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Brentwood City Commission Agenda

Meeting Date:	02/10/2020
Resolution 2020-12 - Adoption of the UAS Program Interdepartmental Assistance Policy
Submitted by:	Holly Earls, Administration
Department:	Legal

Information

Subject

Resolution 2020-12 - Adoption of the UAS Program Interdepartmental Assistance Policy

Background

↵As you are aware, the Brentwood Fire and Rescue Department (BFR) has recently instituted an Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program (UAS Program). The use of the City's UAS allows first responders to respond effectively while still maintaining a level of safety and security for the citizen. It provides cutting edge technology to assist first responders in situations including, but not limited to, search and rescue, flooding, hazardous materials monitoring, structural and wildland interface fire assessment, railroad incidents, and damage assessment. A departmental General Operating Guideline (attached) was developed to provide criteria for the use of the UAS by BFR, and the UAS Program has been very successful thus far.

There have been other instances lately where it became evident that the use of the City's UAS would be beneficial to other departments in the City. However, there were no clear guidelines as to when and how the UAS would be used. Therefore, staff from several departments met to develop a policy to provide guidance to ensure that all relevant federal, state, and local guidelines would be followed and that the City would be adequately covered from a liability standpoint when assistance is provided to other departments.

Highlights of the proposed policy include the following:

The UAS Program Manager (currently Lieutenant Jay Williams) must review and approve all UAS use requests.
A written flight plan describing the area(s) and route(s) where the UAS will be flown will be required.
The UAS may only be used for City purposes as provided by state law, which includes emergency operations and preparation, marketing, and the creation of City maps.
Except as allowable by law, the City's UAS shall not be used for intentionally capturing images of private property without consent of the property owner or conducting any type of surveillance on private property, including surveillance for police or code enforcement purposes.
The UAS shall be controlled from public property except where express written consent has been obtained by a private property owner.
The UAS will not be flown in adverse weather conditions unless such flight is deployed to survey such conditions.
All reasonable attempts will be made to avoid recording of footage from private property, particularly enclosed property unless the property owner's permission has been previously obtained.

As with all BFR UAS flights, any flight for another City department will comply with all applicable guidelines set forth by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

If you have any questions, please contact the Fire Chief or City Attorney.

Staff Recommendation

Staff recommends approval of Resolution 2020-12.

Fiscal Impact

Attachments
Resolution 2020-12
UAS Program Interdepartmental Assistance Policy
BFR UAS General Operating Guideline
Signed Resolution