07-10-2017 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, June 26, 2017 7:00 o'clock p.m. 14. APPROVAL OF GOLF COURSE DRAINAGE PROPOSAL PUBLIC COMMENTS Mark Doepke, 265 Hollander Road, stated he would like to discuss the action that was taken at the previous City Council meeting relating to the change in fire protection for certain portions of Orono that are currently served by the Wayzata Fire Department. Doepke asked if the notice was sent to Wayzata purely to keep the City Council's options open or has the decision been made to make a change. Walsh stated the decision was made to make the change. Doepke noted four to five years ago a similar proposal was brought up, and prior to it being taken up by the City Council, all the residents in the affected areas were sent a mailer notifying them of the proposed change and giving them the opportunity to speak on the matter. Walsh stated that occurred last summer. Doepke stated there was also another hearing on it four to five years ago. Doepke stated when it happened a number of years ago, everybody in the affected area was sent a notice giving them the option to come to the City Council meeting to discuss it. Doepke stated during the course of those discussions, some research was done by either the Wayzata or the Long Lake Fire Department that looked at five different key areas that were serviced by the Wayzata Fire Department as it related to the number of miles and the time to respond. In five out of five of those situations, it took the Long Lake Fire Department longer to respond, particularly to the Chevy Chase neighborhood. Doepke noted it took over four and a half minutes longer for the Long Lake Fire Department to respond theoretically than the Wayzata Fire Department. Doepke stated in each of these five cases, while there were some cost savings to Orono, there was a longer response time required in order to service the call. Doepke stated that means people living in that area in a fire situation will be suffering greater damage than they would currently. Doepke asked if that was taken into consideration in the Council's vote. Walsh stated if Mr. Doepke watches the videotape from the last Council meeting, he will see that the Chief of the Long Lake Fire Department addressed that issue. Walsh noted the Mound Fire Department takes twice as long to get to Minnetonka Beach than Navarre but that it is all within the required response times. Walsh stated the City Council looked at whether the Long Lake Fire Department would be within the required fire response times prior to making the decision, which they were. As a result, the Council felt it was appropriate to bring it under the auspices of the Long Lake Fire Department, which services the rest of Orono. Crosby noted the Long Lake Fire Department has a box alarm system, which is an automatic mutual aid service with Wayzata, who would be responding to a house fire as well. Doepke asked if he is saying that in the instance of a fire there would automatically be an alarm sent to Wayzata and they would respond. Page 2 of 12