Regional communication grant help

[bfd1205]

I have a reduction on a regional comms grant and waiting on an 1199. Instead of dwelling on the weeks of waiting on it I thought I would see if there was someone out there who has handled one of these and had a good template for some of the documentation that is necessary to handle such a daunting task. I was thinking that I probably need contracts with each department covering their obligation to their cost share and their obligations to maintain possession of the equipment during the grant period of performance and any other paperwork either my city of FEMA may require. Any help would be appreciated, plus it will give me something else to look at instead of the hourly 1199 check. thanks in advance for any advice from any of you that have been there done that

[jam24u]

I have a reduction on a regional comms grant and waiting on an 1199. Instead of dwelling on the weeks of waiting on it I thought I would see if there was someone out there who has handled one of these and had a good template for some of the documentation that is necessary to handle such a daunting task. I was thinking that I probably need contracts with each department covering their obligation to their cost share and their obligations to maintain possession of the equipment during the grant period of performance and any other paperwork either my city of FEMA may require. Any help would be appreciated, plus it will give me something else to look at instead of the hourly 1199 check. thanks in advance for any advice from any of you that have been there done that

Contact islandfire. he completed his regional comm grant and is a treasure load of information and experience. I just ordered my pagers with mine.

[ktb9780]

I have a reduction on a regional comms grant and waiting on an 1199. Instead of dwelling on the weeks of waiting on it I thought I would see if there was someone out there who has handled one of these and had a good template for some of the documentation that is necessary to handle such a daunting task. I was thinking that I probably need contracts with each department covering their obligation to their cost share and their obligations to maintain possession of the equipment during the grant period of performance and any other paperwork either my city of FEMA may require. Any help would be appreciated, plus it will give me something else to look at instead of the hourly 1199 check. thanks in advance for any advice from any of you that have been there done that

You should have had those MOUs secured well ahead of submission of that grant. You better hope that everyone agrees to it once you have the award. Dissention at this point is going to be a real problem.

[bfd1205]

Ahead of the grant application I sent a questionaire to each department requesting dept info ( apparatus, call volume and all the required info as well as a request of what each department needed to convert to the county/state system. What I am looking for now is agreements from the departments so that when our city orders equipment, I can satisify them that all parties involved are agreeing to their cost share at the time of order. I have verbally been told that departments are budgeting their share, our attorney and treasurer will want it in writing. Also I thought about maybe a spreadsheet with model and serial numbers to get on each agency along with any verbage that would explain FEMAs requirement of the radios being avaliable for inspection at audit time.

[ApuFromSpfld]

Without putting words in Kurt's mouth, I think his reason for suggesting those MOUs ahead of time was...

Imagine your regional application talked about how this new communications system is going to benefit Departments A, B, C, D, E & F. You get awarded based on this.

Now, six months later, departments E & F decide they do not want to participate -- cannot afford it, want to stay on their own system, want to get on the system that G & H already use, whatever -- and they don't sign your MOU. How do you fulfill your obligation to DHS as you outlined in your application without them, or how do you force them to participate against their will?

EDIT: To clarify, I understand what you are looking for now and definitely agree that you need it more detailed paperwork than your original questionnaire even if everyone is 100% behind you and there is no issue about everyone wanting to participate, etc. Just trying to lend a voice as to why you might want that paperwork ASAP since you didn't have it before applying.

[bfd1205]

Half of the departments involved are using VHF and 800 patched together as a bridge until funding can be found and the others have not had the funding to get started. our county has completely switched to the 800mhz with the exception of my grant departments and plans to break away the county wide VHF/800 patch in the near future. I am interested in any good info as far as far as specifics about how to handle the paperwork as far as distribution of equipment and funds to and from us, since we are the host department. From the member departments standpoint , all of the radio models, quantities and programming has been decided.

[accesslocks]

bfd1205,
send me your email and I will forward a copy of the MOU I used... David accesslocks@sbcglobal.net

[ktb9780]

Ahead of the grant application I sent a questionaire to each department requesting dept info ( apparatus, call volume and all the required info as well as a request of what each department needed to convert to the county/state system. What I am looking for now is agreements from the departments so that when our city orders equipment, I can satisify them that all parties involved are agreeing to their cost share at the time of order. I have verbally been told that departments are budgeting their share, our attorney and treasurer will want it in writing. Also I thought about maybe a spreadsheet with model and serial numbers to get on each agency along with any verbage that would explain FEMAs requirement of the radios being avaliable for inspection at audit time.

APU was right on target with my concerns on reading your intitial post. Your ides and clarification now indicate that you should still proceed post haste with obtaining that peprwork. The spreadhseet is also a good idea since it will be the host agency's responsibility to maintain inventory control. In your MOU do not forget to discuss whose responsibility it is to maintain control over maintenence of them.

[accesslocks]

For all those asking about the MOU ... I will attempt to attach a sample here..

[onebugle]

For all those asking about the MOU ... I will attempt to attach a sample here..

Even though it's the host department's responsibility, I would think a clause in the MOU addressing NFIRS requirements would be in order as well.

[ktb9780]

For all those asking about the MOU ... I will attempt to attach a sample here..

I would change that last line to read...

The signatory also agrees to abide by the terms and conditions stipulated by AFG regarding the terms of award and will cooperate fully wih the host agency in complying with all requirements of the Program Guidance regardng distribution, disposition, inventory control and fullfilling all required reporting requirements.

[ktb9780]

Even though it's the host department's responsibility, I would think a clause in the MOU addressing NFIRS requirements would be in order as well.

It appears that great minds think alike as we posted almost simultaneously.LOL

[onebugle]

It appears that great minds think alike as we posted almost simultaneously.LOL

I guess so....that could be really scary.

[islandfire03]

I guess so....that could be really scary.

Don't forget that ALL parties will have to be NIMS compliant along with nfirs reporting and following the PG exactly to a "T".
There are many issues that need to be covered in advance such as who has the authority to make decisions on what type of equipment is purchased. One dept wants brand K the others want Big M, Yet when the RFP and bids are returned Brand T is the best bang for the buck with better equipment, who wins?? Who makes the decisions.

[bfd1205]

Thanks to all that replied, If and when we are awarded I will be in constant contact with our regional rep., especially when it comes to bidding because the Illinois state wide starcom communication system was built and owned by motorola. I am not sure how that fits into place but want to make sure it is handled according to their guidelines and will make sure I have all answers in writing.

[islandfire03]

Well the fact that you are mandated to buy into the starcom system pretty much takes away a lot of the issues with bidding and RFP's , as you can only buy into a privately owned system that some bureaucrat decided is your only choice. That completely take away any competitive bidding process.

Makes one wonder how the state can justify to the feds the ridiculous cost's to departments for being part of these type systems.