08-18-1992 Council Minutes Special Meeting

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"�N S'OF THE ORONO SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING - August 18, 1992 FIRE SERVICE ALTERNATIVES A meeting of the City Council of.the City of Orono was held pursuant to posted notice at 3.30 p.m., Tuesday, August 18, 1992 at the Orono Council Chambers with the following members present: Mayor Barbara Peterson, Councilmembers Edward Callahan, Gabriel Jabbour, J. Diann Goetten and Mary Butler. Also in attendance were City Administrator Ron Moorse and Deputy Clerk Lin Vee. Mayor Peterson called the meeting to order at 3:35 p.m. Mayor Peterson introduced the Long Lake representatives, Scott Luse (Long Lake Councilmember) and Chris Dietzen (Long Lake City Attorney), who presented Long Lake's proposal for fire service. Mr. Dietzen discussed the proposal booklet each Councilmember received earlier in the day stating tabs.1-8 cover information requested by Orono including: revenue, expenditures, equipment list, equipment replacement plan, etc. According to information received from'Orono, he understood the existing fire service areas were based, at least in part, on a study that Orono did in 1980. One of the areas of concern was the response time. He presented an aerial 'photo showing the location of fire departments serving Orono and proposed fire service boundaries. He indicated their proposal offers much better service and response time for fire and medical emergencies. On the issue of cost of service (under Tab 3), the proposed budget is $97,433. Based on the past formula of 78.2 %, that would result in a total figure for Orono of $76,192.61. Generally, Long Lake was able to reduce the budget by eliminating the major equipment as an item of the budget thus being more comparable to other proposals. They would propose that as major equipment needs occur, they would look at bonding. The equipment is in excellent shape and they could defer the need for new equipment for a period of time. Each line item has been reviewed as to possible reduction and some have been reduced. The current contract has been a fixed rate contract so Orono is billed a certain amount whether that money is actually spent or not. Some years have been under while others have been over budget when the extra amount has not been charged. The Police contract carries forward credits and additional expenses. Long Lake would be willing to change to that type 'of contract. Since management of the Fire Department has been a concern, Long Lake is suggesting a Fire Advisory Commission consisting of one member from Medina, Orono and Long Lake. The City Council would appoint that person and would not necessarily have to be an elected official. They would have the right, opportunity and ability to go to the monthly business meetings of the Fire Department and Officers Meetings and to indicate their concerns and issues they want addressed. They would have the right to certify the election of the Fire Chief and the Assistant Fire Chief. Under the City charter, the City of Long Lake is required to certify this election and they are willing to give this authority to the Fire Advisory Commission. 1