REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: GREGORY A. BARFIELD, M.A., Assistant City Manager and Interim Director
Department of Transportation
BY: LINDA TAYLOR, Administrative Manager
Department of Transportation
ORIE J. RUBALCAVA, Senior Management Analyst
Department of Transportation
SUBJECT
Title
Authorize a three (3) year, with two (2) one (1) year options agreement between the City of Fresno and the Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission to fulfill the Consolidated Transportation Service Agency requirement for social service transportation in Urban Fresno County for a projected FY2024 Operations Program & Budget amount of $1,485,704.
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends Council authorize a three (3) year, with two (2) one (1) year options agreement between the City and Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission to fulfill the Consolidated Transportation Service Agency requirement for social service transportation in Urban Fresno County for a projected FY2024 Operations Program & Budget amount of $1,485,704.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of the Consolidated Transportation Service Agency (CTSA) is to improve coordination and consolidation of social service transportation services in each California County. Fresno Council of Governments (FCOG) administers the funding, activities, and transportation programs of all CTSA service providers within the Fresno Metropolitan Area (FMA). In 2020, FCOG designated the City of Fresno/Fresno Area Express (FAX) and the Fresno County Rural Transit Agency (FCRTA) as the sole designees to manage the social service transportation services within the urban and rural areas of Fresno County, respectively.
On April 3, 2023, FAX and FCRTA released a Joint Request for Proposals soliciting interested parties to manage and operate the Social Services Transportation services program within the rural and urban areas of Fresno County. On April 18, 2023, only one proposal from Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission (FEOC) was received. A Selection Committee comprised of both FAX and FCRTA members was assembled to evaluate the proposal. The Selection Committee unanimously agreed that FEOC met the qualifications for the Social Service Transportation services program and recommended award of the agreement to FEOC.
BACKGROUND
CTSAs were created by Assembly Bill 120 (AB 120) in 1979, for the purpose of improving coordination and consolidating social service transportation services in each California County. The AB 120 legislation led to the creation of the AB 120 Action Plan by FCOG in 1982. This 1982 AB 120 Action Plan created three CTSAs for Fresno County: 1) Clovis Urban Area - City of Clovis sole designee; 2) FMA - FAX and Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission (FEOC) co-designees; and 3) Rural Fresno County - FCRTA and FEOC co-designees.
In 2020, FCOG re-designated the CTSAs for the FMA as the following: FCRTA is now the sole designee for to administer the funding, activities, and transportation programs of all CTSA service providers in rural Fresno County; and the FAX is now the sole designee to administer the funding, activities, and transportation programs of all CTSA service providers within the urban FMA. As part of this designation, FAX receives Transportation Development Act (TDA) - Local Transit Funds (LTF) Article 4.5 for CTSA activities, and has the responsibility to ensure oversight and monitoring of fiscal activities related to these funds. These activities include but are not limited to: quarterly financial reporting by FEOC, review of all CTSA sub-agreements, financial audits of CTSA expenses, and management coordination meetings.
Previously, Council approved an agreement for Social Service Transportation services with FEOC that went into effect on July 1, 2021, and was subsequently extended by Council on June 16, 2022. The previous agreement is due to terminate on June 30, 2023.
On April 3, 2023, FAX and FCRTA released a Joint Request for Proposals soliciting interested parties to manage and operate the Social Service Transportation services program within the rural and urban areas of Fresno County. On April 18, 2023, only one proposal from FEOC was received. A Selection Committee composed of both FAX and FCRTA members was assembled to evaluate the proposal. The Selection Committee unanimously agreed that FEOC met the qualifications for the Social Service Transportation services program and recommended award of the agreement to FEOC for both the urban and rural services. FAX and FEOC now seek to enter into an agreement for the urban Social Service Transportation services for a term of three (3) years, with two (2) optional extensions of one (1) year each. The projected FY2024 Operations Program & Budget (OPB) totals $1,485,704 for this service.
The updated OPB for FY2024 provides for ongoing coordination and consolidation of the following Social Service Transportation programs in the City of Fresno under the direction of FAX: Central Valley Regional Center (CVRC), California Veterans Home, Three Palms Mobile Home Park, Fresno County Department of Behavioral Health (DBH), Fresno EOC Food Services, Fresno EOC Head Start, Special Trips for Social Service Agencies, School District Gap Transportation, on demand services, the Arc of Fresno and Madera Counties, United Cerebral Palsy of Fresno (UCP). These FEOC contracts include services for low-income school children, low-income adults, elderly adults, and disabled adults. The proposed OPB includes detailed revenues and expenses accounted for separately for each service in the urban and/or rural areas. Under this proposal, personnel and overhead expenses are shared between the various partnerships and services. Capital expenses, such as construction or vehicle purchases, are not an allowable expense for LTF Article 4.5.
The City Attorney has reviewed the Agreement and approved it to form.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
By the definition provided in the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines Section 15378 the award of this contract does not qualify as a “project”; therefore, it is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act requirements.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference was not implemented due to the nature of the joint proposal between rural and urban CTSA areas and state regulatory requirements for competitive bidding for this program.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact to the General Fund from this request. This subaward agreement is funded by State of California TDA/LTF article 4.5 funding.
Attachment:
FEOC Operations Program and Budget
Committee Report fort CTSA