Title
a. Approve and Authorize the Contracts/Purchasing Officer or Contracts/Purchasing Supervisor to sign a one (1) year sole source contract with Jesse Aguirre, Doing Business as J.K. Mortuary Services in the amount of $125,000;
b. Authorize the Contracts/Purchasing Officer or Contracts/Purchasing Supervisor to sign up to two (2) amendments to the agreement where the amendments do not significantly change the scope of work, and the amendments in total do not exceed 10% ($12,500) for a total cumulative not to exceed agreement amount of $137,500.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
a. Approve and Authorize the Contracts/Purchasing Officer or Contracts/Purchasing Supervisor to sign a one (1) year sole source contract with Jesse Aguirre, Doing Business as J.K. Mortuary Services in the amount of $125,000;
b. Authorize the Contracts/Purchasing Officer or Contracts/Purchasing Supervisor to sign up to two (2) amendments to the agreement where the amendments do not significantly change the scope of work, and the amendments in total do not exceed 10% ($12,500) for a total cumulative not to exceed agreement amount of $137,500.
SUMMARY:
The Sheriff/Coroner’s Office requests approval of a sole source agreement for one year for provision of on-call pick-up, transport and delivery of deceased remains requiring autopsy to the Coroner’s morgue.
DISCUSSION:
In Monterey County, the Sheriff position is a combined Sheriff/Coroner position and the Sheriff therefore, is responsible for Coroner job function. The Coroner’ Office is charged with investigation and autopsy of any reportable or unexplainable deaths and must determine the cause and manner of the death.
For many years, transportation of deceased remains was provided by Drake Transportation, a sole proprietor owned company. Mr. Drake recently passed, leaving his assets intestate, and the Coroner’s Office without on call pickup service of deceased remains. The Office has reviewed and discussed many options, and is presently using a temporarily outfitted van to provide the service using our Coroner’s detective staff. The pay rates for on call and overtime coverage utilizing our internal staff and the lack of appropriate transport equipment make this an unviable long term option.
Our local mortuaries work closely with the Coroner’s Office, and were asked if they could provide any assistance. The possibility of having a rotational service provided by a group of mortuary owners was discussed, but the group was unable to make a long-term commitment to the County, due to the demands of their own businesses. The costs associated with this type of short-term solution outweighed the benefits and created the necessity to sole-source for a longer more permanent solution. Two out-of- county providers expressed interest initially. Both decided that the capital outlay (three vans are required to provide the service) the need to acquire additional personnel, the level of insurance coverage requested by the County and the number of calls and how they were distributed around the County made submitting a proposal financially and operationally unfeasible for them. Our County has significantly more road surface area and longer travel distances than in comparison to Bay Area counties.
The only vendor willing and able to produce a proposal was J.K. Mortuary Services, hence the reason this contract is being submitted as a sole source agreement. The company already provides mortuary transport services in this County, and therefore, has personnel and equipment locally.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
Contracts Purchasing has approved this as a sole source agreement due to the lack of vendors willing to serve the County. County Counsel has approved as to legal form, and the Auditor Controller has approved the fiscal provisions.
FINANCING:
Drake Transportation had served the County for many years, and had not increased their rates. In our search for a new vendor(s), the Coroner’s team called many other areas and other Sheriff’s Offices, and realized that the Office was facing a major pricing increase for these services. This contract is $55,000 higher in cost than the amount included in the FY 2017-18 adopted budget, and MCSO will work to reduce expenditures and absorb the increase within the current budget. MCSO will bring forth to your Board an adjustment to Coroner’s fees to cover this increased cost. Rates presented by this vendor were in line with or lower than rates being paid in neighboring areas.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS STRATEGIC INITIATIVES:
This contract meets the Board’s Administrative objectives of “promoting an organization that practices efficient and effective resource management”
Mark a check to the related Board of Supervisors Strategic Initiatives
Economic Development
X Administration
Health & Human Services
Infrastructure
Public Safety
Prepared by: Nina Ryan, Management Analyst II, Extension #3708
Approved by: Steve Bernal, Sheriff/Coroner, Extension # 3856
Attachments: Contract between County of Monterey and Jesse Aguirre, dba as J.K. Mortuary Services