HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 15 - CC 5.19.15 COUNTY TO COUNTY MUT AID_2
MAYOR & COUNCIL COMMUNICATION
-- page 1 --
DATE: May 19, 2015 CONSENT ITEM# 15 AGENDA ITEM: Approval of Mutual Aid Agreement between Washington County and St. Croix County Fire Departments SUBMITTED BY: Greg Malmquist, Fire Chief
THROUGH: City Administrator REVIEWED BY: City Clerk and Finance Director
SUGGESTED ORDER OF BUSINESS:
- Introduction of Item .............................................................. City Administrator
- Report/Presentation………………………………………… Fire Chief
- Questions from Council to Staff ............................................. Mayor Facilitates
- Call for Motion ............................................................... Mayor & City Council
- Discussion ....................................................................... Mayor & City Council
- Action on Motion .................................................................... Mayor Facilitates POLICY RECCOMENDER: FISCAL IMPACT: Expected to be a break even since this represents a resource sharing contract. The cost savings related to being able to tap into these resources would far exceed any potential incremental Paid on Call costs if called to assist St. Croix County.
SUMMARY AND ACTION REQUESTED: Staff is requesting approval of participation in
this County to County Mutual Aid agreement. This will increase our resource pool when we have large events and may need large amounts of water in a non-hydranted area, manpower, specialty equipment or specially trained personnel. This County to County agreement simplifies the process for all responding agencies by eliminating the past practice of City to City agreements and eliminates the possibility of responding to a jurisdiction not covered under agreement.
Historically Lake Elmo FD, Stillwater FD, Bayport FD and LSCV FD have had individual agreements with Hudson FD. FD’s in northern Washington County that border Wisc. had the same situation. You can see the number of agreements that were necessary and in MN we are required to have the Governor sign each one.
City Council Meeting [Consent Agenda Item #15]
May 19, 2015
-- page 2 --
The other issue we ran into was ensuring we only responded to the jurisdiction we had a direct
agreement with. Upon completion of the new Stillwater Bridge, our response dynamics will change. It will open up the likelihood of more Mutual Aid response.
The attached County to County document is identical (word for word) to the previous document between Lake Elmo and Hudson with the exception of Lake Elmo and Hudson being replaced by County names.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: For many years, Lake Elmo FD and Hudson FD have had a direct agreement that was renewed every two years. This process was very cumbersome due to all the required signatures, especially on the MN side as our Governor is required to sign and there were times when the agreement would lapse waiting for it to get through the process. When our last agreement was renewed, we were able to eliminate the expiration date.
This agreement is supported by the Washington County Chiefs organization. These agreements are reviewed and approved by HSEM (Homeland Security and Emergency Management) on their way to the Governor each time.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION (SWOT): Strengths Increases our resource pool for large events. Weaknesses Increases likelihood of responding to St. Croix County Opportunities Elimination of need for individual agreements, City to City. Threats None
RECOMMENDATION: Based on the aforementioned, the staff recommend: Motion to approve the following:
“Approval of participation by the Lake Elmo Fire Department in the Mutual Aid
Agreement between Washington County, Minnesota and St. Croix County, Wisconsin.” (4 signature pages need to be signed, 1-Washington County Chiefs file, 1-St. Croix County Chiefs file, 1-State of MN and 1-Lake Elmo)
ATTACHMENTS: 1. Mutual Aid Agreement