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MINUTES <br />CITY COUNCIL <br />OCTOBER 9, 2013 <br />Morelan stated that he did not anticipate that the Little Canada Fire Station <br />would ever be staffed 24/7. The Department does not receive enough calls <br />to warrant that staffing level. Morelan did state that there may be a time, <br />however, that the Station will need to be staffed 40 hours per week in the <br />event the Department cannot get day -time responders. Morelan indicated <br />that the goal is not to improve response times, but to maintain current <br />response times. <br />Blesener summarized that the goal at this time is to test the duty crew <br />concept, with the crew testing equipment and getting policies and <br />procedures updated. Morelan agreed and indicated that the Fire <br />Department and Council can evaluate how the pilot program worked <br />during next year's budget discussions. The Council supported the pilot <br />program for 2014 with an evaluation of that program to occur mid -2014. <br />With regard to Fire Relief Benefit levels, the City Administrator indicated <br />that the City's voluntary contribution toward fire relief has been at <br />$15,000 for some time. The Administrator noted that there are been a few <br />years when the City was required to contribute more given that the <br />pension fund was underfunded. The Administrator noted that in 2004 an <br />analysis was done of voluntary contribution levels, and Little Canada's <br />was somewhat ahead of the curve. He also pointed out that the Fire <br />Department is currently requesting a $31,000 voluntary contribution on <br />the City's part. <br />Bob Liebel reported that he averaged the City's voluntary contributions <br />over the Last 20 years, and the annual amount averaged $24,500. Liebel <br />felt that based on that average, the $31,000 request did not appear too <br />drastic of an increase. <br />There was a good deal of discussion about how the pension benefit is <br />funded with revenues consisting of the fund's investment earnings, State <br />Aid revenue, and the City's voluntary contribution. It was also noted that <br />whatever the benefit level is, if investment earnings and State Aid <br />revenues are not adequate, the City is obligated to make the necessary <br />contribution to support the benefit level. The City Administrator pointed <br />out that the City supported the annual $15,000 contribution to the fund to <br />help provide stability and avoid big swings in what could be the City's <br />mandatory contribution. It was also noted that another factor in <br />determining the benefit level that the fund could support was the number <br />of fire fighters on the department. The Administrator pointed out that the <br />Fire Department's decrease from 36 fire fighters to 31 fire fighters has <br />helped the fund. <br />4 <br />