05-22-2023 City Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING May 22,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. Van Eyll said that is an unknown right now but it is hoped a shared use agreement could be worked out. The ideal would be complete ownership by Orono but that seems to be a non-starter for Long Lake,he said. Benson asked about the differences in how costs are calculated between the different models. Van Eyll explained the difference between straight market value and the League of Minnesota Cities formula for a shared fire district. Benson asked about cost per call and how it compares to other cities. Van Eyll said costs were based on call hours and market value,not cost per call.He said he would have to go back to figure that out. Johnson said not all calls have the same cost, so he questioned the value of figuring out average cost per call. Benson said she was interested in the Excelsior Fire District model where the Department serves five cities. The Excelsior Fire Chief, in comments at a Future Fire Services meeting, stated that for one city to go it alone would have been more expensive even if it pays more in expense than it has in usage,Benson said. She asked why more weight was not given to a shared model in the presentation. Van Eyll said the Excelsior group started out with a formula and went to straight market value. He said he does not recall that statement but discussed several surrounding joint fire districts and said it works for some communities, especially small cities,but does not work as well for cities with high home market values because they end up subsidizing the other communities. Walsh saidthe quote from the Excelsior Fire Chief was the opinion of one Chief in one city. He said they have the details in numbers and that's what matters. Benson also asked how Van Eyll could say the proposal could be a model for other cities when most cities are going to shared Departments. Van Eyll said he meant a model in terms of well-being of the fire fighters and service to the community, not necessarily the structure of the Department. Benson asked if it was ever considered to have an outside study of the viability of the proposed Fire Department plan since there has been a concern by some that having the Fire Chief of the Department do the study could be biased. Van Eyll said the Orono Council considered that last year and decided on the current approach. Walsh said the City was relying on the decades of expertise of the Fire Chief in the same way it had relied on the expertise of the Police Chief. He said he did applaud the efforts of the fire fighters and said it was unfortunate that the situation with Long Lake has not been resolved,has been contentious at times and that the fire fighters have been caught in the middle.He said the City would continue to work with Long Lake toward a resolution.He explained he wanted to end council questions as the public was waiting and Page 6 of 12