Title
Resolution to Amend the Fiscal Year 2018 Budget and Appropriate 2017 Port Security Grant Funding Awarded by the United States Department of Homeland Security for Use by the City of Hampton Police Division
Purpose
PURPOSE/BACKGROUND:
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has awarded the City of Hampton Police Division grant funding for 2017 in the amount of $283,050.00 in federal funds in support of a Maritime Domain Awareness Project (MDA Project). That grant will cover 75% of the MDA Project's total cost of $377,400.00. The grant award requires the City to fund the remaining balance of $94,350.00 The grant funds will be used to procure a full scale coastal monitoring system which will include radar, a FLIR long-range camera for monitoring of the channel into the port, auxiliary pan-tilt-zoom surveillance cameras, and dedicated equipment to outfit a maritime command center.
Discussion:
The Port of Virginia receives extensive intermodal shipping container traffic each year, with heavy emphasis coming from China and other points in Asia bound for the United States seeking to take advantage of the vast network of transfer facilities available at the Port of Virginia. As such, this region plays a major role in serving commerce and trade for the entire nation, binding the commercial relationship between the United States and other countries around the world. Complementing the accessible transfer facilities in the Hampton Roads region is a vast network of transportation infrastructure acting as major arteries for destinations across the country. This includes major bridges and tunnels such as the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge Tunnel (Interstate 664), the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (Route 13) connecting Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York, and the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel (Interstate 64) which alone transports nearly three million vehicles each month and more than 100,000 vehicles per day during tourist season. These characteristics lend the region to a higher propensity of possible targeted attacks and require regional stakeholders to constantly monitor and deliver layered protection to mitigate the region's risk while at the same time investing in areas to enhance intelligence sharing and response capabilities.
The City of Hampton, Virginia is located within the Port and serves as a strategic site for maritime all-hazards incident mitigation and security due to its location on the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula. Within the city’s jurisdictional boundaries, five major shipping channels pass through: Thimble Shoals, Baltimore, York, Elizabeth River, and the James River channels. The City of Hampton Police Division is responsible for securing and mitigating risk to 95 miles of shoreline and providing mutual-aid response to an area greater than 500 linear miles. Within the primary Area of Responsibility are established key target areas including the world’s largest naval base, Naval Station (NS) Norfolk, historic Fort Monroe, and Langley Air Force Base. As such, an undisclosed number of U.S. and foreign-flagged naval vessels navigate the waters of Hampton annually, independent of commercial traffic. Additionally, the Hampton Police Division performs a pivotal role in responding to potential maritime peril incidents originating in these territorial waters and acts as the first response for law enforcement and public safety services, Search and Rescue, Technical Rescue, High Value Asset Escorts, Port Security, and HAZMAT identification and mitigation as needed and/or requested. Further, the Police Division routinely acts as a force multiplier in coastline and waterway security for Joint Base Langley-Eustis, including, but not limited to, activities related to Presidential and Dignitary visits, air shows, and shoreline patrols of the base.
As the first project strategy of its kind in the region, the City of Hampton Police Division seeks to utilize its platform and leverage grant funding to integrate the goals of maritime stakeholders and reduce the region's vulnerability to attack through a Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) Project. The overall goal of the MDA project is a holistic approach to maritime security through developing and investing in a project capable of providing information to increase regional real-time intelligence, reduce duplication, and deploy finite resources strategically while closing gaps and allowing for flexibility towards future growth as the needs of the City of Hampton, the Port of Virginia, and the region progress.
The total funding for this grant project is $377,400.00 with $283,050.00 in federal funds and $94,350.00 in matching funds. The City's match obligation will be satisfied by the inkind contribution of certain Viacom video equipment related to the Real Time Intel Center in support of the Port Security Project valued at $53,350.00 (which has already been purchased by the Hampton Police Division), and $41,000.00 in cash from the Division's operating budget. The Division recently received insurance proceeds in the amount of $33,187.22 due to the total loss of its MP2 Marine Boat. Those proceeds are being appropriated to the Division's operating budget, which will offset the need to utilize any previously appropriated operating funds for this match. Hampton Police Division will utilize the federal funding to purchase additional equipment to implement the first full scale MDA Project of its kind in the region which will supplement efforts of the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, Hampton Roads Port Authority, and surrounding jurisdictions, in addition to the City.
Impact:
The 2017 Port Security Grant will provide considerable safety measures for the citizens of Hampton through layered protection and risk mitigation to one of the most heavily trafficked ports in the United States. It will also serve to position the City of Hampton and the Police Division as an innovative and cutting edge municipality for maritime security and response abilities in a region impacted heavily with critical infrastructure and a large military footprint. With the majority of the project funding being federally sourced, the fiscal impact to the City of Hampton will be minimal in comparison to such a large project scale with extensive long-term abilities to ensure the integrated preparedness and protection of residents, businesses, and tourists alike.
Recommendation:
Rec
Adopt the Resolution.
Body
WHEREAS, the City of Hampton has been awarded the 2017 Port Security Grant in the amount of $283,050.00 in federal funds from the United States Department of Homeland Security;
WHEREAS, the City is obligated under the grant agreement to contribue a cost match in the amount of $94,350.00 which will be satisfied through the contribution of (1) certain previously purchased video equipment valued at $53,350.00; and (2) $41,000.00 from the Hampton Police Division's Fiscal Year 2018 operating budget; and
WHEREAS, the grant award covers the period of 09/01/2017 to 08/31/2020;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Hampton, Virginia (1) accepts the 2017 Port Security Grant as awarded by the United States Department of Homeland Security in the amount of $283,050.00 and amends its Fiscal Year 2018 Council Approved Budget to include and appropriate to the Grant Fund those funds and any supplemental funding awarded by the United States Department of Homeland Security in accordance with the grant agreement; and (2) transfers $41,000.00 from the Hampton Police Division's Fiscal Year 2018 Operating Budget to the Grant Fund.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Hampton, Virginia authorizes the City Manager or her designee to take any and all necessary actions to implement this grant award.