Title
a. Ratify the execution by the County Purchasing Officer, of a Standard Services Agreement with A-Trains BBQ, LLC, signed on April 20, 2020, to provide food services to Alternate Housing Sites in the Greater Monterey and Salinas Areas in response to the COVID-19 pandemic emergency, for a period of seven months and ten days from effective date, in an amount not to exceed $250,000.
b. Ratify the execution by the County Purchasing Officer, Amendment 1 to the Standard Services Agreement with A-Trains BBQ, LLC, signed on August 14, 2020, to provide food services to Alternate Housing Sites in the Greater Monterey and Salinas Areas in response to the COVID-19 pandemic emergency, for a period of seven months and ten days from effective date, in an amount not to exceed $800,000.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
a. Ratify the execution by the County Purchasing Officer, of a Standard Services Agreement with A-Trains BBQ, LLC, signed on April 20, 2020, to provide food services to Alternate Housing Sites in the Greater Monterey and Salinas Areas in response to the COVID-19 pandemic emergency, for a period of seven months and ten days from effective date, in an amount not to exceed $250,000.
b. Ratify the execution by the County Purchasing Officer, Amendment 1 to the Standard Services Agreement with A-Trains BBQ, LLC, signed on August 14, 2020, to provide food services to Alternate Housing Sites in the Greater Monterey and Salinas Areas in response to the COVID-19 pandemic emergency, for a period of seven months and ten days from effective date, in an amount not to exceed $800,000.00.
SUMMARY:
Since April 2020, the County has been sheltering people who are under investigation for or have a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis or are medically fragile individuals who are experiencing housing insecurity. The County has been providing people in these shelters with three meals per day. In the Carmel, Monterey, Marina, Salinas areas, these meals have been provided by A-Trains BBQ, the owner of one shelter, and the Turf Club. The action before the Board will ratify an original Standard Service Agreement as well as an Amendment to an emergency agreement executed by the Contracts Purchasing Officer with A-Trains BBQ to increase the amount payable under the agreement by $550,000.00 for a total not to exceed amount of $800,000.00.
DISCUSSION:
On April 20, 2020, the Contracts Purchasing Officer entered into an emergency agreement with A-Trains BBQ, LLC to, in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, to provide food and beverage services at the Monterey County Fairgrounds Alternate Housing Site. The negotiated cost was $34 per day per person served plus delivery fees and sales tax. The agreement ran between April 20, 2020 and December 31, 2020 and had a not to exceed value of $250,000. As of August 9, 2020, there was $34,745.43 remaining on the original $250,000 agreement.
Beginning May 6, 2020, and due to low demand at the Fairgrounds, A-Trains was asked to begin providing meal service for persons under investigation for or with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis who were being sheltered at an Alternative Housing Site (AHS) in Monterey. This arrangement has expanded so that A-Trains is now providing meal services to all Alternative Housing Sites between Carmel and Marina and Salinas. Since the County began using AHS, A-Trains has provided meals for an average of 15 guests per day. If necessary, A-Trains will continue providing meals for this population through December 31, 2020.
In addition to the AHS population, the County has been sheltering the medically fragile individuals since April 2020 as part of Operation Roomkey. These guests have been sheltered at a facility in Marina that has provided three meals per day for $20 per guest. However, the facility is not able to meet the needs of guests with food allergies or other dietary restrictions. The facility has also been challenging to work with as guests are added or removed from the program. On average, this facility has sheltered 125 people per day since it opened. Since mid-April, A-Trains has served an average of 43 Operation Roomkey guests per day at this facility who require special diets.
In late July 2020, the Monterey County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Care and Shelter Group requested that all meal service at the Marina facility be switched to A-Trains based on their experience working together since April. The primary reason for requesting the change was the apparent disparity in the quality and variety of meals provided by the different vendors to guests sheltered in the same facility.
The EOC Logistics Section used this opportunity to renegotiate the agreement with A-Trains to reflect the different populations and levels of service required. The most significant change is the establishment of two tiers of guest. Tier 1 guests are those who are in AHS for short periods while waiting for the Public Health Officer to clear them from an isolation or quarantine order. Because this population is constantly changing which increases the vendor’s risk when purchasing raw food products. Therefore, staff felt a higher per day meal cost is appropriate. The daily per diem for Tier 1 guests is $34, plus delivery fees and sales tax. Tier 2 guests are sheltered as part of Operation Roomkey. This population is much more stable and reduces the vendor’s risk of ordering too much or not enough food. The per diem cost for Tier 2 guests is $29.50.
Responsibility for providing meals to Tier 2 guests will be assumed by the Coalition of Homeless Services Providers no later than September 30, 2020 and the County will no longer be providing this service to these guests. The County has already notified A-Trains of this transition. The County may end services sooner, if the Coalition provides evidence that they have retained A-Trains through at least September 30, 2020. This provision was included in the Amendment to minimize A-Trains risk associated with ordering product that would be used to feed Tier 2 guests.
The average daily cost of providing meals for Tier 2 guests is approximately $286 more under Amendment 1 than the blended meal service arrangement that was in place. Under the blended provider arrangement, the average daily cost to feed 125 guests was $3,401.11. The cost for A-Trains to provide meal service to the same number of guests, at $3,687.19 per day, is approximately 8% higher than the previous arrangement. The Care and Shelter Group believes the higher cost is worth the added expense based on their experience with A-Trains.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
This Amendment 1 was initiated at the request of the Monterey County Emergency Operations Center Care and Shelter Group. This group is responsible for the day-to-day care of individuals who are being sheltered at the County’s expense during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
FINANCING:
Ratifying the original Standard Services Agreement and Amendment 1 will increase the agreement amount by $555,000 to a total not to exceed amount of $800,000. It is anticipated that FEMA will reimburse the County $600,000 (75%) of these costs. Funding for the 25% not reimbursed by FEMA is included in the County’s CARES Act funding plan. The County’s average daily cost of meal service for guests in Tier 1 will remain $34 plus delivery charges and sales tax per day while the average cost for Tier 2 guests will be $29.50. Funding for this Amendment is included in appropriations for the COVID-19 response.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS STRATEGIC INITIATIVES:
Ratifying the Amendment 1 will allow the County to continue feeding persons being sheltered to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and will meet the Board’s goals in the area of Health and Human Services.
Mark a check to the related Board of Supervisors Strategic Initiatives
__Economic Development
__Administration
X Health & Human Services
__Infrastructure
X Public Safety
Prepared by: _____________________________________________________________
Darby Marshall, RHO Project Analyst II, Ext. 5391
Approved by: _____________________________________________________________
Mike Derr, Contracts & Purchasing Officer, Ext. 4992
Attachments:
Board
Attachment 1 - Amendment 1
Attachment 2 - A-Trains BBQ - Monterey Fairgrounds Alternate Care Site Agreement