20-R-77 - Agreement with Guadalupe County for Ambulance ServicesRESOLUTION NO. 20 -R -77
A RESOLUTION BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SCHERTZ,
TEXAS AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO ENTER INTO AN
AGREEMENT WITH GUADALUPE COUNTY FOR AMBULANCE
SERVICES, AND OTHER MATTERS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH
WHEREAS, the City of Schertz EMS provides ambulance services to the surrounding
communities and emergency services districts; and
WHEREAS, the County desires to contract with the City for the provision of certain
emergency medical services within the unincorporated area of the County in order to preserve and
protect the health and safety of persons within the County; and
WHEREAS, the City and the County have determined to enter into this Agreement relating
to the provision of certain emergency medical services within the unincorporated areas of the County
and to set out the terms, rights, duties, and responsibilities of the City and the County with respect
thereto; and
WHEREAS, the City and the County have determined that the provision of certain
emergency medical services is a public purpose and within their statutory powers of government;
and
WHEREAS, the City and the County are political subdivisions of the State of Texas and
are authorized to execute this Agreement pursuant to the Texas Government Code Chapter
791.001, as amended; and
WHEREAS, City Staff recommends that City Council authorize the City Manager to
enter into an agreement with Guadalupe County for ambulance services.
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS
THAT:
Section 1. The City Council hereby authorizes the City Manager to enter into an
agreement with Guadalupe County for ambulance services as set forth in Exhibit A.
Section 2. The recitals contained in the preamble hereof are hereby found to be true,
and such recitals are hereby made a part of this Resolution for all purposes and are adopted as a
part of the judgment and findings of the City Council.
Section 3. All resolutions, or parts thereof, which are in conflict or inconsistent with
any provision of this Resolution are hereby repealed to the extent of such conflict, and the
provisions of this Resolution shall be and remain controlling as to the matters resolved herein.
Section 4. This Resolution shall be construed and enforced in accordance with the laws
of the State of Texas and the United States of America.
Section 5. If any provision of this Resolution or the application thereof to any person
or circumstance shall be held to be invalid, the remainder of this Resolution and the application
of such provision to other persons and circumstances shall nevertheless be valid, and the City
Council hereby declares that this Resolution would have been enacted without such invalid
provision.
Section 6. It is officially found, determined, and declared that the meeting at which this
Resolution is adopted was open to the public and public notice of the time, place, and subject
matter of the public business to be considered at such meeting, including this Resolution, was
given, all as required by Chapter 551, Texas Government Code, as amended.
Section 7. This Resolution shall be in force and effect from and after its final
passage, and it is so resolved.
PASSED AND ADOPTED, this 28th day of July 2020.
CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS
- A&4
Ral � tiei . Mayor
ATTEST:
Brenda Dennis, City Secretary
EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT
This Emergency Medical Services Agreement, effective as of October 1, 2020 (this
"Agreement'), is between the City of Schertz, Texas, a political subdivision of the State of Texas
(the "City "), and Guadalupe County, a political subdivision of the State of Texas (the "County ").
WHEREAS, the City has an emergency medical services department known as Schertz
EMS (the "Department'), which provides certain emergency services within the City and, by
interlocal agreement, within other jurisdictions;
WHEREAS, the County desires to contract with the City for the provision of certain
emergency medical services within the unincorporated area of the County in order to preserve and
protect the health and safety of persons within the County;
WHEREAS, the City and the County have determined to enter into this Agreement relating
to the provision of certain emergency medical services within the unincorporated areas of the
County and to set out the terms, rights, duties, and responsibilities of the City and the County with
respect thereto;
WHEREAS, the City and the County have determined that the provision of certain
emergency medical services is a public purpose and within their statutory powers of government;
and
WHEREAS, the City and the County are political subdivisions of the State of Texas and
are authorized to execute this Agreement pursuant to the Texas Government Code Chapter
791.001, as amended;
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY AND THE COUNTY, ACTING BY AND THROUGH
THEIR DULY AUTHORIZED OFFICERS, HEREBY COVENANT AND AGREE AS
FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Responsibilities of the Cih
(a) The City agrees that during the term of this Agreement the Department or its contracted
designees shall respond to all calls for emergency medical assistance and emergency
medical transport and advanced life support service with mobile intensive care unit
capability (the "Emergency Medical Services ") within the unincorporated jurisdiction of
the County (the "Service Area "). The City agrees that during the Term of this Agreement
the Department or its contracted designees shall respond to all requests for service on a
next - available - ambulance basis regardless of call location.
(b) The City agrees to use every effort possible to maintain an average monthly response time
of thirteen (13) minutes on responses not to include cancellations, transfers, standbys or
un -safe scenes in which law enforcement must make the scene safe prior to entry. Response
time shall be defined as the period of time starting when a Department ambulance is
notified of an emergency response and ending when an ambulance arrives on location of
the emergency.
(c) The City agrees to dedicate a minimum of thirteen (13) ambulances of its own or its
contracted designees that will be strategically positioned in and /or around the County to
maintain response times in accordance with this Agreement.
(d) The City and County shall arrange for all requests for assistance to be sent directly to the
Department or its contracted designees by 911- telephone transfer or by the County alerting
the Department via agreed radio frequency. Such dispatch services shall be redundant and
use mechanisms as provided by the Bexar Metro 911 District.
(e) The City agrees to maintain a Medical Director for the Department and its contracted
designees as required by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). Any
change in Medical Director of the Department or its contracted designees shall be reported
to the County Emergency Services Administrator within ten (10) business days.
(f) The City and its contracted designees will maintain Mutual Aid agreements with multiple
agencies to provide for appropriate responses during times of high call volume or multiple
casualty incidents.
(g) The City agrees to coordinate and respond with all Guadalupe County First Responders
including Medical Direction, coordination of responses, re- supply of medical supplies used
on emergency medical responses, responder credentialing, and a minimum of twenty (20)
hours of continuing medical education annually. The City shall report any deficiencies in
First Responder credentialing to the County Emergency Services Administrator as soon as
possible.
(h) The City agrees to provide for dedicated event ambulance standby and emergency
personnel for standby upon request of the County Emergency Services Administrator,
County Sherriff s Department, Fire Chief's or Incident Commander, at no additional
charge to the County, when there is reason to believe a life threatening public emergency
presently exists or is imminent in the County, which includes stand -by at fire, rescue and
hazardous materials response incidents.
(i) The City agrees to provide, a minimum of, two (2) SWAT medics to the Guadalupe
County SWAT team at no additional costs to the County.
(j) The City and Department shall observe and comply with all applicable federal, state,
county and City laws, rules, ordinances, and regulations which in any manner affect the
provision of the services described in this Agreement and shall perform such services in a
professional manner in accordance with standard emergency medical services practice.
(k) The City agrees to maintain insurance through the Texas Municipal League as outlined in
its response to the County's Request for Proposal. Any changes in coverage by either the
City or the Texas Municipal League will be reported in writing to the County Emergency
Services Administrator within ten (10) days of such change becoming effective.
(1) The City agrees to provide the County with the Department's run statistics for responses
in the Service Area. These reports shall provide the county with the number of calls,
location of calls, transports, response times, and type of call (medical /trauma) in the
Service Area. These reports shall be sent to the County Emergency Services Administrator
each month before the 10th day of the following month. Due to patient privacy
considerations, reports containing specific protected health information as defined by the
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and other applicable laws
shall not be made available to the County without the appropriate written consent of the
patient or the patient's authorized representative or without a specific court order.
(m)The City shall provide the County with a current list of all its contracted designees that
may provide Emergency Medical Services under this Agreement.
Section 2. Responsibilities of the Countv.
(a) The County agrees to have the County Emergency Services Administrator determine which
agencies are Guadalupe County First Responders and report any changes to the City within
ten (10) calendar days.
(b) The County agrees to conduct all Emergency Medical Services related business and
customer complaints within unincorporated areas of Guadalupe County with the City only.
The County agrees not to discuss any Emergency Medical Services related issues with any
of the City's contracted designees without a representative of the City present. The City
agrees to provide feedback regarding Emergency Medical Services issues and customer
complaints within forty-eight (48) hours after receiving them from the County.
(c) The County agrees to appoint an Emergency Medical Services Contract Administrator and
to arrange for quarterly meetings to discuss any issues relating to this Agreement or any
other provision of emergency medical services within unincorporated Guadalupe County.
Section 3. Term and Renewal.
This Agreement shall be for a term commencing with the effective date of October 1, 2020,
through and including September 30, 2023 (the "Term "). This Agreement may be extended
as set forth in Section 4 and shall be renewed for additional two (2) year terms (each, a
"Renewal Term ") in writing no later than one hundred eighty (180) days prior to the end
of the Term unless either party to this Agreement notifies the other party in writing that it
wishes to terminate this Agreement. Such notice shall be provided by registered or certified
mail not less than one hundred eighty (180) days prior to the end of the Initial Term or any
Renewal Term.
Section 4. Consideration.
(a) In consideration of the City's provision of the Emergency Medical Services during the
Initial Term, the County agrees to pay the City $927,934.89 annually, payable in twelve
(12) equal monthly installments within thirty (3 0) days after satisfactory acceptance by the
County of all completed services.
(b) Amounts payable under this Agreement for any extension beyond the Term of this
Agreement shall be increased based on the percentage increase for the previous twelve (12)
month period in the "Medical Care" component of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), not
to exceed ten (10 %) percent of the annual fee for the previous year. The City agrees not to
request an increase for the initial three (3) year term of the contract. After the initial three
(3) year term, a price re- determination may be considered at the anniversary date of the
contract. All requests for price redetermination shall be in written form, shall be submitted
no later than six (6) months prior to the end of each term and shall include supporting
documentation.
(c) For any extension beyond the Term of this Agreement, the City agrees to decrease its
annual fee by an agreed upon amount corresponding with the amount of land in Guadalupe
County annexed by cities within Guadalupe County during the previous fiscal year.
(d) The County agrees that, in addition to the fee payable by the County to the City pursuant
to Section 4(a), the City and its contracted designees will make every attempt to bill and
collect from the patient's insurance company. The City nor its contracted designees have
contracts with insurance companies; therefore we will not waive the unpaid portion of the
bill for any services rendered to them by the Department.
Section 5. Failure to Perform.
The City agrees to maintain response time reliability as outlined in Section 1(b). In the
event that the City fails to maintain such reliability, a $2,500 fee will be assessed per month
not meeting the minimum requirements.
Section 6. Termination of this Agreement.
(a) This Agreement shall remain in effect until Agreement expires, completion and acceptance
of services or default. The County reserves the right to terminate the contract with a 90 day
notice in the event the City fails to (i) meet delivery or completion schedules, or otherwise
perform in accordance with the accepted proposal or (ii) breach of contract or default
authorizes the County to award to another Proposer, purchase elsewhere and charge the
full increase cost to the defaulting City.
(b) If the City or County determines it no longer wants to maintain this Agreement at the end
of the Term or at the end of any Renewal Term, it shall notify the other party in writing not
less than one hundred eighty (180) days prior to the end date of the current Term, subject
to Sections S and 6(c), the City agrees to continue to provide service to the end of the
current Term and the County agrees to continue payments for all services rendered.
(c) Either parry may terminate this Agreement without cause by giving not less than one
hundred eighty (180) days' notice in writing to the other party. When such notice is
provided, the City agrees to continue to provide service until the end of the Contract Year
during which the one hundred eighty (180) day notice period ends. The County agrees to
pay the full consideration due to the City through the end of the Contract Year during which
the one hundred eighty (18 0) day notice period ends.
Section 7. Authorization. This Agreement has been duly authorized by the governing
bodies of the City and the County.
Section 8. Severability. If any portion of this Agreement shall be declared illegal or held
unenforceable for any reason, the remaining portions hereof shall continue in full force and
effect.
Section 9. Amendments. This Agreement represents the complete understanding of the
City and the County with respect to the matters described herein, and this Agreement may
not be amended or altered without the written consent of both the County and the City.
Section 10. Governint,� Law. This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State
of Texas.
Section 11. Governmental Functions, Liabilit-%7, No Waiver of Immunity or Defenses.
Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary herein, this Agreement is a contract for and
with respect to the performance of governmental functions by governmental entities.
(a) The services provided for herein are governmental functions, and the Parties shall be
engaged in the conduct of a governmental function while providing and/or performing any
service pursuant to this Agreement.
(b) The relationship of the Parties shall, with respect to that part of any service or function
undertaken as a result of or pursuant to this Agreement, be that of independent contractors.
(c) Nothing contained herein shall be deemed or construed by the Parties, or by any third party,
as creating the relationship of principal and agent, partners, joint venturers, or any other
similar such relationship between the Parties.
(d) Each Party shall have no liability whatsoever for the actions of, or failure to act by, any
employees, agents, representatives, or assigns of the other Party in connection with the
Agreement. Each Party covenants and agrees, to the extent permitted by law, that it shall
be solely responsible, as between the Parties, for and with respect to any claim or cause of
action arising out of or with respect to any act, omission, or failure to act by its respective
employees, agents, representatives, or assigns, in connection therewith.
(e) Each Party reserves and does not waive any defense available to it at law or in equity as to
any claim or cause of action whatsoever that may arise or result from or in connection with
this Agreement. This Agreement shall not be interpreted nor construed to give to any third
party the right to any claim or cause of action, and neither Party shall be held legally liable
for any claim or cause of action arising pursuant to or in connection with this Agreement
except as specifically provided herein or by law.
(f) Neither Party waives or relinquishes any immunity or defense on behalf of itself, its
commissioners, councilmembers, officers, employees, and agents as a result of the
execution of this Agreement and the performance of the covenants and agreements
contained herein.
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned have entered into this Emergency Medical
Services Interlocal Agreement, effective as of the date first above written.
CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS
By
City Manager
GUADALUPE COUNTY, TEXAS
By
Guadalupe County Judge
By
Guadalupe County Commissioner Precinct 1
By
Guadalupe County Commissioner Precinct 2
By
Guadalupe County Commissioner Precinct 3
By
Guadalupe County Commissioner Precinct 4
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