Score: -2
(0/6/2)
Sonoma County Grand Jury
• 2004-2005
• Agency Response
Office of the County Administrator County of Sonoma BOB Deis County Administrator
Published: August 26, 2005
16 pages
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Agency Responses 1
Government agencies' official responses to this report's findings and recommendations. Click on a response to see the structured breakdown.
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General Services Department
September 27, 2019
•
5 pages
• 18 responses
•
Score: -2
(+0, 6, -2)
View Details ▾
18 responses to findings and recommendations
F1
Sonoma County relies primarily on the Russian River for drinking water which may be disrupted in the event of a major earthquake.
Response: Unknown
Score: 0
F1. Deferred maintenance of County buildings and other facilities has become so considerable that it requires extraordinary measures and limits management's ability to plan effectively for future facilities.
F2
Sonoma County relies primarily on a single wholesale provider for its water. Sonoma Water, which delivers water under contract to cities and water districts in Sonoma County and northern Marin County, may be without sufficient resources to meet all emergency needs.
Response: Disagree
Score: -1
F2. Sonoma County Capital Assets Policy FA-l fails to provide sufficient reporting for management to determine the extent to which normal maintenance and repairs of buildings and other County facilities are being deferred. 23OO COUNTY CENTER DRIVE, SUITE A2OO, SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA 95403 707-565-2550 FAX 707-565-2358 We disagree wholly with this finding. The purpose of Fiscal Policy FA-1, Accounting for Copitol Assets, is to ensure accurate and complete physical and financial records needed for financial reporting. The policy is not intended to address areas such as planning and budgeting for...
R2
Sonoma Water maintain inventory lists with current goals for items, quantities, locations, and sourcing; and improve stockpiling accordingly by December 31, 2019. [F10]
Response: Unknown
Score: 0
R2. The County Administrator obtain an independent cost analysis and justification of deferred maintenance on capitalassets from each department head and present to the Board of Supervisors by March 2O2O,and following on an annual basis. [
F3
In the event of a major earthquake, water supplies are likely to be significantly disrupted for extended periods of days or weeks, although reduced water supplies may be provided through alternative means. Full recovery of systems could take longer.
Response: Unknown
Score: 0
F3] Response: The recommendation hos been implemented. The General Services Department is responsible for the maintenance and management of County property assets. lndividual departments do not manage capital assets. General Services contracted with VFA Associates in 20'J.4lo perform a facilities conditions analysis which is the industry standard baseline assessment of facilities. Best management practice is to perform a new or refreshed facilities condition assessment every five years. General Services intends to submit for approval a Capital lmprovement Project for FY 2O2Ol2t to update the f...
R3
Sonoma Water and water contractors derive and publicize more realistic outage periods and provide updated information to the public by December 31, 2019. [F5, F6]
Response: Unknown
Score: 0
r 3t,2019. IF t2l Response: The recommendotion requires further onolysis. General Services Facilities Development and Management includes staffwho are licensed architects, engineers and general contractors that have extensive experience in cost estimating. Because General Service's staffare 100% cost recoverable, other projects have been prioritized over updating deferred maintenance valuations. Further analysis will be needed to determine how many staff hours would be required to update and maintain deferred maintenance valuations, and how that would impact other projects. Best management pra...
F4
Measures implemented by Sonoma Water to reduce the risk of critical water shortages following a major earthquake have relied heavily upon state and federal grant funds, but implementation has fallen behind the schedules proposed in the LHMP. A more rapid reduction of risks could be achieved through water rate adjustments.
Response: Disagree Partially
Score: 0
F4. Real asset records are scattered over an excessive number of record keeping and asset management systems. We disagree partially with this finding. All physical/financial asset records are maintained in the EFS Asset Management (AM) module, however General Services maintains separate asset management systems to track work orders, maintenance and repair of the assets. A greater level of access to the EFS Asset Management Module would be appropriate though this module does not contain desirable features of a modern property asset management software system.
F5
Consistent with FEMA recommendations, residents need to maintain their own emergency source of water to meet their personal needs for more than the three days frequently stated by officials.
Response: Unknown
Score: 0
F5] Response: The recommendotion requires further anolysis. The County purchased and implemented EFS Asset Management county-wide in July 2O!4in order to provide a centralized accounting system to track capital assets for the purpose of financial accounting. However there were additional asset management modules that were not purchased or implemented. . General Services requires a robust integrated asset management, cost accounting, and work order system with software capabilities providing space allocation information. The General Service Director will work with the County Administrator and A...
R5
Water contractors study options for making local systems more adaptable under emergency conditions - such as dedicated supply loops, digitally monitored metering, or automatic shut-down valves, by December 31, 2019. [F8]
Response: Unknown
Score: 0
R5. The Director of Health Services reduce employee and public exposure to hazards, minimize risks of OSHA and liability exposure by enforcing a higher level of maintenance by Decembe
F6
More public outreach is needed to educate water users to their risks and individual responsibility for earthquake preparedness.
Response: Disagree Partially
Score: 0
F6. The true cost of maintaining the County's facilities has been substantially understated for over a decade by deferring needed maintenance. We disagree partially with this finding. As the amount of funding for maintenance had remained flat since the economic downturn o
R6
Sonoma Water prepare and maintain one or more SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) for the restoration of water deliveries specifically for an earthquake; SOPs should be updated annually or whenever there are changes to procedures, by December 31, 2019. [F9]
Response: Unknown
Score: 0
R6. The County Administrator and the General Services Director assign resources such as sufficient staffing for determining and setting deferred maintenance valuations by Decembe
F7
Coordination between Sonoma Water and its contractors needs to improve by increasing training exercises, mutual aid training, and systems information exchange.
Response: Unknown
Score: 0
F7. Facility maintenance is persistently underfunded, at levels substantially below recommended industry sta nda rds.
F8
Because operating pressures must be maintained throughout the system, water contractors have limited ability to curtail non-essential water uses without compromising availability of water for critical applications such as fire suppression and hospital use.
Response: Disagree Partially
Score: 0
F8. Deferred maintenance costs are continuing to accumulate to an extent that they constitute a major reduction in asset value not reported in the County's financial statements. We partially disagree with this finding. The County is required to comply with Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Statement No. 42, Accounting and Financial Reporting for lmpairment of Copitol Assets and for lnsuronce Recoveries. ln order to record an impairment loss, GASB 42 requires that the impairment be significant, unexpected and permanent, and also result in a decline in service utility. Following the p...
F9
Sonoma Water’s planning for earthquake response, supplies, repairs, and restoration of water depends significantly on institutional repair knowledge concentrated in a few long- term employees, but lacks adequate documentation such as manuals for standard operating procedures.
Response: Unknown
Score: 0
F9. Deferred maintenance contributes to more rapid deterioration of facilities and therefore, in the long run, to higher facilities costs.
F10
Sonoma Water’s estimate of three days to return to service following an earthquake is conditional on the availability of suitable repair parts, aqueduct pipe, joints, pumps and valves. The Grand Jury found the inventory of emergency supplies is sparse and the inventory list is incomplete and out-of-date. 18
Response: Unknown
Score: 0
F10] Response: The recommendotion will not be implemented becouse it is not worronted. Currently, General Services has been working closely with the Risk Management Division of Human Resources Department to identify and mitigate employee and public exposure to hazards, minimize risks of OSHA and liability exposure. Risk Management is responsible, in coordination with General Services, for the tracking and monitoring of all OSHA complaints, and consults and informs Health Services staff of issues, resolution and completion. Collaboration with Risk Management benefits the County in potentially p...
F11
Sonoma Water and its water contractors maintain a well-designed system and have made significant progress in mitigating earthquake risks. Ongoing efforts are needed to reduce remaining risks.
Response: Disagree Partially
Score: 0
F11. The current condition of facilities creates a difficult environment for making future plans and decisions about used and new facilities. We disagree partially with this finding. While the current condition of existing aging buildings is a factor, the lack of vacant space, the costs of renovating facilities constructed in an era where asbestos and lead based paints were in common use, and the lack of financial resources to implement desired new uses and tenant improvements are far more significant factors impacting decision making.
F12
Auditing procedures designed to detect incorrect revenue information were not evident.
Response: Disagree Partially
Score: 0
F12. The County lacks in-house capabilities for determining and setting deferred maintenance valuations. We disagree partially with this finding. General Services Facilities Development and Management includes staff who are licensed architects, engineers and general contractors that have extensive experience in cost estimating. The department contracted with VFA because the extensive scope of work would have detracted from staff resources committed to other projects. Staff effort must be fully reimbursable and as such it was more efficient to contract the effort to VFA.
F13
Capital assets that suffer from significant accumulations of deferred maintenance may be impaired assets for accounting purposes.
Response: Disagree
Score: -1
F13. Capital assets that suffer from significant accumulations of deferred maintenance may be impaired assets for accounting purposes. We disagree wholly or partially with these finding(s):
F14
The Board of Supervisors has not been able to fully implement the Capital Improvement Plan due to appropriation of funding to other departments.
Response: Disagree Partially
Score: 0
F14 Board of Supervisors has not been able to fully implement the Capital lmprovement Plan due to appropriation of funding to other departments. We partially disagree with this finding. The Annual Capital lmprovement Plan (ClP) is a planning document used to identify capital needs and prioritize funding based on the criteria set forth in the Sonoma County Administrative Policy 5-2, Policy for Copital Project ond Asset Responsibility. New projects are added to the CIP each year, and it is not commonplace for all projects to be fully funded. An updated evaluation and inventory of deferred mainte...
No Responses Found 1
Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.