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Item 4.a.
Central Contra Costa Sanitary District
May 8, 2018
TO: ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE
FROM: JOHN HUIE, INFORMATIONTECHNOLOGY DIVISION MANAGER
REVIEWED BY: PHILIP R. LEI BER, DIRECTOR OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION
ANN SASAKI, DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER
ROGER S. BAILEY GENERAL MANAGER
SUBJECT: INFORMATION ITEM - SECURITY DRONE SERVICES PILOT PROJECT
This is an informational item to make the Committee aware of a six-month pilot program to provide semi-
automated drone monitoring at Central San. In order to maintain a secure perimeter at Central San, we are
currently sending our security guard out to drive the perimeter on a periodic basis. This is due in part to
ongoing activity with homeless encampments at or near our property line. In some cases, our fences have
been damaged and people are entering Central San property posing a risk to our property as well as
creating a safety risk to these trespassers and staff. Unfortunately, we have only a single security guard on
duty at most times. Therefore, when they are driving the perimeter, this leaves our front office, lobby, Plant
Operations Department area, and much of the Treatment Plant unattended.
In order to address grounds safety issues, we would like to explore the possibility of using automated
technology that has the ability to monitor Central San at risk locations while minimizing cost. This pilot
project will provide atrained operator who will come to Central San and operate an Unmanned Aerial
Vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone. The UAV will be provided, owned, operated and maintained
by Aptonomy, a company providing security drone services.
This will require an application from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly the equipment due to our
close proximity to Buchanan Field Airport. It will also require a separate waiver to fly at night. Waivers take
up to three months to obtain, and require significant paperwork. Upon completion of these waiver forms,
Aptonomy will turn the documents over to Central San so that we can use their work to compete our own
waivers to enable us to pilot this equipment ourselves, if desired.
The UAV will be equipped with infrared and regular cameras for use during both day and night flights,
safety lights that can be seen at least three miles away for airport safety, a siren, flashing "police" lights, a
public-address system, and other features found useful for security purposes. While under
contract, different flight-paths can be explored, times of day and night, flight elevations and weather
conditions to test the equipment to determine whether or not this technology may be used to reduce our
reliance on physical security guards at these locations.
Beyond security functions, this technology can also be used for other purposes such as developing
May 8, 2018 Regular ADMIN Committee Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 19 of 41
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training or educational videos through our Communications Division, use for inspection of equipment in
hard to reach areas, and to supplement our Geographic I nformation Systems (G I S) imagery that is used in
our mapping applications and to keep it more current.
Current regulatory requirements will not allow Central San to operate a UAV in a completely automated
environment. Therefore, we will need to have a human operator available at all times to take control in the
event of an emergency. However, regulations are quickly changing and we anticipate that within the next
year or two, the operation can be made fully automatic from launch to landing with alerts sent to our guard
station if anything out of the ordinary is detected.
This is a cutting-edge technology that few agencies are using for this type of automated security. Itis an
opportunity for Central San to lead the way with technology, and to innovate in a way that may truly improve
our security and efficiency at Central San. Operating the equipment for six months will give us a good
baseline to determine whether or not to pursue this as a long-term commitment.
Upon completion of the pilot project, we will make a determination on whether to pursue this technology on
a long-term basis. If we choose to continue with contracting these services out, then we will most likely
proceed with a Request For Proposals to ensure that we have an opportunity for competitive bids for this
project and to give us an opportunity to evaluate multiple vendors. During an initial outreach we found that
there are not many companies who provide the "drone as a service" capability and which also focus on
security applications. Aptometry is a leader in this avenue and is physically close enough to our location to
make our site aviable ongoing project.
The Sole Source Request amount for this project is $9,000. This is viewed as a cost effective
expenditure to significantly enhance our awareness of what is happening at the entire Central San campus,
and a useful and necessary supplement to existing security services.
May 8, 2018 Regular ADMIN Committee Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 20 of 41