By Brett Callwood
At the City Council meeting on the evening of Tuesday, October 24, the council voted unanimously in favor of Action Item 12A, to “Approve and authorize the City Manager to execute the Authorization to Order (ATO) forms with the California Network and Telecommunications (CALNET) Program Cellular and Data Services through June 30, 2025.”
Staff recommended that the council authorize the City Manager to execute the ATO forms, which is what they did.
“Since 2008, the City has obtained telecommunications and network services from AT&T through the CALNET 2 and CALNET 3 Contract agreements that provides discounted rates as secured by the State contract with AT&T,” read the staff note. “The current CALNET 3 contract is set to expire on December 31, 2023, as the State is transitioning to CALNET NextGen program. In order for the City to continue to obtain these discounted rates, it will need to execute the ATO forms to authorize participation in the CALNET NextGen program.”
Now approved, the City will send the ATO forms to the CALNET program for review and further approval. When the city receives approval from CALNET, staff will come back to the City Council for approval on telecommunications purchases.
Later in the meeting, the council approved item 16A, to “authorize the contract renewal services with SmartCover Systems, Inc. in the amount of $63,570 to provide Active Site Management (ASM) and warranty coverage for a two-year term.”
“On September 11, 2018, City Council approved the purchase and installation of 30 Sewer Covers from SmartCover Systems for monitoring at various locations in the City,” read the staff note. “Ongoing costs for the system include annual renewal of the ASM component plus the power pack and systems parts warranty. The ASM component includes support services, data storage, upgrades, website access, software subscription, satellite connectivity, maintenance alerts, online sewer cover monitoring, and data analysis. The cost for continued maintenance has increased over the last several years. Effective March 1, 2023, there was a price increase of 3.8% for monitoring and maintenance service. The cost for 1 year of service increased to $32,760. The vendor offered a discount for a two- year term resulting in a savings of $1,950 and protection against a price increase for the second year.”
The council also unanimously voted in favor of item 16B, to purchase one Tesla electric vehicle from Enterprise Fleet Management in the amount of $57,252 for the Public Works Department.
“The needs of the Public Works Inspector are unique as they need to have tools to perform their duties,” read the staff note. “A passenger car does not suffice. Therefore, a SUV or truck is needed. As the City moves forward with complying with the state of California’s stringent environmental and air quality regulations, the City will now only consider fully electric vehicles on our fleet of non- emergency light duty vehicles. Other vehicle makes and models were considered; but because of supply chain issues, the availability of full-electric vehicles is scarce. The City receives funds from the state that can be used to purchase electric vehicles and staff researched what types of electric SUV’s and trucks could be purchased. Tesla Motors Inc. is an American company, and the Model Y is extremely competitively priced with other fully electric makes and models, has a driving range of approximately 300 miles per full charge, and is now available for purchase. There are several cities that have utilized Tesla automobiles for their fleet of both emergency and non-emergency vehicles.”
