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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-18-1992 Council Minutes Special Meeting"�N S'OF THE ORONO SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING - August 18, 1992 FIRE SERVICE ALTERNATIVES A meeting of the City Council of.the City of Orono was held pursuant to posted notice at 3.30 p.m., Tuesday, August 18, 1992 at the Orono Council Chambers with the following members present: Mayor Barbara Peterson, Councilmembers Edward Callahan, Gabriel Jabbour, J. Diann Goetten and Mary Butler. Also in attendance were City Administrator Ron Moorse and Deputy Clerk Lin Vee. Mayor Peterson called the meeting to order at 3:35 p.m. Mayor Peterson introduced the Long Lake representatives, Scott Luse (Long Lake Councilmember) and Chris Dietzen (Long Lake City Attorney), who presented Long Lake's proposal for fire service. Mr. Dietzen discussed the proposal booklet each Councilmember received earlier in the day stating tabs.1-8 cover information requested by Orono including: revenue, expenditures, equipment list, equipment replacement plan, etc. According to information received from'Orono, he understood the existing fire service areas were based, at least in part, on a study that Orono did in 1980. One of the areas of concern was the response time. He presented an aerial 'photo showing the location of fire departments serving Orono and proposed fire service boundaries. He indicated their proposal offers much better service and response time for fire and medical emergencies. On the issue of cost of service (under Tab 3), the proposed budget is $97,433. Based on the past formula of 78.2 %, that would result in a total figure for Orono of $76,192.61. Generally, Long Lake was able to reduce the budget by eliminating the major equipment as an item of the budget thus being more comparable to other proposals. They would propose that as major equipment needs occur, they would look at bonding. The equipment is in excellent shape and they could defer the need for new equipment for a period of time. Each line item has been reviewed as to possible reduction and some have been reduced. The current contract has been a fixed rate contract so Orono is billed a certain amount whether that money is actually spent or not. Some years have been under while others have been over budget when the extra amount has not been charged. The Police contract carries forward credits and additional expenses. Long Lake would be willing to change to that type 'of contract. Since management of the Fire Department has been a concern, Long Lake is suggesting a Fire Advisory Commission consisting of one member from Medina, Orono and Long Lake. The City Council would appoint that person and would not necessarily have to be an elected official. They would have the right, opportunity and ability to go to the monthly business meetings of the Fire Department and Officers Meetings and to indicate their concerns and issues they want addressed. They would have the right to certify the election of the Fire Chief and the Assistant Fire Chief. Under the City charter, the City of Long Lake is required to certify this election and they are willing to give this authority to the Fire Advisory Commission. 1 MINUTES OF THE ORONO SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING - August 18, 199 a - Shannon Madden, the medical and training officer for the Long Lake Fire Department, supplied information on response times. Kelly 'Shaughnessy, an officer of the Long Lake Fire Department, explained how fire calls are received. Jabbour commented that to go forward, they should be aware of concerns of the past. Orono has never had any problem with the Fire Department and its capability to perform. His concern lies with the capability of the Fire Department to function within the parameters that Orono wishes. Dietzen added that he had advised the Long Lake Council and Fire Department that this should be treated as a business, being cost competitive and providing services to customers. He also had told Rick Perry, the Fire Chief, that he would have to attend Orono Council meetings and make reports to the Council. Jabbour stated his concerns over the Long Lake City Council eliminating 10% of the budget, some of the fire people feeling unable to function on this budget cut, and money being diverted to the' general fund for the City of Long Lake. Luce stated that communication could be directly from the Fire Department to other cities rather than from the Long Lake City Offices. They have also asked the Fire Chief to appoint someone to take over the administrative role of the Fire Department who would perform like an officer providing monthly reports. Goetten expressed her concern over the $0 major equipment fund. Shaughnessy said this was also a major concern of the Fire Department and these discussions should help all people involved. Goetten asked how the Fire Department would obtain new equipment when necessary. Luse explained that if the purchase were over $400,000, it would be a referendum and under $400,000 would be through bonding. He added that in the proposal they were trying to compare their budget to those of other cities and eliminating the major equipment fund seemed to be the closest comparison. Shaughnessy stressed the importance of negotiation between the cities of Long Lake and Orono. City Administrator Moorse stated a major issue that still exists is the capital equipment replacement and its financing. He compared some of the other proposals regarding this issue to Long Lake's equipment replacement. His concern is that, although Long Lake has responded to Orono's concern over cost, those reductions have been through capital equipment replacement monies and seem to be a short term savings. Luse pointed out that in the budget only interest on the bonds is included, not principal, as costs to be shared by participating cities. Jabbour asked if the principal payment comes out of Long Lake's City Budget or Capital Outlay. Mayor Swartwood stated that Long Lake had not been faced with that situation but that it would be a capital outlay. Administrator Moorse restated the question, "Is the cost when we finance a new piece of equipment now when we don't have 2 MINUTES OF THE ORONO SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING - August 18, 1992 an equipment fund to pay for it and we bond for it and we have principal and interest payments, is that going to be shared among the cities ?" Mayor Swartwood replied that just the interest would be shared and the prinicpal would be picked,up by the City of Long Lake. Jabbour asked what percentage Medina pays. Dietzen responded that Medina pays roughly 4% and Long Lake 18%. Jabbour feels capital outlay should be included in the budget. Dietzen stated the percentages were arrived at by using assessed values of homes but could be negotiated. Mayor Peterson stated that in all fairness to Long Lake, a decision should be made at a later time when Councilmembers have had an opportunity to study the proposal. Shaughnessy invited members to the upcoming Fire Department Officers Meeting and cautioned Council to avoid using a formula based on the number of fire calls received. Mayor Peterson also noted that in comparing proposals, the first year's bid may be more attractive to "get your foot in the door" and future years may not be as attractive. She reiterated that response time is of utmost importance and decisions will be based on this. Goetten added that sharing of services between cities to reduce costs is becoming more important. Comments were received from the following members of the public: Gary Printup, Mr. Tourangeau, Mike Ellis, Dr. John Sagehorn, Cliff Otten, Dianne Jentilucci, Jim Cox, Mary Siebold, Lloyd Fairbank, Rodney Minick, and Peg Swanson.. They expressed major concern over response times. They noted that a dollar Value cannot be put on human lives and reported several incidents where the quick response time of the Fire Department was important. There were comments and questions regarding Wayzata's ability to provide increased service. They asked that Council make a decision regarding Fire contracts for the "right" reasons and keep communications open between Long Lake and Orono. Callahan questioned why the cost of the same response time is 50% higher from Long Lake than other cities. Jabbour reminded Long Lake to be competitive making it impossible for Orono to make a decision to establish their own Fire Department. Callahan stated there may be explanations regarding higher costs that are acceptable and that even if the costs are higher, it doesn't mean Orono would not choose Long Lake's proposal. The figures may not be correct or understood. Mayor Peterson stated that in the past Orono has not asked. to be involved in the administration of the Fire Department. She thanked Long Lake for providing the information requested and as a courtesy to Long Lake felt Council should take time to review their proposal and decision on the Fire Department contract. Dietzen again volunteered Long Lake's willingness to answer any questions Orono may have. 3 a MINUTES OF THE ORONO SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING - August 18, 1992 - :There were questions as to when a decision would be made regarding the Fire Contracts. Mayor.Peterson stated there will be public hearings at the regular Council meetings and thought a decision would be made by mid - September. The meeting adjourned at 5:45 p.m. ATTEST: 3 V /y Lin lee, Deputy Clerk Barbara A. Peterson, Mayor Representative of Long Lake 4