DATE: October 22, 2024
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Edward Hill, Chief Operating Officer/Interim Director of Internal Services/Chief Information Officer
SUBJECT: Agreement with Samsara, Inc. for GPS services
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute an Agreement with Samsara, Inc., through a cooperative agreement with Sourcewell, for products and services related to vehicle tracking, effective October 22, 2024, not to exceed three consecutive years, total not to exceed $936,969.
REPORT
There is no additional Net County Cost associated with the recommended action, which will allow the Internal Services Department - Fleet Services division (ISD-Fleet) to contract with Samsara, Inc. (Samsara), through a cooperative agreement through Sourcewell, for real time active Global Positioning System (GPS) vehicle tracking services for County assets. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Should your Board not approve the recommended action, ISD-Fleet would not have an efficient method of transitioning the entire fleet to active vehicle tracking services and County assets would remain at risk.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. Costs associated with the recommended agreement will not exceed $936,969 for the total three-year term and are covered through charges to user departments. Sufficient appropriations and estimated revenues are included in the ISD-Fleet Org 8910 FY 2024-25 Adopted Budget and will be included in future budget requests.
DISCUSSION:
ISD-Fleet’s heavy-duty equipment is currently monitored by passive global positioning system (GPS) services. In late 2023, ISD-Fleet experienced several asset thefts at rural Public Works & Planning (PWP) Yards. Passive GPS services are inadequate for recovering assets due to the limited range and lack of option to track assets once they have left the PWP yard. ISD-Fleet has made the decision to secure active real-time GPS services for the County’s fleet with theft prevention measures and recovery capabilities.
Pursuant to Chapter 4 of the County’s Purchasing Manual, the County is able to join other public entities for collectively preparing specifications, requesting and receiving quotations or proposals, and making an award to the lowest responsive, responsible bidder or multiple bidders if the source selection method is otherwise in compliance with the requirements of the Purchasing Manual. On December 10, 2020, Sourcewell, a State of Minnesota local government agency and service cooperative, issued Request for Proposal (RFP) No. 020221 for Fleet Management Technologies with related software solutions, which resulted in Samsara being named as one of the awarded bidders. ISD - Purchasing division reviewed Sourcewell’s RFP process and has determined that its procedures are consistent with the County’s RFP process.
In an effort to protect County assets and consolidate County vehicle tracking services, ISD-Fleet will transition all assets to a new agreement with Samsara for active GPS and related services, based on the terms outlined in cooperative agreement No. 020221-SAM through Sourcewell. Services are to include active vehicle tracking services through the provision of GPS hardware, and a Software as a Service, which include a cloud-based dashboard with fleet telematic integration capabilities. The Samsara GPS operating system will provide a more effective and streamlined user interface for more efficient operations. Samsara GPS units have motion activated sensors that can be programed to send customizable notifications to mobile devices, which can alert the ISD-Fleet Manager and/or designated PWP representatives of assets being moved outside of normal operating hours.
Approval of the recommended action will authorize the recommended agreement with Samsara, Inc. and will allow ISD-Fleet to transition County assets to Samsara GPS hardware and services.
The recommended Agreement deviates from the standard County language, in that the recommended Agreement includes a limitation of liability provision limiting Samsara’s liability to three (3) times the fees paid to Samsara in the 12 months preceding the date a claim arises for any event arising from a breach of security obligations, data protection obligations, or security cyber risks. Risk Management recommends against accepting this language; however, the Internal Services Department believes that the benefits of entering into this recommended Agreement outweigh any associated risks as this is a contract for GPS software and hardware.
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
On file with Clerk - Agreement with Samsara, Inc.
CAO ANALYST:
Ahla Yang