HomeMy WebLinkAbout04.b. Receive update to November 22, 2021 Finance Committee discussion on Purchasing Card (P-Card) Program and Purchase LimitsPage 1 of 2
Item 4.b.
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December 21, 2021
TO: FINANCE COMMITTEE
FROM: STEPHANIE KING, PURCHASING & MATERIAL SERVICES MANAGER
REVIEWED BY: PHILIPLEIBER, DIRECTOR OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION
ROGER S. BAILEY, GENERAL MANAGER
SUBJECT: RECEIVE UPDATE TO NOVEMBER 22, 2021 FINANCE COMMITTEE
DISCUSSION ON PURCHASING CARD (P-CARD) PROGRAMAND
PURCHASE LIMITS
On November 22, 2021, during the Finance Committee discussion on materials providing an overview of
the controls and limits related to the Purchasing Card program, a Committee Member asked if staff had
high -limit P-Cards available for the Directors to use in the event of an emergency or similar situation. The
Sunday October 24 outage event at the downtown Orinda Pump Station resulted from an extreme wet
weather event that threatened to overwhelm the Pump Station and release raw wastewater into the nearby
EBMUD reservoir that was the drinking water source then in use by all Contra Costa County residents.
Despite difficult weather conditions, poor cell phone connectivity, and a major extended PG&E power
failure, the Central San response team was able to prevent a major overflow and to protect the reservoir.
This event has highlighted the importance of being prepared with multiple mechanisms to allow staff to act
quickly to solve urgent problems.
On December 7, 2021, Central San Directors, Operations, and Purchasing staff met to review the
October 24 incident and determine if additional steps should be taken to ensure that problems like that can
be solved quickly. The Orinda Crossroads Pump Station outage was solved quickly through a work -around
to the typical declaration of an emergency as staff was aware of an existing contract that allowed for the
deployment of rental emergency generators to stabilize and mitigate the situation while PG&E was
resolving the power outage.
The lessons learned from this event include the need to ensure goods and services are quickly available in
the event of Emergency/Pre-emergency situations, and include:
1. Existing contracts with suppliers. Purchasing and Risk Management have periodically held
discussions with operational managers to ensure contracts are in place for potentially necessary items. It is
highly recommended that contracts for pre -determined services and equipment be maintained for this
purpose.
2. P-Cards deployed to staff. Purchasing has three staff members (including the Purchasing Manager)
that administer the p-card program. They can, upon request in the event of an emergency, raise the limit of
individual P-Cards by logging onto a banking application, and the increase will take effect immediately.
However, given the fact emergencies are not planned and are compounded by challenges with
communications and power utility failures, it is difficult to assume that the normal emergency procurement
December 21, 2021 Regular FINANCE Committee Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 7 of 220
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process will be available and timely. In the case of the Orinda Pump Station, there were only three hours to
procure, transport, and connect a portable generator to keep raw wastewater from overflowing to the
reservoir.
After the outage at the Orinda Pump Station, changes to the existing P-Card deployment practices were
not indicated as necessary, however some improvements should be considered. Staff reviewed the
existing mechanisms in place to quickly procure necessary goods or services in urgent and emergent
circumstances where existing supplier contracts may not exist; additional resilience measures would be of
value.
The following were changes that the group viewed as warranting pursuit, and staff will take steps to
implement these enhancements:
1. Add the Director of Finance and Administration as an individual who can increase limits on the P-Cards
in the event of an emergency. This will involve adding this individual as an administrator to the US Bank
website where P-Card issuance, account management, and authorizations/limits are established.
2. Obtain relatively high -value P-Cards for staff as designated by the General Manager. These physical
cards will have restricted access by General Manager/Directors and stored in a locked location on site at
the Central San headquarters in the event of an emergency/pre-emergency situation.
3. Continue to ensure availability of contracts for foreseeably needed equipment and supplies in the event
of emergency/pre-emergency situations. Operations Department staff will continue to review such
arrangements and pursue additional contracts where necessary.
4. Delegate the authority to declare an emergency situation to the Directors in the event of the inability to
reach/communicate with the General Manager due to poor field communications, and the need to act
urgently to protect the safety of staff and the public.
December 21, 2021 Regular FINANCE Committee Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 8 of 220