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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-23-2018 Council Work Session Minutes Orono City Council Orono City Council Work Session Monday,July 23,2018 Council Chambers 5:00 p.m. would to see what the next five years would look like to anticipate the proper budgeting for next three or four roads we looking to work on. Walsh mentioned that the City has an Insurance fund but the City needs to figure out how much we really need to have in that fund. Walsh noted that we would like to be able to take from it to increment it out to other important areas that are in need. Walsh mentioned that nice thing we have going for us is that these are funds that we could use instead of increasing the levy to cover and buildup the more important funds. Walsh noted that by doing this we are protected in the long run and spending the money right. Olson mentioned that he recommends creating an internal service fund for IT that the City would be able to use for an equipment fund. Walsh noted that if it would be separated out as to what equipment is going where, it would make it more transparent and would make sense. Council Member Victoria Seals noted that if we have staff that intend to leave in the future that we may want to relook at dividing up those duties between current staff and possibly farming out other duties as needed. There was discussion of not becoming too lean. The needs of staff levels,positions, and other information that makes up that portion of the fund. Olson addressed the need for code enforcement staff and the expectations of the citizens. Olson noted that staff is concerned that we are providing the level of service needed for the citizens. Community Development Director Jeremy Barnhart reviewed the request for code enforcement staff. Barnhart mentioned that we provide staffing wherever the council would like and if staff is expected to do code enforcement at a certain level, there may be a need to hire additional code enforcement staff. Barnhart referred to the Initial Response Time table provided in the memo. Council Member Victoria Seals mentioned that if we did decide to go that route then we need to document all training and everything within the first six months to figure out if it is something that is truly needed, at least for the busiest six month time span. Council Member Aaron Printup asked what do you think the spike in May and June was on the Initial Response Time for code enforcement. Barnhart mentioned that it is a natural spike that occurs in the summer. Barnhart also mentioned that it typically begins at the end of April but people generally begin to become more concerned in the months following it. Meeting ended at 6:52 p.m. Orono City Council Orono City Council Work Session Monday,July 23,2018 Council Chambers 5:00 p.m. Discussion followed regarding training and conclusion of the efforts of all assets involved. Walsh asked if anyone else has any other questions. Resident Tom Waiser,mentioned that he has the upmost respect and admiration for the fire department in their efforts of the past 3-4 years however he feels that this incident left the neighborhood feeling a little uncomfortable with the length of response time it took Long Lake Fire Deparhnent to arrive at the scene. Waiser also mentioned that he was not aware that the Assistant Chief had been the first to arrive on scene and appreciates the facts that have been presented thus far in the time line. He also mentioned his concern regarding the absence of hydrants in the area. Van Eyll mentioned that the Fire Deparirnent and Orono has to be comfortable with mutual aid departments getting to the fire first and that sometimes mutual aid has to respond quicker in order to full repose. We had 22 fire fighters working at this call and that is not a small group for one call. Van Eyll noted that he does not feel that we are lacking any of the necessary equipment, etc as well. Van Eyll also note that the Long Lake Fire Department always evaluates their performance and take it very seriously and also circle back to implement it into our training calendar. 2. Budget Discussion Finance Director Ron Olson began the budget by mentioning that due to the increase of the City's Taxable Market Value,the City's tax levy can increase by 3.51% ($190,000)without increasing the City's tax rate. Olson noted that building permit revenues have been going through the roof, although it is only temporary and during past discussion we had decided not to build them into the budget. Walsh mentioned that he has seen people tearing down million dollar homes and rebuild larger million dollar homes. We may want to budget a little extra to anticipate this growth. Walsh wants to pay attention to that and plan ahead so that we will not need to increase the levy as drastically in the future. Olson also noted that the city will blow through the revenue on the budget which is not necessarily a bad thing. The difficult part with revenues and expenditures and the gap that goes along with that is that part of it is the wages are locked in with union, so the only thing that could be up for discussion would be related to the non-union wages. Walsh noted that rewriting the zoning code is something that will eventually be needed. Walsh mentioned that we would rather not build one-time expenditures in the budget. Walsh would like to know how much the City would have left out for roads budget. Walsh also mentioned that he Orono City Council Orono City Council Work Session Monday,July 23,2018 Council Chambers 5:00 p.m. New homes and why they burn faster than older homes. Research has shown that new homes burn up to five times faster than older homes. What this means is that people have less time to get out of a house when a fire starts- a lot less time. People living in older homes with traditional furnishings were estimated to have about 17 minutes to safely evacuate a home,but the time decreases to about 3 minutes in a home built with modern materials and furnished with newer, synthetic furniture. "Today we have many more synthetic materials in our homes. Synthetic materials are not bad, but today the backing on your carpeting,the drapes, even the stuffing in your mattress and your pillows is synthetic material. And this does burn hotter and faster, and this is something that homeowners should be very much aware of." John Drengenberg, consumer safety director for Underwriters Laboratories. Two recent studies detail the relationship between fire and engineered wood construction assemblies-notable, that they burn quicker and fail faster than their dimensional lumber counterparts. NFPA Journal July/August 2009 ----End of Report---- Mayor Dennis Walsh mentioned that there is a whole lot good things that came out of this and one thing that stands out is that it was a defensive fire. Walsh asked the Fire Chief to explain mutual aid, fox alarm, and how many assets we have within a 10-mile radius. Van Eyll explained that there is two different kinds of mutual aid: Automatic mutual aid, which we use for these types of calls in which we utilize our neighbors for help. They are paged at the same time as our Fire Department during these types of calls. It is not unusual if those responders arrive before our department if they are closer to the fire location. We have mutual aid agreements with all of the fire departments in Hennepin County. We have all agreed to share services or resources throughout. We do have a few other mutual aid agreements with other associations for use of assets or resources such as Carver and other communities. Walsh pointed out that mutual aid is used by all cities and everyone works together to serve the citizens in each community. Van Eyll mentioned another type of mutual aid which is when a member from the Long Lake Fire Department is on the Hennepin County investigation team. This members assists in the investigation process for some fire calls. City Administrator Dustin Rief asked how many mutual aid partners were called to help out with this particular ca1L Assistant Chief Administration David Goman mentioned that help come from as far south as the city of Chanhassen; as far North as Loretto and as far west as the city of Watertown. Orono City Council Orono City Council Work Session Monday,July 23, 2018 Council Chambers 5:00 p.m. 19:15:25 -Noted water supply issues with soft shoulder and piles of debris in road way-trouble moving tankers in and around the scene 19:16 -Added Wayzata Engine to help LLFD E21 supply Maple Plain Ladder-LLFD E21 due to limitation on water supply discharge. 19:18:53 -Command request another tanker group paged 19:20:43 -Command is in contact with Hennepin County Fire Investigation Team 19:27:31 Command is notified that they are out of water 19:30:45 - Command request another tanker group paged 19:31:18 -Command request another box alarm to be paged-modified to no command truck and Minnetonka to bring an engine and not the ladder 19:31:50 -Command moved Loretto Engine up to replace E21 and Wayzata Engine-they have a 5"water supply discharge 19:32:35 - Homeowners arrive on scene 19:38:03 -Command request another tanker group paged 19:54:11 -Command sets up media location 19:59:53 -Orono Public Works on scene to shore up soft shoulders 20:10:24 -Command advised fire under control, performing overhaul, still in the defensive mode The Long Lake Fire Department takes pride in serving the communities of Orono, Medina and Long Lake. Our group of 40 dedicated paid-on-call firefighters, do the best they can with their time allotted to the fire department. They train on average 82 paid hours per year. This doesn't include any external training that a firefighter might take on their off nights or weekends. Many train more than this to keep their national and state certifications current. They are paid for their normal Monday scheduled trainings and calls. Their average yearly income from these calls and trainings is $2,140.29 and the officer and coordinators receive on average another$982.88 for their extra time they put into being a paid-on-call firefighter. The National Fire Protection Agency estimates that in 2011 alone, the time and labor of volunteer and paid-on-call firefighters saved the American taxpayers$139.8 billon. Orono City Council Orono City Council Work Session Monday,July 23,2018 Council Chambers 5:00 p.m. 18:52:42 OPD on scene confirms that no people are inside the home just a dog 18:56:06 LLFD Chief 4 arrives on scene and confirms structure fire, fully involved, defensive fire operations -First fire department vehicle on scene in 6 minutes - also notes that there are large piles of landscape products in the road way and this will limit accessibility to the scene for tankers 18:57 - 18:58 - Maple Plain Ladder arrived on scene- dispatch didn't record an on scene time- this unit is assigned to the driveway of the fire-this approximately a 7 - 8 minute response time 19:00 -Command assigns Maple Plain Chief 1 Water Supply Operations -Nearest hydrant is at the corner of North Shore Drive West and West Branch Road- at the south west corner of that intersection. We decide for easier access to use the hydrant on Red Oak Lane-no backing involved with this hydrant 19:02 - 19:03 LLFD Engine 21 arrived on scene- dispatch didn't record an on scene time -this unit is assigned to supply water to Maple Plain Ladder -This is approximately a 12 - 13 minute response time 19:02:44 Mound Ladder arrived on scene - this unit is assigned the driveway to the north to protect that exposure-this is approximately an 11 minute response time 19:06 - 19:07 LLFD Tanker 12 arrives on scene- this unit gives their drop tank and water to E21 19:07 - 09:08 LLFD Engine 11 arrives on scene-this unit assigned to supply Mound Ladder to protectexposures 19:07:33 -Maple Plain Tanker arrives on scene 19:08:14 - Command requests traffic control for water shuttle operation 19:09:34 -Excelsior Tanker arrives on scene 19:09:25 -Command advised that they are out of water 19:10:46 - LLFD Tanker 11 arrives on scene 19:14:06 -Water operations requested to Command that public works to the scene with rock to stabilize shoulder of the roadway due to the narrowness of the road with the engines and tanker set up on your side of the roadway and the stock piling of landscape material in the roadway that hindered water/tanker operation Orono City Council Orono City Council Work Session Monday,July 23,2018 Council Chambers 5:00 p.m. PRESENT: Mayor Dennis Walsh, Council Members Richard F. Crosby II, Wendy Dankey, Aaron Printup and Victoria Seals. Representing staff were City Administrator Dustin Rief, Police Chief Correy Farniok, Finance Director Ron Olson, Director of Public Works/City Engineer Adam Edwards, Community Development Director Jeremy Barnhart and City Clerk Anna Carlson. GUESTS: James Van Eyll, David Goman, Scott Weske, Cody Farley, Meeting started at 5:05 p.m. 1. Fire Department Debriefing(Tentative) Long Lake Fire Chief James Van Eyll debriefed the City Council with the following report: 18:47:13 Hennepin County Dispatch is receiving phone calls about a house fire at 780 Lakeview Parkway 18:48 OPD receives the call for a house fire- OPD Sargent Wittke was on scene at the time of call confirmed structure fire whole back side of house on fire suggested multiple resources be started to the lack of no hydrants in the area 18:49:01 Reports are that flames are through the roof of the home- asking for an assist from Mound Fire 18:49:22 Flames through the roof, on Lakeview Parkway-new development 18:49:39 Another ca11911 -RP across the bay and sees flames in this direction and heard a loud popping noise 18:50:06 Reports from officers on scene-too much smoke, can't get into the house 18:50:15 Long Lake Fire Department(LLFD) and Maple Plain Fire are paged to the house fire 18:50:25 LLFD Chief 4 is in route 18:51:37 LLFD Chief 4 request for a second alarm 18:51:42 LLFD Chief 4 request to page out a tanker group 18:52:16 OPD reports the back of the house is fully engulfed Orono City Council Orono City Council Work Session Monday,July 23,2018 Council Chambers 5:00 p.m. ATTEST: I Anna Carlson, City Clerk Dennis Walsh, Mayor