06-12-2023 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING May 22, 2023 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 5 of 12 Johnson pointed out this is not because the fire fighters are not doing their jobs but because of the limitations of an all-call system where Hennepin County calls everyone from any station because there are not enough fire fighters during the day for the Navarre Station. Duty Crews would put four fire fighters on duty during the day when the City is most vulnerable, allowing for four or five minute response times. Seals asked how duty crews would affect current volunteer fire fighters and their call ratios. Van Eyll said that had not been determined but it would be worked out so that fire fighters did not lose or have reduced pension credits because of duty crews. Returning to the Power Point, Van Eyll outlined four possible courses of action and the costs and pros and cons of each. One, Orono assumes control of the existing Long Lake Department; two, establishment of a joint fire district with up to 11 other cities; three, an Orono Municipal Fire Department with only paid on-call fire fighters; and four, a municipal Fire Department with both duty crews and paid on-call fire fighters. Staff recommends option four. He said options one and two would increase per-household costs and result in Orono subsidizing other cities and option three would not move the City past rural response time standards to suburban and would make recruitment difficult because of being strictly paid on call. The increased cost of Option Four would be an additional $88 per household with partners. Costs would be higher without partners. He recommended adopting option four which would create a suburban area demand zone with 24/7 duty crews and offering contracts for services to surrounding communities using the Minnesota League of Municipalities formula for sharing costs. Van Eyll said Long Lake’s current proposal for taking over the Fire Department would be very costly to the City of Orono with an average increase per year per household of $371.86. Johnson pointed out that Orono has already been paying for 85 percent of the Fire Department costs and so much of what Long Lake is asking would be like paying again for the same items and service. He also said Orono has to ask itself if it is satisfied with a rural level average response time of 16 or more minutes on a medical call. Seals noted that she is married to a local fire fighter and part of her wanted to just agree to Long Lake’s proposal because the situation is hard on fire fighters and their families. However, she said it is the taxpayer’s money and she questioned if taxpayers would be comfortable with giving away half of a fire station and then paying the proposed lease costs. Van Eyll said the staff recommends establishing the Fire Department and assuming control of the Navarre Station as of July 1, 2024, allowing for a gradual transition. He said that recommendation would include increased costs and the possibility of disputes between Orono and Long Lake during the last 18 months of the contract. The other option would be to stand up the municipal department on Jan. 1, 2026 which would defer some costs to later years, make a clean break and possibly minimize disputes, but would allow a shortened transition time and a delay in getting a Fire Department ID number from the State Fire Marshall’s Office. Walsh asked for questions from Council. Benson asked about Station One in the event that the contract comes to an end without a resolution.