HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 18 - Surplus PropertyMEMO TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: BRUNO RUMBELOW, ACTING CITY MANAGER
MEETING DATE: AUGUST 16, 2005
SUBJECT: CONSIDER APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION FOR THE
DONATION OF SURPLUS PROPERTY TO THE GRAPEVINE
CITIZENS FIRE ACADEMY ALUMNI
RECOMMENDATION:
City Council to consider a resolution for the donation of a 1998 Chevrolet Ambulance to
the Grapevine Citizens Fire Academy Alumni. Please see the attached letter from the
Grapevine Citizens Fire Academy Alumni regarding the proposed donation.
BACKGROUND:
Under Local Government Code Section 253.011 (C), municipalities may transfer
property to a non-profit organization without complying with the notice and bidding
requirements of Section 272.001(a) or other law.
The Grapevine Citizens Fire Academy Alumni (GCFAA) is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit,
charitable organization established by graduates of Grapevine Fire Rescue's (GFR) and
Citizens Fire Academies (CFA). The Alumni is currently in need of an ambulance for use
in a number of the fire academy activities as detailed in the attached letter from their
President.
Under the City of Grapevine vehicle replacement program, a new ambulance has been
received to replace a 1998 Chevrolet ambulance with 89,209 miles. The replacement
criteria is 80,000 miles and the older ambulance had incurred high maintenance costs
and become unreliable.
This request is to approve a resolution to declare the ambulance as surplus and approve
donation of the ambulance to the Grapevine Citizens Fire Academy Alumni.
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August 11, 2005 (1:29PM)
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'GRAPEVINE CITIZENS FIRE ACADEMY
May 17, 2005
Hand Delivered
Mr. Roger Nelson
City Manager's Office
PO Box 95104
Grapevine, TX 76099
Dear Mr. Nelson:
I am formally requesting the city of grapevine donate a medic vehicle to our organization upon its
retirement from grapevine fire rescue for use by our organization's rehabilitation team. The unit we
request is the 1998 model GMC chassis wheeled coach conversion with a recently installed new motor.
The Grapevine Citizens Fire Academy Alumni (GCFAA) is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit, charitable
organization established by graduates of Grapevine Fire Rescue's (GFR) Citizens Fire Academies (CFA)
in 2001. Membership in our organization is open to all graduates of any GFR CFA class. Members must
pay annual dues to maintain membership status. We assist GFR whenever and wherever our assistance is
requested, such as community education and incident rehabilitation services. The concept of citizen
based support groups, for a city's firefighters is not a new idea. CFA alumni organizations in our area
already operate such vehicles, Dallas, Denton and Frisco to name a few. Our motto is, "Helping those
who help others."
This past weekend, our members provided staffing to assist Roger Stewart at the Department's Fire Safety
house at the Outdoor Sports Expo in Meadowmere Park. Last week the GCFAA rehab team (8561) was
dispatched to the fuel tanker spill and fire on Grapevine Highway. R561 provided our rehabilitation
services to our firefighters, police officers and associated personnel working the incident.
R561 is a volunteer group within our organization comprised of individuals who assist GFR by providing
beverages, hot & cold, high-energy food snacks, ice, and wet towels to the firefighters and public safety
personnel during high intensity incidents. All of these things are designed to help cool the responder, and
keep them hydrated and nourished during an incident of sufficient duration. The decision on whether or
not to call R561 rests with the incident command.
R561 is comprised of 6 teams of three people, each corresponding to GFR's A, B and C shifts, though our
shifts are further broken down into two 12 hour segments. Our teams consist of a captain, co -captain and
member, each with specific duties. R561 members are paged through the City's Central Dispatch via text
messages sent to members' cell phones or pagers for whichever team is on call that day. R561 also has
floaters for both day and evening shifts that may be called upon to fill in if any team member is unable to
answer a call. Once called, all team members respond to Station 1, where our supplies are kept and all
team members depart for the scene in a single vehicle.
2045 WiIlowood Drive — Grapevine, Texas 76051-6088
(817) 329-1279 — Cell (817) 992-1504 — Email: wpbimmerman@pierl.com
Please visit the GCFAA website, www.gefaa.org, for a more detailed look at some of what we do. This
page has been a big tool for us in being able to disseminate information to our members and the general
public about our services and activities.
Our R561 teams and their underlying administrative support system have served the GFR quite well and
have responded to numerous incidents since formation. Organizationally, however, we need to move
forward to our next step, which is procuring an appropriate vehicle R561 may use to respond to calls.
Our team captains and co -captains must presently own either an SW or truck to serve in such capacity.
The large number of supplies we carry to an incident necessitates this requirement and is hindering our
ability to move volunteers where needed, simply because of the vehicle they drive.
Additionally, we would like to expand our areas of support and assistance for GFR such as providing
victims' assistance with lodging and clothing needs after an incident. Also we would like to provide a
lighted and cooled place where the Fire Marshall and other investigators could interview persons or where
Department personnel could meet during an incident. We would also like to provide a fan cooled, shaded
area in which firefighters could rest. We are currently unable to provide these things do to the carrying
limitations of private vehicles.
Presently, GFR is currently awaiting delivery of their new medic units, which is the reason we are
respectfully asking the City to donate one of the existing medic vehicles to us upon its retirement rather
than sending it to auction. A medic unit would be a perfect fit for R561 because it is already setup with
large amounts of exterior storage that would enable us to maintain all our supplies onboard rather than in
our cabinet at Station 1. This would allow us to cut our response time by not having to load a member's
vehicle for each call. Additionally, the medics are already equipped with generators, which would enable
us to provide fans and other rehabilitation appliances. The interiors of the medics are already equipped
with seat belts for safety and built in counter space, which could be used for interviewing needs and
victim needs assessments while on scene.
All our members are deeply interested in community service by supporting and assisting Grapevine Fire
Rescue. Donation of a medic vehicle to GCFAA would take us exponentially ahead of present operations
and allow us to greatly expand our services provided to GFR and the City. For your review, I have
attached a copy of our most recent policy and procedures manual, so you may see for yourself how
organized we are and how seriously we take our volunteer service commitment. I welcome the
opportunity to meet with you or any city officials to discuss this matter further.
GCFAA is prepared and ready to take ownership, insure and maintain a rehab vehicle at our expense; SO
this would not be an additional burden or an expense for the City of Grapevine. Thank you, for your
consideration in helping us help those who help others.
Sincerely,
G
illiam P. Biminerman, Jr.
CFAA President
Enclosure
2045 Willowood Drive — Grapevine, Texas 76051-6088
(817) 329-1279 — CelI (817) 992-1504 -- Email: wpbimmerman@pierl.com
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
GRAPEVINE, TEXAS, DECLARING CERTAIN PROPERTY
SURPLUS AND/OR SALVAGE;. PROVIDING FOR THE
DONATION OF SAID PROPERTY TO THE GRAPEVINE
CITIZENS FIRE ACADEMY ALUMNI; AND PROVIDING AN
EFFECTIVE DATE
WHEREAS, it has been determined that the City of Grapevine is in possession of
a 1998 Chevrolet Ambulance that has met all replacement criteria required by City policy
and is being replaced by a new ambulance; and
WHEREAS, it is the decision of the City Council to declare the 1998 Chevrolet
Ambulance as surplus property; and
WHEREAS, the Grapevine Citizens Fire Academy Alumni is a non-profit charitable
organization as defined by Internal Revenue Service IRC 501 (c) (3) and is in need of an
ambulance to be used for training purposes; and
WHEREAS, Local Government Code Section 253.011 (C) states that municipalities
may transfer property to a non-profit organization.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS:
Section 1. That all matters stated in the above preamble are true and correct and
are incorporated herein as if copied in their entirety.
Section 2. That the following item is declared surplus and is donated to the
Grapevine Citizens Fire Academy Alumni:
1998 Chevrolet Ambulance VIN#
Section 3. That the City Manager, or his designee, is authorized to make the
above item available to the Grapevine Citizens Fire Academy Alumni.
Section 4. That this resolution shall take effect from and after the date of its
passage.
PASSED AND APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
GRAPEVINE, TEXAS on this the 16th day of August, 2005.
ATTEST:
APPROVED AS TO FORM