08-22-2022 City Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,August 22,2022 6:00 o'clock p.m. most important asset which are the Fire Fighters themselves because they are stuck in the middle.Johnson said if there is a way to shelter the Fire Fighters from this by being more cooperative and Orono perhaps giving more than they want to there might be a way to defer some of this stress away from the Fire Fighters as they are the most important piece.He shared they also spoke with neighboring Chiefs,Police Departments,Fire Fighters,and Councilmembers from other communities to find what options are available to the City. Seals shared regarding the mistrust between the two cities,it goes years beyond this City Council and there is still a lot of talk such as, "are you trying to take Long Lake over?" She stated that is something they have tried to overcome in the meetings.In the packet are some of the keys points discussed with Mayor Miner and Councilmember Dyvik and it is hard to know how both City Councils will feel about it as they both first saw these on Friday. She noted the first and most important bucket is keeping the Chief and Fire Fighters together and there is not an issue in keeping the name of the department Long Lake as there is a long history there.Regarding buildings, Station 1 is owned 50%by each City and currently maintenance and improvements are paid out of the operating budget and each City pays a percentage based on the service they receive.After discussions and because it is an asset that could be sold it seemed fair that each should pay based on ownership.It is also the same for Station 2 which is owned 100%by the City of Orono. Seals shared about a Fire Board which would replace the current Advisory Board with different tenets such as cities who have ownership or are contracted on the Board with a weighted vote based on ownership percentage and the Chief reporting to this Board.This group would be responsible for creating a budget and presenting it to the cities for approval,they would conduct reviews of the Chief,and also be responsible for conversations regarding adding other cities.Administration currently resides with Long Lake and they discussed the benefits of shifting this to Orono due to the larger Staff size including finance and payroll, a City mechanic,Administrative Assistant,and Human Resources. Seals noted the group reached agreement on this topic quite early. Seals spoke about the equipment and the weighted percentage of ownership currently in practice; after much discussion Long Lake felt the most comfortable in keeping it the same and that donated equipment must be approved beyond the Relief Board and the cities need to approve. If the cities' decided to part ways they would disburse equipment in a different way. If both cities could mutually agree that is great but if not,all equipment would go to auction;both cities agreed that the ownership of equipment needs to be determined 2 years prior to the end of the partnership. Seals clarified cost of service which would be based on the League of Minnesota Cities model and the equation would not change without approval from all cities involved.At any point, if any City would like to end the contract,they must give three years notice to separate and two years to determine the equipment. Seals believes both sides tried to flex where they could and find middle ground and she wants to bring the subject back to the City Council because of the time crunch and planning that must occur. Johnson noted the"League Model"is one-third population, one-third call hour, and one-third taxable property value.He spoke about fast-depreciating fire equipment and noted it is a concept to see whether the cities can push forward or need to look at alternatives.Both cities will have these conversations with their City Councils to see how aligned they are. The City Council discussed how the Minnetonka Beach contract is designed and formulated. Mayor Walsh thinks both cities can agree on bullet points 1,2, and 3. When it comes to the Fire Board he looks at it like the Police Department which includes the advisory committee, City Administrators, representatives from each City, and Mayors who look at the budget together but do not vote on the budget.Rather they have a contract that determines how the budget is put together.He suggested going Page 3 of 9