TO: Board of Supervisors
FROM: Rollie Soria for Oscar Ortiz, Sheriff-Coroner
REPORT BY: Erin Corry, Staff Services Analyst II
SUBJECT: Boating Safety & Enforcement Equipment Grant & Budget Amendment
RECOMMENDATION
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Approve the Boating Safety Miscellaneous Equipment Grant for Fiscal Year 2024-25, associated Budget Amendment, and authorize the Sheriff to approve all grant related documents. (Fiscal Impact: $51,934 Expense and Revenue; General Fund; Not Budgeted; Discretionary)
[4/5 vote required]
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BACKGROUND
The primary focus of the Sheriff’s Office efforts in boating safety and enforcement is on Lake Berryessa. The lake is 30 square miles of waterways with marinas, resorts, and public use areas. The United States Department of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) manages the lake, but has no enforcement authority and is not equipped to perform any boating safety or enforcement.
Sheriff’s Office duties at Lake Berryessa include, but are not limited to, enforcing all boating laws, state laws, county ordinances, boating safety inspections and instruction, vessel accident investigations, search and rescue, emergency medical transports from the water or inaccessible areas, special events and boat safety consultation to BOR and the resorts. Sheriff’s Office patrols Lake Berryessa on a full-time basis with added coverage during spring and summer months. In addition to Lake Berryessa, Sheriff’s Office also conducts checks of Lake Hennessy, a small municipal water supply approximately 2 square miles in size and provides frequent boating safety inspections to the 75 shoreline miles of Napa River.
Boat No. 9 (Capital Asset No. 100757) is one of the Sheriff’s Office preferred patrol vessels for day-to-day operations on Lake Berryessa due to its high maneuverability, large working platform, and open cabin design. However, Boat No. 9 is only outfitted with a basic chart plotter and transducer, which does not allow it to be safely utilized during nighttime or low visibility operations. To reduce costs to the County, Sheriff’s Office applied for and received a grant award in the amount of $51,934 from the California Department of Parks and Recreation, Division of Boating and Waterways, Boating Safety and Enforcement Equipment Grant FY 2024/2025 to upgrade Boat No. 9 with a FLIR M364C thermal camera, patrol vessel electronics/navigational suite, and a Raymarine AIS 5000 Class A Transponder B. The new marine electronics and navigation package will allow for the safe operation of Boat No. 9 at nighttime or in low visibility environments, making patrol and search & rescue efforts more effective.
Requested Actions:
1. Acceptance of grant agreement C24L0610 in the amount of $51,934 for the acquisition of specific miscellaneous boating equipment for Boat No. 9.
2. Authorization the Sheriff to execute all documents, including but not limited to applications, agreements, activity reports, payment requests, claim forms and other documents that may be required, subject to County Counsel approval.
3. Betterment of existing capital asset No. 100757 (Patrol Boat No. 9) current book value of $0.00, increasing its value by $51,934 for a marine FLIR camera, patrol vessel electronics/navigational suite, and a Raymarine AIS Class A Transponder B.
4. Approval of a Budget Amendment increasing appropriations in Sheriff’s Office Budget subdivision 1360000 Equipment Expense 55400 by $51,934 with offsetting revenue from the Boating Safety Miscellaneous Equipment Grant FY 2024/2025 funding. (4/5 vote required)
FISCAL & STRATEGIC PLAN IMPACT
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Is there a Fiscal Impact? |
Yes |
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Is it currently budgeted? |
No |
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Where is it budgeted? |
Expense and revenue will be budgeted in Sheriff’s Office subdivision 1360000. |
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Is it Mandatory or Discretionary? |
Discretionary |
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Discretionary Justification: |
There is no mandate to accept grant funding to upgrade Boat No. 9’s navigation system. However, these grant funds would be utilized to significantly improve the safety and capability of Boat No. 9. |
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Is the general fund affected? |
Yes |
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Future fiscal impact: |
Future equipment costs will be budgeted accordingly. |
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Consequences if not approved: |
If today’s requested actions are not approved, Sheriff’s Office would not accept the Boating Safety Miscellaneous Equipment Grant FY 2024/2025 funding and Boat No. 9’s navigation system would not be upgraded for safer nighttime or limited visibility operations. In addition, Sheriff’s Office would be required to budget general fund appropriations for the eventual upgrade of Boat No. 9’s navigation system in a future fiscal year. |
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The proposed action is not a project as defined by 14 California Code of Regulations 15378 (State CEQA Guidelines) and therefore CEQA is not applicable.