Title
a. Approve and Authorize the Contracts/Purchasing Officer or Contracts/Purchasing Supervisor to sign Amendment #1 to a sole source contract with Jesse Aguirre, Doing Business as J.K. Mortuary Services for on-call pick up, transport and delivery of deceased remains for the Coroner. Amendment #1 adds two (2) years to the contract, retroactive to 8/28/2018, and provides an end date of 8/28/2020 and brings the cumulative, three (3) year contract cost to $375,000.00; and
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% ($37,500) for a total cumulative not to exceed agreement amount of $412,500.00.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
a. Approve and Authorize the Contracts/Purchasing Officer or Contracts/Purchasing Supervisor to sign Amendment #1 to a sole source contract with Jesse Aguirre, Doing Business as J.K. Mortuary Services. Amendment #1 adds two (2) years to the contract, retroactive to 8/28/2018, and provides an end date of 8/28/2020 and brings the cumulative, three (3) year contract cost to $375,000.00; and
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% ($37,500) for a total cumulative not to exceed agreement amount of $412,500.00.
SUMMARY:
The Sheriff/Coroner’s Office requests approval of Amendment #1 to an existing sole source contract 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 a sole proprietor-owned company. This individual passed, leaving his assets intestate, and the Coroner’s Office without on call pickup service of deceased remains. The Office has, over the past two years, reviewed several options, including utilizing our internal staff to provide this function. Lack of appropriate transport equipment and high costs of call back and overtime made this a very high cost option.
The possibility of having a rotational service provided by a group of local 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 is J.K. Mortuary Services, hence the reason this contract continues to be submitted as a sole source agreement. The company already provides mortuary transport services in this County, and therefore, has personnel and equipment in place within the County.
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:
The costs of continuing this contract were included in the approved Fiscal Year 2018-19 budget. There is no rate increase over previous years, so any increases in cost would be driven by additional demand for usage only, since the contract is based on a “cost per run” basis. No increase in General Fund Contribution is anticipated.
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 # 3750
Attachments: Professional Services Agreement: Jesse Aguirre DBA J.K. Mortuary Services, Inc.