOLOGY DOESN'T GET UPDATED THROUGH THE LIFE OF THE VEHICLE.
SO OVER THE LAST 25 YEARS, THERE'S BEEN CHANGES IN STANDARDS, SAFETY STANDARDS BY NFPA, THAT SORT OF THING.
SO ONE DOWNSIDE OF KEEPING VEHICLES SO LONG IS THE, WE LOSE THE, THE, UH, UPGRADES IN TECHNOLOGY THAT COME DURING THAT VEHICLE'S LIFE.
SO COMPARING A BRAND NEW AERIAL TO A 25-YEAR-OLD AERIAL, YOU'RE GOING TO SEE SOME SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN THE EQUIPMENT, SOME OF THE SAFETY EQUIPMENT, THAT SORT OF THING.
SO THOSE ARE SOME THINGS, UH, UH, TO THINK ABOUT.
SO THE PLAN ALSO REDUCES, UH, MAINTENANCE COSTS.
OF COURSE, IF WE, IF WE'VE, IF WE'VE GOT A YOUNGER FLEET, WE'RE NOT GONNA SEE QUITE AS MUCH MAINTENANCE.
AND SO WE'VE, WE'VE, UH, MODELED THIS A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT WAYS.
ALL THE MODELS SEEM TO BE CONVERGING AT ABOUT A $10 MILLION SAVINGS OVER THE, UH, OVER
[00:35:01]
THE LIFE OF THE PLAN.MORE BENEFITS INCLUDE IMPROVED AVAILABILITY AND RELIABILITY OF THE EMERGENCY FLEET.
AND THEN MOST IMPORTANTLY, THE PLAN REDUCES RISK.
SO WE LOOK AT RISK AS THE PRODUCT OF THE PROBABILITY OF FAILURE AND HOW MUCH THAT FAILURE IS GOING TO COST.
SO, INTUITIVELY, WE ALL KNOW THAT AS VEHICLES AGE, THE PROBABILITY OF FAILURE GOES UP AND SO DOES THE ASSOCIATED RISK.
SO, UH, UM, JUST, JUST TO MANAGE EXPECTATIONS, WANNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT THE PLAN DOES NOT DO.
SO THE PLAN DOES NOT PROVIDE FOR SERVICE EXPANSION, AND I THINK YOU KIND OF ALLUDED TO THAT EARLIER.
SO THE LEVELS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT NOW ARE CURRENT SERVICE LEVELS.
AND WHAT WE'RE DOING WITH THIS PLAN IS TRYING TO SUSTAIN THOSE SAME SERVICE LEVELS OUT 10 YEARS, ANY INCREASES IN SERVICE WILL COME WITH ADDITIONAL NEED FOR MORE VEHICLES AND MORE FUNDING.
UM, THE PLAN ALSO DOES NOT INCLUDE ADDITIONAL VEHICLES FOR WIDE SCALE EMERGENCY ACTIVATION.
SO BOTH THE FIRE DEPARTMENT AND POLICE DEPARTMENT SAID THEY COULD USE MORE VEHICLES WHENEVER WIDE SCALE EMERGENCY ACTIVATION, UH, UH, OPERATIONS ARE UNDERWAY.
WE DID NOT INCLUDE THOSE RECOGNIZING THE BUDGET CONSTRAINTS WE'VE GOT, AND, UH, REALLY WE WOULD BE VERY HAPPY WITH GETTING, UH, UH, WHAT, WHAT'S IN HERE NOW, UM, THESE VEHICLES ARE, ARE, UH, ARE, ARE TYPICALLY REFERRED TO AS CONTINGENCY FLEET VEHICLES.
YOU NEVER REALLY WANT TO HAVE A BIGGER FLEET THAN WHAT YOU ACTUALLY NEED BECAUSE THERE'S A COST ASSOCIATED WITH THAT.
BUT IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE, IT REALLY IS SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT HAVING THESE CONTINGENCY VEHICLES ON THE SIDE SO THAT AS THESE, UH, BIG WEATHER EVENTS OCCUR, THAT SORT OF THING, WE DO HAVE THE RESOURCES TO ADEQUATELY RESPOND.
SO, SOME ADDITIONAL EMERGENCY VEHICLE NEEDS TO CONSIDER INCLUDE OUTDATED GARAGES AND, UH, HIGH WATER VEHICLES.
SO WE'VE GOT A GARAGE FACILITY ON DART STREET, WHICH IS USED ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
THIS FACILITY WAS BUILT IN THE EARLY SIXTIES AND, AND WAS PROBABLY OUTGROWN 20 YEARS AGO.
UM, THE TRUCKS TODAY ARE MUCH LARGER THAN WHAT THEY WERE IN THE SIXTIES.
WE'VE GOT A LOT MORE OF THEM THAN WHAT THEY WERE IN THE SIXTIES.
AND MANY OF THE TRUCKS THAT WE OPERATE TODAY SIMPLY DO NOT EVEN FIT ON IN THE GARAGE.
SO THEY HAVE TO BE, UH, WORKED ON THE OUTDOORS.
UM, SIMILAR SITUATION AT THE, UH, CENTRAL POLICE GARAGE LOCATED ON REASONERS, UH, STREET.
IT'S JUST THE, THE DEPLOYMENT THERE HAS JUST OVERWHELMED THE FACILITIES.
WE'RE DOING THE BEST WE CAN TO KEEP THINGS GOING IN AND OUT.
THE CHALLENGE WITH THESE FACILITIES ARE THE ASSOCIATED OPPORTUNITY COSTS, RIGHT? SO ANY DOLLARS THAT WE INVEST IN UPGRADING THESE FACILITIES ARE DOLLARS THAT ARE NOT AVAILABLE FOR REPLACING VEHICLES THAT ARE NEEDED ON A DAILY BASIS.
SO YOU CAN SEE WHY THESE THINGS HAVE KIND OF STRUGGLED TO KEEP UP UP WITH THE TIMES.
WE'VE GOT, UH, THE CITY'S HIGH WATER VEHICLES.
THESE ARE ARMY SALVAGE UNITS THAT, UH, WERE BUILT IN THE EARLY EIGHTIES.
VERY DIFFICULT TO FIND SERVICE AND REPLACEMENT PORT FOR THESE UNITS.
HUGE OPPORTUNITY COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THEM.
ANYTIME WE PUT ANY LABOR INTO 'EM, THAT'S LABOR THAT COULD HAVE BEEN USED ON VEHICLES RUN EVERY DAY.
THESE THINGS MAY RUN ONCE A YEAR.
UM, LIKEWISE, REPLACEMENTS FOR THESE VEHICLES, IT'S VERY HARD TO JUSTIFY HUGHES INVESTMENTS IN SOMETHING THAT, AGAIN, MAY GET OUT TWO OR THREE TIMES A YEAR POSSIBLY.
AND SO THAT MONEY IS NEEDED MORE FOR THE STUFF THAT'S USED ON A DAILY BASIS.
UH, I WILL SAY THAT THE FIRE DEPARTMENT'S LOOKING FOR WAYS TO GET AROUND THIS BY, BY, UH, MAKING THESE UNITS MULTIPURPOSE.
THEY'VE TALKED ABOUT PUTTING PORTABLE BOOSTER UNITS IN THE BACK OF THESE, UH, HIGH WATER VEHICLES.
SO IT WOULD ALLOW THE, UH, UH, THESE THINGS TO BE USED FOR, FOR A LOT MORE OFTEN THAN WHAT THEY ARE NOW FOR OTHER PURPOSES, WE'VE ALSO LOOKED AT, UH, POTENTIALLY EQUIPPING THESE UNITS SO THAT THEY CAN BE USED AS THE BARRICADES ON THE FREEWAY VERSUS THE MILLION DOLLAR, UH, PUMPERS THAT ARE, THAT ARE CURRENTLY USED.
HERE'S SOME, UH, UH, FLEET RELATED INITIATIVES THAT IMPACT, UH, EMERGENCY RESPONSE VEHICLES.
IT'S NO SECRET THAT WE, LIKE EVERY OTHER PUBLIC AGENCY IN THE NATION, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THIS EARLIER, ARE STRUGGLING
[00:40:01]
TO FILL MECHANIC VACANCIES.LIKE I SAID, WE'VE HAD SOME SUCCESS HERE RECENTLY, BUT MOST OF THAT SUCCESS HAS BEEN WITH ENTRY LEVEL, UH, MECHANICS.
AND CERTAINLY THEY'RE IMPORTANT, BUT, UH, WHAT WE REALLY NEED ARE, ARE ADVANCED LEVEL, UH, FOLKS.
BOTTOM LINE IS THAT WE'VE GOT TO BE AS STRATEGIC AS POSSIBLE TO MINIMIZE THE IMPACT OF THESE VACANCIES AND TRY TO MAXIMIZE THE RETURN ON INVESTMENT.
SO SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE DOING, UM, MULTIPLE VENDORS PER SERVICE TYPE.
SO LET ME GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE.
UH, WE'VE GOT LOTS AND LOTS OF FORD PATROL CARS, AND SO OUR VENDORS ARE HAVING THE SAME PROBLEMS FILLING MECHANIC POSITIONS THAT WE'RE HAVING.
SO WHEN WE SEND UNITS OUT TO A VENDOR, IT'S, UH, THEY MAY SIT A WHILE.
AND, AND WHEN YOU ALSO FACTOR IN THAT OUR HOURLY RATES ARE LOWER THAN WHAT THE AVERAGE CUSTOMER, UH, PAYS, IF, UH, IF YOU'RE SHORT ON STAFF TO REPAIR AND YOU'VE GOT TWO VEHICLES, ONE PAYS MUCH MORE THAN THE OTHER ONE, HOW ARE YOU GONNA DEPLOY YOUR STAFF? SO CONSEQUENTLY, OUR STUFF SITS A LITTLE LONGER.
AND SO WHAT WE'VE DONE TO ADDRESS THAT IS TO GET MULTIPLE CONTRACTS FOR THE SAME TYPE OF SERVICE.
SO NOW WE HAVE MULTIPLE VENDORS.
WE'VE GOT A WIDER VARIETY, MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO SEND VEHICLES OUT.
AND, AND ONE KIND OF UNPLANNED BENEFIT THAT WE'RE SEEING IS, IS, UH, UH, WE'RE PICKING UP SOME COMPETITION BETWEEN THEM NOW, RIGHT? SO, SO THEY'RE, THEY'RE A LITTLE MORE EAGER TO MOVE TO WORK ON OUR STUFF COMPARED TO WHAT THEY USED TO BE BECAUSE THEY KNOW WE CAN EASILY SEND IT TO THEIR COMPETITION.
SO THAT'S, THAT'S WORKED OUT FOR US A LITTLE BIT.
AND WE'RE TRYING TO, UH, INCREASE OUR, UH, OUR, OUR, OUR FOOTPRINT IN THAT DIRECTION.
UH, SOMETHING ELSE THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT IS CONTRACTED LIGHT DUTY, PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE.
AND SO WE LOOK AT OUR HOURLY RATES VERY HARD AND COMPARE THEM TO ALL OUR CONTRACTOR RATES.
SO RIGHT NOW WE'RE CHARGING OUR CLIENT DEPARTMENTS SOMEWHERE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF $105 AN HOUR.
THAT'S THE, UH, CHARGES TO US BY HITS CHARGES TO US BY HR, ALL IN ALL THE FACILITY MAINTENANCE, THAT SORT OF THING.
WE COMPARE THAT TO THE RATES OF OUR CONTRACTORS, WHICH IN SOME CASES ARE AS HIGH AS $250 AN HOUR.
SO THAT HELPS US TO DETERMINE WHO DOES THE WORK ON VEHICLES.
IF, UH, IF IT'S SOMETHING WE CAN DO IN HOUSE LESS EXPENSIVE, WE DO IT.
IF IT'S SOMETHING THAT MAKES MORE SENSE SENDING OUT, WE TRY TO DO THAT.
UM, WHAT WE'VE RECENTLY FOUND, WE'VE RECENTLY NEGOTIATED AN AGREEMENT WITH A SERVICE PROVIDER THAT'LL SOON BE COMING TO, UH, COUNCIL FOR APPROVAL FOR LIGHT DUTY PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE.
UM, WE'VE HAD A LOT OF DISCUSSIONS WITH BOTH THE FIRE DEPARTMENT AND THE POLICE DEPARTMENT.
AND, UH, CURRENTLY WHEN WE DO A PREVENTATIVE LIGHT DUTY, PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE IN THE HOUSE TAKES US ABOUT AN HOUR TO COMPLETE.
SO, AND WE'LL USE POLICE AS AN EXAMPLE, THEY HAVE TO COME BRING THE VEHICLE IN.
UH, SO THERE'S TIME IN BRINGING IT TO THE SHOP.
WE SPEND THE HOUR ON IT, AND THEN WE CALL THEM UP, AND THEN THEY SEND SOMEBODY OUT TO PICK UP THE CAR AND PLACE IT BACK INTO SERVICE.
SO WE'VE, WE'VE DONE SOME, UH, STRATEGIZING HERE, AND WE THINK THERE'S SOME OPPORTUNITIES, UH, WITH THE COOPERATION POLICE DEPARTMENT AND FIRE DEPARTMENT TO WHERE THEY GO DIRECTLY TO ONE OF OUR, UH, WE'LL, WE WILL JUST CALL IT QUICK LUBE.
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S A BRAND NAME OR NOT, AND POOR.
AND WITHIN 15, 20 MINUTES, THEY'RE BACK OUT AND BACK ON PATROL.
MORE THAN THAT, THE CONTRACTOR IS LESS EXPENSIVE AT THAT PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE OPERATION THAN WE ARE.
SO IT'S A WIN-WIN ALL THE WAY AROUND.
UM, WE GET TO TAKE OUR PEOPLE THAT PREVIOUSLY WERE DOING THE LIGHT DUTY PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE WORK AND PUT THEM ON OTHER JOBS WHERE WE CAN BE MORE ECONOMICAL COMPARED TO OUR CONTRACTORS.
SO WE BELIEVE THERE'S A HUGE OPPORTUNITY FOR COST SAVINGS HERE.
ALSO, A HUGE OPPORTUNITY TO IMPROVE THE AVAILABILITY OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE VEHICLES.
AND AGAIN, THIS AGREEMENT SHOULD BE COMING TO COUNSEL IN THE NEXT THREE TO FOUR WEEKS.
SO WHEN IT COMES TO STAFFING, UH, SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE DONE, WE RECENTLY ADDED THE MECHANIC FOUR POSITION, UM, PREVIOUSLY THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF MECHANIC THAT WE EMPLOYED WAS A THREE.
THIS INCREASES OUR TOP RATE OF PAY.
IT ALSO HELPS WITH RECRUITING AND RETENTION.
WE'VE ALSO INVESTED HEAVILY IN TRAINING PROGRAMS. WE'RE TRYING TO BRING OUR ENTRY LEVEL FOLKS ALONG AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.
AND, UH, WE'RE ALSO INVESTING QUITE A BIT IN FLEET TRACKING TO,
[00:45:01]
TO MAKE SURE THE FLEET IS BEING USED AS EFFICIENTLY AS POSSIBLE.AND, UH, WE'RE UPGRADING OUR SOFTWARE SYSTEMS TO IMPROVE OUR, UH, UH, REPORT CREATION, UH, ABILITIES, AND SO THAT WE CAN IDENTIFY ISSUES QUICKER AND, UH, AND OF COURSE RESPOND TO THOSE AS WELL.
SO, UH, A COUPLE OF THINGS THAT WE'RE DOING PROCUREMENT WISE TO TRY TO DEAL WITH THE CURRENT MARKET CONDITIONS.
ONE OF IS A PRE-PAY CAPITAL PROGRAM.
YOU'RE ALSO GONNA SEE THIS COMING ACROSS HERE IN, UH, IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS.
WE ARE LOOKING TO PREPAY FOR, UH, THE FIRE TRUCKS THAT'LL BE PURCHASED UNDER THE NEXT, UH, CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN.
SO WE'VE, WE'VE HAD, UH, MANY, UH, DISCUSSIONS WITH THE, UH, WITH THE DEALER, AND WE FOUND THAT THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY TO GET AN EXTRA PUMPER IF WE PAY UP FRONT VERSUS A TRADITIONAL METHOD OF PAIN WHEN THESE VEHICLES ARE DELIVERED.
AND OF COURSE, THERE, UH, AUTOMATICALLY YOU THINK, WELL, THERE'S A RISK, UH, PARTICULARLY UNDER THESE MARKET CONDITIONS THAT SOMETHING COULD HAPPEN TO THIS VENDOR OR MANUFACTURER.
SO WE'VE STIPULATED A PERFORMANCE BOND THAT, UH, THAT WILL BE PROVIDED BY THE VENDOR THAT SHOULD KEEP THE CITY WHOLE IN CASE ANYTHING HAPPENS WITH THAT CONTRACT.
AND, UH, UM, ISSUES COME WITH THE, UH, WITH THE FUNDING THAT WE'VE ALREADY, UH, UH, GIVEN THEM.
UM, AND AGAIN, THAT SHOULD PROVIDE US WITH AN EXTRA TRUCK, UH, BASED ON THE FLOAT THAT THE CONTRACTOR WILL HAVE BY BEING PAID UP FRONT.
NEXT THING WE'RE LOOKING AT IS, UH, PULL AHEAD CAPITAL FUNDING.
SO, UH, AN ISSUE THAT WE FOUND RECENTLY, THE, UH, ORDER PERIOD FOR POLICE PATROL CARS FOR, UH, MODEL YEAR 2026 CLOSES IN MAY.
OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN DOESN'T GET APPROVED UNTIL JULY, AND THE FUNDING ISN'T ALLOCATED UNTIL AUGUST, WHICH MEANS WE WOULD NOT GET AN OPPORTUNITY TO PURCHASE THE VEHICLES WHOSE ORDER PERIOD CLOSES IN MAY.
WE LOOKED AT THE DIFFERENCE IN PRICES BETWEEN THE MODEL YEAR 2026, MODEL YEAR 2027.
IF WE BUY MODEL YEAR 2026, WE GET FIVE ADDITIONAL PATROL CARS, AND WE GET THE PATROL CARS DELIVERED MUCH QUICKER THAN IF WE WAIT TILL THE FOLLOWING MODEL YEAR.
AND SO ANOTHER ITEM THAT WILL BE COMING FOR COUNCIL APPROVAL IS PULLING AHEAD THAT FY 26 FUNDING SO THAT WE CAN MAKE THAT ORDER IN TIME TO GET THE MODEL YEAR 2026 VEHICLES.
UM, NONE OF THE VEHICLES WILL BE DELIVERED BEFORE ALLOCATION, SO THERE WON'T BE A PROBLEM WITH THAT.
BUT AGAIN, IT ALLOWS US A, UH, UH, A REDUCED PRICE, WHICH WILL ALLOW US TO GET EXTRA VEHICLES, SO THAT THAT'S SOMETHING THAT'LL BE COMING SOON.
UM, SOMETHING ELSE THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT AS FIVE YEAR PURCHASING AGREEMENTS.
SO TRADITIONALLY THE CITY HAS BOUGHT JUST YEAR AFTER YEAR WITH, WITH AGREEMENTS, RIGHT? WE BUY EVERY YEAR, AND, UH, BUT WE'RE NOT GETTING A WHOLE LOT OF LEVERAGE FOR THAT.
IF WE MOVE TO FIVE YEAR PURCHASING AGREEMENTS, OF COURSE, UH, THAT'LL ATTRACT A LOT MORE ATTENTION, WE'LL WELD A LITTLE MORE LEVERAGE.
AND, UH, AND THEN OF COURSE, THERE WON'T BE ANY ISSUES WITH THE, UH, TIMING OF THE ORDER DATES.
UM, SHORT TERM VEHICLE LEASING, ONE THING THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT VERY HARD, WE'VE GOT A LOT OF VEHICLES IN THE FLEET THAT ARE SET FOR ONE PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
AND VERY OFTEN THIS ONE PARTICULAR PURPOSE DOESN'T OCCUR A WHOLE LOT.
AND SO WHAT WE'RE TALKING TO THE DEPARTMENT, SO INSTEAD OF BUYING A VEHICLE THAT SITS AROUND A LOT, LET'S JUST GO OUT AND LEASE IT FOR THAT PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
AND, UH, WE THINK WE CAN BE MORE COST EFFICIENT IN THAT MANNER.
UH, OTHER THINGS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT, UH, CHANGING UP VEHICLE SPECIFICATIONS.
SO ONE, UH, SPECIFICATION IN PARTICULAR ARE AMBULANCES, AS I MENTIONED, AMBULANCES GET A LOT OF WEAR AND TEAR.
WE'RE LOOKING TO GO TO A LITTLE HEAVIER AMBULANCE CHASSIS, WHICH WILL PROVIDE A LITTLE HEAVIER, HEAVIER DUTY BRAKES, HEAVIER DUTY COOLING SYSTEM THAT WE FEEL WILL GO A LONG WAY IN EXTENDING THE LIFE OF THE, UH, AMBULANCES.
AND THEN, UH, ON THE POLICE SIDE, WE'RE LOOKING AT, UH, WE'VE HAD A LOT OF DISCUSSIONS WITH THE POLICE DEPARTMENT.
WE'RE LOOKING AT GETTING VEHICLES UPFITTED TO THE EXTENT POSSIBLE BEFORE THEY ARE DELIVERED.
SO UNDER, UH, TRADITIONALLY WHAT THE CITY HAS DONE IS TAKE DELIVERY OF POLICE CARS, THEN THEY GO TO A UPFITTER AND THEY SIT FOR A WHILE WHILE THE, WHILE THE LIGHTS GET PUT ON 'EM, THAT SORT OF THING.
THE ISSUE WITH THAT IS THAT WE'RE LOSING WARRANTY, TIME-BASED WARRANTY.
SO WE WANT THAT WARRANTY TO CONVINCE TO COMMENCE AS SOON AS THOSE VEHICLES ARE DELIVERED READY TO
[00:50:01]
PLACE IN SERVICE.AND SO, UH, UH, WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH POLICE AND WE, WE'VE GOT SOME TRIALS, UH, UNDERWAY TO SEE HOW WELL IT WORKS.
WE, WE THINK IT CAN, UH, REALLY SAVE US A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF MONEY WITH, UH, WITH WARRANTY REPAIRS.
AND, AND CHAIR, IF I COULD, BEFORE WE MOVE, UH, TO QUESTIONS, I'D LIKE TO GIVE A SHOUT OUT TO SOME OF THE FOLKS THAT HELPED TO, WITH, UH, PUTTING THE INFORMATION TOGETHER.
IT REALLY WAS A, A COLLABORATION.
SO FROM THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, I'VE GOT CHIEF MARTIN.
I'VE GOT LIEUTENANT LEE, AND SERGEANT KIM, UM, FROM THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, WE'VE GOT CHIEF, UH, FRITCH IN THE AUDIENCE HERE, ALONG WITH CAPTAIN DESAI AND CAPTAIN MORENO.
AND THEN FROM, UH, FROM WITHIN FLEET, OUR ANALYSTS, UH, WE'VE GOT CHRISTIAN HARPER AND, UH, LISA YOUNG.
AND THEN I ALSO WANNA RECOGNIZE FOR A MOMENT, UH, FLEET EMPLOYEES, GREG MILLER AND, UH, SUJI GIO IN THE, IN THE CROWD.
GREG OVERSEES OUR FIRE DEPARTMENT, UH, OPERATIONS, VERY CHALLENGING SITUATION THERE.
AND, AND BOTH IN POLICE AS WELL.
UH, WE'RE SHORTHANDED WORKING IN TIGHT, UH, QUARTERS THERE.
UH, BOTH GENTLEMEN ARE VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT, UH, THE, UH, UH, UH, SERVICE THEY PROVIDE AND RECOGNIZE THEIR ROLE IN THE SAFETY OF, UH, HOUSTON CITIZENS.
SO WANNA GIVE A SHOUT OUT TO THEM.
AND, UH, AND WITH THAT, UH, I'LL OPEN IT UP TO ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE.
APPRECIATE THE VERY THOROUGH PRESENTATION.
IT'S HELPFUL TO SEE ALL OF THOSE NUMBERS ALL IN ONE PLACE TOGETHER.
UM, HOW DO YOU KNOW OFF THE TOP OF YOUR HEAD, HOW MUCH GRANT FUNDING WE'VE RECEIVED FOR THESE VEHICLES IN THE LAST FISCAL YEAR, AND HOW MUCH WE'RE EXPECTED TO GET THIS NEXT FISCAL YEAR? UH, WE DON'T HAVE ESTIMATES OF THAT BECAUSE THE GRANTS ARE TYPICALLY HANDLED BY THE, THE CLIENT DEPARTMENTS.
SO LIKE IN THE CASE OF POLICE, THEY'LL, THEY'LL DO THEIR GRANTS.
UM, WE DO WITHIN FLEET, WE'LL GO AFTER SOME STATE GRANTS, BUT, UH, BUT TYPICALLY IT'S THE, UH, FIRE DEPARTMENT AND POLICE DEPARTMENT THAT PURSUE THOSE POLICE.
UH, THEY'VE, THEY'VE BEEN PRETTY GOOD, UH, UH, UM, RECENTLY IN, IN GETTING, UH, WITH SEVERAL DIFFERENT GRANT PROGRAMS, BUT I DON'T HAVE THOSE AMOUNTS ON ME, BUT WE CAN GET 'EM TO YOU.
WHAT'S, WHAT'S HAPPENED PREVIOUSLY.
UM, WE REALLY DON'T HAVE AN IDEA OF WHAT'S COMING UP THOUGH.
UM, AND THANK YOU FOR LOOKING AT THE, UM, LEASING OF VEHICLES.
AGAIN, I THINK I BUG YOU ABOUT THAT, MAYBE AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR
THAT'S EXCITING TO SEE THAT, UM, THAT'S BEING REVIEWED AGAIN.
AND THEN ALSO, UM, THE DUAL USE OF THE HIGH WATER RESCUE VEHICLES, THAT DEFINITELY SOUNDS, UM, LIKE A GOOD DIRECTION TO GO.
UM, CAPTAIN MORENO, I KNOW WAS WATCHING, UM, HE'S DEPLOYED RIGHT NOW, BUT HE WAS WATCHING THE PRESENTATION AND, UM, WE'VE TALKED TO HIM ABOUT THAT AS WELL TO, YOU KNOW, SEE HOW ELSE CAN WE USE THOSE VEHICLES THAT ARE NECESSARY, BUT NOT NECESSARILY BEING USED ALL THE TIME.
UM, OH, ALSO, WE WERE JOINED IN THE PRESENTATION BY OUR VICE CHAIR COUNCIL MEMBER.
JACKSON, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE.
UM, WE HAVE IN THE QUEUE, UM, FIRST OFF, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER CARTER.
I JUST WANTED TO ADD, UM, I THINK IT'S A WONDERFUL IDEA TO USE THOSE VEHICLES FOR BARRICADES.
UM, YOU KNOW, THERE'S NOTHING LIKE SEEING THREE, YOU KNOW, $3 MILLION WORTH OF VEHICLES BLOCKING TRAFFIC WHEN YOU KNOW THAT THERE ARE CALLS AND THERE'S A SHORTAGE OF VEHICLES.
AND SO I THINK ANYTIME WE CAN, YOU KNOW, MULTITASK, SO TO SPEAK, WITH THOSE VEHICLES THAT ARE JUST SITTING, THAT'S A, THAT'S BRILLIANT.
AND, YOU KNOW, IT SAY CERTAINLY SAVES THE, UM, THE VEHICLE, BUT ALSO TOO, IT'S, IT'S JUST PRACTICAL AND COMMON SENSE, RIGHT? SO THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THAT.
STAFF FROM COUNCIL MEMBER HUFFMAN'S OFFICE.
I JUST HAVE TWO QUICK QUESTIONS.
UM, I WAS CURIOUS WHEN THE MULTIPLE VENDORS POLICY WAS PUT IN PLACE.
DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HOW LONG AGO? UM, WE KICKED THAT OFF, UH, I WANT TO SAY PROBABLY SIX TO EIGHT MONTHS AGO.
AND THEN COULD YOU GIVE US A LITTLE BIT MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SAMSARA FLEET TRACKING, UH, YOU KNOW, WHAT YOUR FINDINGS ARE, IF YOU'RE FINDING SIGNIFICANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE EFFICIENCY OF THE VEHICLES AND, AND REDUCING, UH, TRAFFIC INCIDENTS? SO WE'RE STILL KIND OF IN THE PRELIMINARY STAGES OF, OF IMPLEMENTATION.
A LOT OF INSTALLATION GOING ON RIGHT NOW.
UH, WE HAVE HAD A, A A, A COUPLE OF CASES WHERE, WHERE, UH, UH, THINGS HAVE POPPED UP WHERE WE'VE BEEN PLEASANTLY SURPRISED.
ONE WAS, UH, A SOLID WASTE IS, IS, IS THEY'RE REALLY THE, THE FIRST DEPARTMENT GOING IN, UH, BIG ON THIS.
AND WHAT WE'VE SEEN IS OUR FOLKS IN THE SHOP WILL GET ALERTS THAT THERE'S A PARTICULAR ISSUE WITH A VEHICLE THAT'S IN SERVICE.
AND SO THEY'RE SENDING PEOPLE OUT TO RESPOND TO, UH, TO THESE ALERTS WITHOUT THE DRIVER EVEN KNOWING THAT, UH, THAT THERE'S A PROBLEM YET
[00:55:01]
WITH THE TRUCK.AND SO THEY'RE ABLE TO CATCH THE TRUCK ON ROUTE, ADDRESS THE ISSUE, AND ALLOW THE, THE TRUCK TO CONTINUE.
SO WE'RE HOPING TO GET A, A LOT MORE OF THAT.
UM, WE'RE JUST NOW GETTING THE INFORMATION ROLLING IN INTO OUR, UH, REPORTING SYSTEM.
AND SO, UH, IT'S PROBABLY A LITTLE EARLY TO TO, TO PROVIDE YOU WITH SOME, SOME CLEAR BENEFITS.
UM, IT'S, IT'S STILL AT THIS POINT, EXPECTED BENEFITS.
AND ARE THEY USED BY ALSO, UH, THE HFD AND HPD VEHICLES? ARE THEY, SO WE'VE GOT SOME INSTALLATIONS GOING ON NOW OKAY.
BUT ONE OF THE THINGS I, WE SPOKE WITH BOTH DEPARTMENTS AND BECAUSE THEY'RE BOTH EMERGENCY RESPONSE VEHICLES, WE WANNA GET THE REST OF THE FLEET DONE FIRST, GET ALL THE BUGS WORKED OUT BEFORE, AND THERE MAY NOT BE ANY BUGS, BUT WE JUST DON'T WANT TO TAKE CHANCES.
LET'S GET 'EM ON ALL THE OTHER VEHICLES THAT, THAT, THAT ARE NOT EMERGENCY RESPONSE BEFORE WE START LOOKING AT, UH, POLICE AND FIRE IN A BIG WAY.
AND WHAT, UH, WHAT DOES THE ACTUAL DEVICE TRACK? SO THERE, THERE'S, UH, THERE'S A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT THINGS.
SO THE BIG THING FOR FLEET IS TRACKING MILEAGE.
UH, WHERE WE SEE A LOT OF ISSUES IS, IS WHEN, WHEN FOLKS GO TO FILL UP THEIR VEHICLES, THEY DON'T ALWAYS PUT THE ACCURATE MILEAGE INTO THE, UH, UNIT.
AND SO THAT THROWS OFF OUR MAINTENANCE SYSTEM.
SO WE COLLECT GOOD, ACCURATE MILEAGE, IT'S UPLOADED ON A REALTIME BASIS, HELPS US TO PREDICT AND TO SCHEDULE OUR PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE MUCH BETTER.
UM, AND THEN HELPS US TO, TO ASSESS COSTS MUCH BETTER.
EVERYTHING IS DRIVEN ON COST PER MILE, COST PER UNIT, THAT SORT OF THING.
AND SO MILES ARE A BIG INDICATOR FOR THAT.
BUT THE UNIT DOES ALSO PROVIDE, THERE, THERE ARE ACCELEROMETERS INSIDE THESE UNITS AND WHAT THEY MEASURE ARE HARSH DRIVING.
SO IF THERE'S, UH, UH, IF THEY'RE SEEING SOMEBODY THAT'S MAKING, UH, JACKRABBIT STARTS HARSH BRAKING OR, UH, UM, IT'LL REPORT THAT.
ALSO THE UNIT IS, IS, UH, UH, ABLE TO DETECT ACCIDENTS.
SO IF IT'S, UH, UH, UH, VEHICLES INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT, THEY'LL BE A REPORT SENT IN, SAY, LOOK FOR ACCIDENT, THIS VEHICLE AT THIS LOCATION, THAT SORT OF THING.
UM, THE SYSTEM ALSO TELLS YOU WHERE THE VEHICLE IS, WHERE IT'S BEEN, WHERE IT'S TRAVELING.
YOU CAN PUT ANY SORT OF RANGE, UH, TIME RANGE IN THERE AND YOU CAN FIND EXACTLY WHERE THAT VEHICLE WAS.
UH, YOU CAN SET UP GEOFENCES FOR VEHICLES.
SO IF THERE'S A, UH, A PARTICULAR NEED FOR A VEHICLE AND IT SHOULD ONLY BE WITHIN A CERTAIN AREA, IF IT GETS OUTTA THAT AREA THAT, UH, SOME SORT OF INDICATION OF A PROBLEM, THE SYSTEM WILL FLAG THAT UNIT AND IMMEDIATELY REPORT THAT IT'S NOT WHERE IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE.
SO, SO, UH, UH, LOTS OF DIFFERENT, UH, OPERATING CHARACTERISTICS FOR THAT SYSTEM.
UH, I'M SURE I'M PROBABLY MISSING A COUPLE, BUT, UH, BUT GOING OFF THE, THE TOP OF MY HEAD, THOSE ARE SOME OF THE PRIMARY STAFF FROM COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ'S OFFICE.
UM, SO JUST PIGGY BACKING OFF OF THIS QUESTION, SO WAS IT A FLEET'S RECOMMENDATION TO SOLID WASTE AND HPD TO GET THESE NEW CAMERAS? OR DID THOSE DEPARTMENTS SAY, OH, WE WANT THESE NEW CAMERAS, OR HOW DID THAT UNFOLD? SO, SO IT, IT, IT REALLY WAS A COLLABORATION.
SO, SO THERE WAS TESTING DONE IN POLICE THAT ARE, ARE FIRE, THERE'S TESTING DONE IN SOLID WASTE.
UM, MOST OF THE PUBLIC WORKS VEHICLES ARE ALREADY EQUIPPED WITH, WITH THIS SYSTEM.
AND SO, SO IT REALLY WAS A COLLABORATION.
AGAIN, WE NEEDED SOMETHING DESPERATELY TO TRACK MILES AND, UH, AND SO WE CAME IN, OPERATED A BUNCH OF PILOTS.
THE, UH, THE, UH, USERS, END USERS WERE, WERE HAPPY WITH THE RESULTS FROM THESE PILOTS.
UM, AND THIS IS A, UH, YOU KNOW, THIS ISN'T JUST A A, A CITY OF HOUSTON PROJECT.
THIS IS, THIS IS, UH, SOMETHING THAT ALL THE MAJOR FLEETS IN THE COUNTRY ARE ADOPTING, UH, BECAUSE OF THE PERCEIVED COST SAVINGS FROM KNOWING EXACTLY HOW THE FLEET IS BEING OPERATED, PICKING UP ON THE EFFICIENCIES, SCHEDULING, THAT SORT OF THING.
UH, SO, SO IT'S REALLY BEEN A COLLABORATION MORE THAN ANYTHING.
AND, AND THIS IS A PROBABLY NOT A MAJOR FUNCTIONALITY QUESTION OF INTEREST FOR YOU, BUT DO YOU HAPPEN TO KNOW, IS IT TRUE THAT THE VOICE RECORDING FUNCTION CAN BE TURNED ON AND OFF WITH THIS CAMERA? UM, JUST ABOUT ANYTHING CAN BE TURNED AND ON AND OFF WITH IT.
AND, AND SO, SO THERE'S A COUPLE OF THINGS THAT I KNOW THE CAMERAS AND, AND THE MICROPHONES HAVE BEEN A CONCERN AND WE'VE, WE'VE HAD MULTIPLE DISCUSSIONS WITH, WITH DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS.
SO THE BASE UNIT THAT'S GOING IN AND WE'RE TRYING TO GET IN ON AS MANY VEHICLES AS POSSIBLE DOES NOT INCLUDE ANY TYPE OF CAMERA OR ANY KIND OF RECORDING DEVICE.
SO THE ONLY CAMERAS THAT ARE BEING INSTALLED ARE THOSE
[01:00:01]
THAT ARE BEING REQUESTED BY THE USING DEPARTMENTS.SO FROM A FLEET PERSPECTIVE, WHEN WE'RE DOING OUR INSTALLATIONS, WE'RE NOT INSTALLING CAMERAS UNLESS THEY WERE ASKED FOR.
UM, SO, SO, UM, THE, I KNOW THE, THE, UH, SOLID WASTE GROUP, THEY ASKED FOR A, A LOT OF CAMERAS.
THOSE ARE GOING IN NOW, BUT THEY'VE ALWAYS HAD SOME CAMERAS ON, ON ON SOLID WASTE VEHICLES AND THEN SEPARATE SUBJECT.
UM, SO YOU MENTIONED FOR HPD PATROL VEHICLES, I THINK YOU SAID THAT THERE'S BEEN A 5% DECREASE IN THE COST.
ANY GUESSES WHY THAT WOULD BE THE CASE? WELL, WE THINK THAT, SO, SO UH, DURING, DURING THE COVID SITUATION, UH, THERE JUST WASN'T A WHOLE LOT OF AVAILABILITY OF VEHICLES.
AND, UH, AND AT THE TIME THE ONLY POLICE VEHICLE WE COULD BUY WAS THE FORD INTERCEPTOR.
AND SO WITH THAT CAME, UH, UH, HIGHER PRICE.
NOW FORD TOLD US THAT IT WAS BECAUSE THE COST OF THE CHIPS, REMEMBER THE CHIP SHORTAGE WAS, WAS A BIG DEAL THAT THE COST OF THE CHIPS HAD GONE WAY UP AND THEY WERE SIMPLY PASSING THOSE COSTS ON.
NOT REAL SURE ABOUT THAT COMPLETELY, BUT, UH, THE, THE BOTTOM LINE IS THE MARKET GOT A LITTLE MORE COMPETITIVE BECAUSE WHERE GM WASN'T PRODUCING, UH, POLICE CARS AT THE TIME.
NOW THEY ARE AGAIN, CHRYSLER OR STELLANTIS, I BELIEVE IS THEIR NEW NAME, ALSO PRODUCING.
SO, SO THE MARKET'S BECOME A LITTLE MORE COMPETITIVE.
SO THAT'S WHY WE BELIEVE THE PRICES HAS COME DOWN A A BIT.
DO I HAVE TIME TO ASK MORE QUESTIONS OR SHOULD I, YOU CAN COME BACK TO ME IF YOU WANT.
UH, PAY FOR MAINTENANCE WORKERS.
SO I THINK I HEARD YOU SAY THAT, UM, ENTRY LEVEL, WE HAVE ENOUGH FOLKS, BUT KIND OF THE, THE RANGE ABOVE THAT, NOT SO MUCH.
I THINK WE HAD HEARD LIKE A YEAR AGO, SOMETHING LIKE, WE LOSE PEOPLE BECAUSE IF THEY WORK AT THE MAINTENANCE SHOP ON THE CORNER, THEY'LL GET MORE MONEY.
IS THAT TRUE OR NOT SO TRUE OR SO, SO IT REALLY DEPENDS.
AND, AND, AND ONE THING TOO, TOO, UH, THERE THERE'S DIFFERENT WAYS, A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT WAYS OF PAYING MECHANICS AND THAT HAVE BEEN AROUND FOREVER.
SO ONE IS JUST A STRAIGHT HOURLY RATE, AND THAT'S WHAT WE DO.
ANOTHER, UH, WHAT, WHAT DEALERS TYPICALLY USE IS WHAT'S CALLED THE, THE FLAT RATE OR BILLABLE HOURS.
SO, UM, SAY A, A JOB CHANGING A HEADLIGHT, UM, PAYS AN HOUR.
SO IF A MECHANIC WORKING AT A DEALER CAN CHANGE THAT HEADLIGHT IN 15 MINUTES, HE OR HER GETS PAID AN HOUR WORTH OF, UH, UH, OF PAY.
SO IT'S A DIFFERENT PAY STRUCTURE THERE.
I WILL SAY THAT WE'VE DONE, UH, QUITE A FEW, UH, UH, UH, PAY ANALYSIS OF THE, UH, OF, OF THE AREA.
AND WHAT WE FOUND IS WE ARE THE SECOND HIGHEST PAYING PUBLIC AGENCY, UH, IN THE AREA.
THE ONLY AGENCY THAT BEATS US IN MECHANIC PAY IS METRO.
UH, OUR TOP RATE RIGHT NOW IS, UH, IS A LITTLE OVER $30 AN HOUR.
UH, METRO I BELIEVE IS PAYING, UH, $32 AN HOUR.
AND SO WE'RE COMPETITIVE WITH PUBLIC AGENCIES.
UM, IT GETS A LITTLE MORE CHALLENGING WITH, WITH THE PRIVATE DEALERSHIPS, PRIVATE, UH, UH, SHOPS, ESPECIALLY THE LARGE ONES.
I DON'T SEE ANYONE ELSE IN THE QUEUE, UM, BUT WE APPRECIATE THE PRESENTATION AND WE DO HAVE SEVERAL SPEAKERS.
UM, FIRST IS WAS ON, UM, FIRST IS CAPTAIN BO MORENO VIRTUALLY.
I THINK THE DIRECTOR KNOCKED MY, MY POINTS OUTTA THE PARK.
UM, BUT I, THE BIG THING I WANNA SAY IS MAYBE SOME OF Y'ALL KNOW, MAYBE SOME OF YOU DON'T.
UH, COUNCIL APPROVED JUST OVER A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS TO REFURBISH OUR 30-YEAR-OLD BOAT FLEET.
UM, AND THAT WAS A, A GREAT INVESTMENT AND I WANNA SAY THANK YOU ON THAT PART, UH, THAT ADDED SOME MORE SAFETY FEATURES TO THAT FLEET AND IS GONNA ALLOW THAT BOAT FLEET TO BE HERE WAY BEYOND ANY OF US ARE HERE.
THANK YOU FOR COUNSEL TO HIT THAT, THOSE POINTS.
AND, UH, LET'S TRY TO BE MORE HIGH TECH THAN HIGH TOUCH.
AND, UM, WE DO HAVE, UM, STAFF FROM COUNCIL MEMBER CAYMAN'S OFFICE.
HI, CAPTAIN KATE FROM COUNCIL MEMBER CAYMAN'S OFFICE, THE COUNCIL MEMBER.
JUST WANTED TO THANK YOU FOR WORKING WITH US TO IDENTIFY NEEDS IN THE DISTRICT AND FOR ALL YOU'RE DOING FOR THE COMMUNITY.
UM, WE'LL MOVE ON TO OUR NEXT, UM, SPEAKER, AUBREY CONTRERAS.
OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS JULIA BUSTOS.
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IN PERSON.WE'RE JUST GIVING THEM A MINUTE TO SEE IF THEY ARE MAYBE VIRTUALLY PRESENT.
MOVING ON TO CAROLINA BUSTOS, LAURA GALLAGHER, DOMINIQUE MALA, GREGORY JACKSON.
I BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE SIGNED IN VIRTUALLY, SO WE'RE JUST GONNA GIVE THEM ANOTHER SECOND TO SEE.
KAREN, CAN YOU HEAR ME? YES, GO AHEAD.
UM, DOMINIC TOLD ME NOT TO COME TO THE MEETING TODAY, AND I THINK WHOEVER SERVICE PROVED ME RIGHT, UH, COUPLE OF THINGS.
THE, UH, TRUCKS THAT WE USE, THE, THOSE ARMY, UH, HEAVY DUTY VEHICLES, MAYBE INSTEAD OF THE CITY HAVING VEHICLES, MAYBE WE NEED AN MOU BETWEEN THE CITY METRO, THE HARRIS COUNTY, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, WHERE WE HAVE POOLED VEHICLES WHERE, UH, THE VEHICLE'S IN A, IN A CACHE IN A GARAGE SOMEWHERE, AND, UH, ALL THE SERVICES PAY INTO THIS, AND THEN THE VEHICLE IS USED BY THE SERVICE THAT NEEDS IT THE MOST.
MAYBE WE NEED A POOL WITH THAT.
SECOND OF ALL, I THINK THERE ARE CERTAIN VEHICLES, PARTICULARLY POLICE VEHICLES THAT I THINK MAYBE THE CITY METRO, HARRIS COUNTY, THE SHERIFFS, THE CONSTABLES, THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, EVERYBODY SITS TOGETHER AND WE SPEC A POLICE CAR THAT, UH, EVERYBODY CAN USE.
AND WHEN THIS THING GOES OFF FOR BID, YOU KNOW, UH, HOUSTON POLICE, UH, ORDERED SO MANY METRO ORDERS, SO MANY, UH, HARRIS COUNTY OR, OR SHERIFFS OR, OR SO MANY THE CONSTABLES AND THE VEHICLES, MAYBE THEY NEED TO BE BLACK OR ONE COLOR OR THAT YOU HAVE TO DO IS ACTUALLY PUT IN THE EQUIPMENT.
AND THE DECALING, I, AGAIN, UM, I LIKE THE IDEA OF YOU GOING WITH A FIVE YEAR CONTRACT, BUT I THINK IF YOU GOT THE WHOLE, EVERY POLICE FORCE IN THE COUNTY, UH, OR IN THE HCAC AREA, COMING DOWN WITH A, SAY AN HCAC, SPECT POLICE CAR, UH, WHEN YOU ORDER THESE CARS, YOU GET A BETTER PRICE BY VOLUME.
AND WITH THE BUDGET THE WAY THERE IS, THEY ARE, I MEAN, SOME LOOK AT LASTLY, WHAT'S WRONG WITH, SAY I PASSED BY A MATTRESS BACK DOWN HERE ON THE NORTH FREEWAY AND HE'S GOT A BRAND NEW, UH, FOUR BY SIX, UH, TRUCK.
THEY CALL IT MAC HAS YOUR BACK TRUCK.
I DON'T EXPECT EACH COMPANY OR EACH INDUSTRY IN THE CITY OF HOUSTON TO HAVE ITS OWN VEHICLE, THEN, YOU KNOW, GO THAT ROUTE.
BUT MAYBE ON SOME OF THESE MAJOR PURCHASES, A COMPANY CAN SAY US, COME AND SAY, SEE HOUSTON, I WANT TO GIVE A GIFT OF SUCH AND SUCH FOR A VEHICLE.
AND THEN MAYBE ON THE VEHICLE THERE'S A DECAL.
YOU DON'T, YOU KNOW, YOU DON'T PAY IT FOR A COMPANY, BUT MAYBE A DECAL.
I THINK THAT WE NEED TO LOOK AT VARIOUS OPTIONS TO PAY FOR THINGS, NOT JUST HERE, BUT ACROSS THE BOARD, CONSIDERING THE CORE OF A BILLION DOLLAR HOLE WE WERE LOOKING AT IN JULY.
WITH THAT, THANKS FOR LETTING ME SPEAK AND I'M GONNA SEND IT BACK TO YOU.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR COMMENTS.
WE APPRECIATE, UM, THAT INFORMATION.
IS THERE ANYBODY ELSE, UM, SIGNED IN VIRTUALLY THAT I CALLED THAT DIDN'T GET THROUGH BEFORE? ALL RIGHT, HEARING NONE.
IF THERE WAS AN ISSUE FOR ANYONE GETTING THROUGH, PLEASE UM, SEND US YOUR COMMENTS VIA EMAIL AND WE'RE HAPPY TO DISTRIBUTE THAT TO THE COMMITTEE.
UM, OUR NEXT COMMITTEE MEETING, WE'LL BE ON TUESDAY, APRIL 18TH AT 10:00 AM AND WE STAND ADJOURNED.