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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/30/1989 Council Minutes1 1 Council Meeting January 30, 1989 191 The Special Work Session of the Lino Lakes City Council was called to order by Mayor Benson at 3:10 P.M., Monday, January 30, 1989. Council Members present: Mayor Benson, Bisel, Bohjanen, Neal, and Reinert. Staff: Administrator Schumacher, Tesch, Chief Campbell, (PW Superintendent Volk arrived late). Other: Centennial Fire Commissioner Benjamin . Purpose: This meeting was set to discuss problems the Lino Lakes City Council feel need addressing concerning the Centennial Fire District's Joint Powers Agreement (JPA). Mayor Benson directed Mr. Schumacher to begin his presentation. Mr. Schumacher explained that he had put together a work sheet that outlines what he felt (based on information received from Council members at previous meetings) were major areas of contention within the JPA. The most obvious issue is the formula by which operating costs are assigned. Lino Lakes has been paying an ever increasing portion of these costs. The basic elements of the formula are the average numbers of calls made to the individual city, the population and assessed value of the city. Mr. Schumacher felt the assessed value of a community was not necessary in the formula. He asked Mr. Benjamin what the basis for this, if any. Mr. Benjamin replied that he did not know. Mr. Bisel interjected that when the fire department gets a call, they do not know whether they are going to a fire at an eighty thousand dollar home, or a one hundred thousand dollar home. Mayor Benson agreed with their argument concerning valuations, but played "devil's advocate" and stated that he wanted to be convinced. After some discussion, Mr. Benjamin stated that if there is differentiation to be made it should be between residential and commercial. Physical size makes a difference when fighting a fire, and commercial and industrial sites are larger than houses. You can easily surround a house (the value of the house makes no difference), but businesses are different. Mayor Benson agreed and felt there maybe some merit to differentiating between residential and commercial etc... but not home values. The Council agreed. Councilman Reinert followed the outline down and came to the area where it was proposed that each community pay a base charge. He felt it was very important that each community pay some sort of base charge. The cost of simply having a fire department should-be the same for everyone. After that initial cost, other items can come into play such as the number of calls and number of households. It was decided by the Council that we need to make some decision now for the future of the district. We need to collect as much data as possible to make informed decisions. Page 1 192 Council Meeting January 30, 1989 A major question before the Council is to decide whether or not we can spend roughly the same number of dollars and have our own department with our own equipment, while weighing the virtues of communities sharing services. Mr. Reinert pointed out that today we can not afford our own department. Mr. Bisel agreed but added that presently we are paying depreciation on equipment that is not exactly top quality. Mr. Reinert asked Mr. Benjamin where the most complaints regarding the JPA were coming from. He replied from Lino Lakes, but added that we do have some very good points. Mr. Reinert stated that the district has turned into a "we /they" situation, a situation that he and the whole Council regretted, and hoped to turn around. Mr. Benjamin was asked what he felt was the district's strongest point. He replied that it was the inherent organization and manpower that presently existed. He felt it is important that city councils have the power to cap this commission's budget. Mr. Neal raised the issue of rescue calls. Mr. Schumacher's worksheet demonstrated how calls had raised significantly in 1985. The point was made that calls have a direct bearing on the formula, and therefore the price we pay. Mr Benjamin questioned the number of calls, but felt it may be a combination of fire and rescue calls. Mr. Benson questioned Chief Campbell on the process used by County dispatch when calls are made. Chief Campbell stated that protocol was established in 1985 when the district was created. When an accident with injuries is reported, a call from the County goes directly to the police and fire department. The ambulance service will also be paged. This may be an aspect we need to look at. Mr. Neal asked what is the order in which service arrives to an incident. Chief Campbell replied that in most incidents; police first, ambulance second, and rescue third. Mr. Neal questioned whether something internally can be done to eliminate this. Mayor Benson inquired as to whether rescue should automatically be dispatched. He added that maybe only one truck should be dispatched. These are questions that are hard to answer. There are times when situations of "overkill" arise. Mr. Neal felt that_the police and fire chief should work together to decide who should "roll ". Mayor Benson stated that with rescue being such a large cost, protocol should be tightened up, and guidelines and standards be reviewed. Dollars could be saved by all three communities if this could be managed. Mr. Reinert questioned what other communities do in circumstances such as these. Mr. Schumacher replied that they generally just pay the bill. He had checked with surrounding communities and found that they have high costs in these areas as well. Page 2 1 1 1 1 Council Meeting January 30, 1989 193 Mr. Schumacher spoke of the comraderie that exists among fire fighters. Mr. Reinert stated that while he had great respect for these volunteers, there may be a couple that are income motivated. Mr. Benjamin added that some do use this as a part -time job. Mr. Neal said that checks for some fire fighters can be has high as $1,400.00. Mr. Schumacher said that he has heard from citizens who resent having 10 individuals present during a medical, on the other hand the department will say that lives are being saved, and a 4 or 5 minute delay could be harmful. Mr. Bisel stated that he is concerned about not having control over the budget or protocol. Mayor Benson stated that we need equipment in, and volunteers from Lino Lakes. Mr. Bisel agreed and stated that we need to put out a greater effort into recruiting from Lino Lakes. Population wise we have more people than Circle Pines and Centerville combined, so why are there no volunteers from here? Mr. Schumacher added that we will need to put together a volunteer drive and sell the program available. Mr. Neal was asked what the present retirement program is like. He said that the program was recently upgraded to $1,200.00 per year, per year of service after a 10 year vestment. He felt that by raising the retirement benefit, we would be able to attract and retain more individuals. The Council wanted to make it clear that they did not begrudge the volunteers the amount they made. Mr. Benjamin brought up the issue of vehicle maintenance. This is an area that is really costing us a lot of money. Mr. Reinert asked what would the costs be to start up a program in Lino Lakes. Mr. Benjamin offered answers as to the costs of buildings and large equipment (tanker and fast attack vehicles). The figure arrived at was between 1 and 2 million. Mr. Reinert felt that we ought to get some figures as one of our alternatives. As long as we will be spending $275,000.00 a year to maintain our present system, the idea of a bond to finance a new department was thought not to be too far out of line. Mr. Bisel added in conclusion, that it would take us roughly 2 years to establish a new department. It is time to examine if our own department would be feasible. Can we do it on our own, o.r do we need them. Mayor Benson agreed with Mr. Bisel's comments and said we need to decide what our philosophy would be, ie JPA's with surrounding communities, or a Lino Lakes Fire Department. Do we still like the concept of a district. In conjunction with this we would be looking at a 10 year bond, and looking at all our present facilities ie administration, public works, police and fire. New facilities and arrangements might be 2 to 4 years down the road but we should begin planning now. No matter what decision we make, we first begin by working to change the JPA now. Page 3 1 94 Council Meeting January 30, 1989 Chief Campbell stated that the City is growing. In addition to their fire fighting duties, he would like to see them involved in other areas such as fire prevention and the establishment of a local fire code. Mr. Benjamin agreed and said that things like that are beginning to take place. For instance, the district will be making a recommendation to eliminate burning permits. It was stated that Circle Pine is happy with the present district. They like the idea of mutual dollars and people. Mr. Reinert added that even if we do begin our own department, mutual aid pacts would always be signed with our neighbors. Centerville on the other hand is in a more desperate situation. Mr. Reinert suggested that one alternative would be to continue with the district until a point in time, ie 1991, at which time we would be able operate our own department. Mr. Bisel agreed stating that would enable us to make the decision and remain in control. The Council determined that staff investigate the following: * Maximum costs regarding all aspects of developing a new department. * Future locations * The involvement of Bond Issues • Training and recruitment programs (costs) * Definitions of equipment * Take into account city growth, future water lines etc... * Fire attacking philosophy, ie 1 large facility or several smaller ones * Future flexibility, ie which is more so, a district or our own department As the Council stated earlier, no matter what our future holds, problems still exist with the JPA. The Council needs to be in control of equipment (costs) and fire stations. An alternative to be discussed might be Lino Lakes buying its own fire equipment in the future, and leasing them back to the district. If we can negotiate the changes we need, fine, if not, we have the costs of our options. Mayor Benson asked that Mr. Schumacher run through his work sheet for today. Page 4 1 1 1 Council Meeting January 30, 1989 Mr. Schumacher began by explaining his straight per household charge. He stated that this is just one option. Everyone would pay the same dollar figure per household. Funding option #2, is based on the same principle, with the addition of a base charge. Mr. Schumacher threw out a figure of $20,000.00. The Council determined that it would cost Centerville a minimum of $60,000.00 to establish their own department. By comparison, this proposed charge of $41,000.00 is still reasonable. Rescue had already been discussed. Voting simply means that if Lino Lakes pay 60% of the costs of the district, and Centerville pay 8 %, Lino Lakes would get a 60% vote in the running of the district. This is how the Cable Commission is run. The council agreed that this made sense. Under the general powers of the board, the administrator recommends that the individual city choose where fire buildings be, that the commission not be able to sell fire buildings, and that each city provide fire equipment to their respective fire halls. Mayor Benson suggested we standardize all regulations regarding fires throughout the district. Mr Neal stated that he would like to see all the equipment in the district re- appraised. He also mentioned the possibility of a user charge. Mayor Benson brought up the point that we should choose who would be representing Lino Lakes on the Steering Committee. Mr. Neal suggested that the mayor be on this committee. The mayor stated that he would be willing to sit on this committee. The chairmanship of the Steering Committee would rotate between the administrators. It was also suggested that Mr. Reinert sit on this committee. The first meeting was tentatively scheduled for Tuesday the 7th. Mayor Benson said that he would like to see some positive moves made on these issues by March. He stated that he would like to see 2 or 3 meetings take place by March. The first meeting would probably be just a laying out of issues, and scheduling the remainder of the meetings. Mayor Benson also suggested that the meetings take place in the city hall of the administrator doing the chairmanship. As stated earlier, staff was directed to gather data on the options available to us. Meeting Adjourned. 1 Page 5