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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-23-1996 CC Adopted Minutes FireSvcsADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING ~ September 23, 1996 An adjourned regular meeting of the Dublin City Council was held on Monday, September 23, 1996, in the Council Chambers of the Dublin Civic Center. The meeting was called to order at 5:$5 p.m., by Mayor Houston. ROLL CALL PRESENT: Councilmembers Barnes, Burton, Moffatt and Mayor Houston. ABSENT: Councilmember Howard PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Houston led the Council, Staff and those present in the pledge of allegiance to the flag. ............................... i:.~t:... ~ ........................... Mayor Houston explained the purpose of this meeting. He stated it was a study session for two fire proposals and a chance for the City Council to hear the proposals and ask questions. Mr. Ambrose explained two of the fire service contract proposers have been invited to give a presentation. He stated it would be an educational opportunity for the City Council to get more information first hand from each of the proposers. He introduced the City's consultant, Mr. Mike Harwood, retired Fire Chief of Milpitas, who has been assisting staff in evaluating the options. Mayor Houston thanked everyone for attending the meeting. William McCammon, Fire Chief, Alameda County, gave a Presentation. He first introduced his senior staff members. Chief McCammon showed a five minute video presentation. He then gave a more detailed description of the type of service that Alameda County would provide. He stated their mission statement is "We will provide the highest level of service to our communities by valuing our members, promoting positive leadership, and dedicating ourselves to excellence". He gave an overview of how the Alameda County Fire Department was formed. He went into detail in several areas, which included governance/funding; service area; services provided, which include Fire, Terms, HazMat, Fire Prevention and Community Services; ISO rating; Departmental Organization; Strategic Management; Identified Priorities for Dublin; Incident Responses; and some additional services. Chief McCammon also gave information on Budget/Cost Allocation, which included costs for personnel, CIT~r COUNCIL IdDIUTES 452 ¥OLUME 15 ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING September 23, 1996 PAGE 452 maintenance and support. He answered the question, Why Alameda County Fire? He stated they demonstrate the ability to provide service to multiple jurisdictions; enhancement to the existing strong ties between Alameda County and the City of Dublin. Other key issues were that Dublin retains "local control" of fire protection. Also, a Commitment to Regional Cooperation; commitment to the community; and they would offer technical support to Dublin as the dissolution of DRFA moves forward. Chief McCammon concluded his presentation. Mayor Houston asked the Council to first direct their questions to the consultant, Mr. Harwood. Cm. Moffatt asked what was the definition of N.E.T.? Mr, Harwood answered it was earthquake type training for disaster preparedness. Cm. Burton stated he had a concern with either proposal that Dublin would be considered the low end community. He expressed concern that we would be on a contract basis and all of our policies would be in place, including Fireworks, and he wanted assurance that there would be no changes or attempts to change that policy. Mr. Harwood stated the City Council regulates the local regulations on that issue and that would continue. Cm. Burton asked which staff person would be here and available to do what the present Chief does? Will we have one Fire Chief who will be responsive to us? Will we still have the same type of service? Mr. Harwood stated the Fire Chief of Alameda County would be the staff liaison who would attend the Council meetings and City staff meetings. There would be a day-to- day supervision at the stations by the Battalion Chief, who would also be assigned a number of responsibilities for incident command service. Cm. Burton stated we now have a personal identity with one Fire Chief and he was concerned about losing that personal identity and the identity of Dublin. He asked about building heights limits in this agreement. Mr. Harwood stated it would be controlled by the City Council through the Fire Code and Uniform Building Code. . Cm. Burton asked if Dublin would be getting the ladder truck from DFRA? Mr. Harwood stated yes. CIT~ COUNCIL MINUTE5 ¥OLUME 1 $ ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING September 23, 1996 PAGE 453 453 Mr. Ambrose clarified that the dissolution arrangements for facilities and equipment still needed to be worked out. He understood that San Ramon was not interested in that piece of equipment. Cm. Burton asked about a mass casualty situation. What if there was a major spill or earthquake along 1-580, who would be responsible and how would they get over here? Mr. Harwood stated Alameda County would have a plan in place to handle that. They would have a Battalion Chief on scene, and staff to handle a large scale incident. There would be a local disaster program. The City Manager would be in charge of the £OC and a chief officer of Alameda County would be a liaison to the City, similar to the one now from DRFA, and we would work out a program. Cm. Burton stated he has a concern on the remoteness of the headquarters and staff. He asked how customer service would be handled in Dublin. Mr. Harwood stated customer contact on a day-to-day basis would be the emergency contact with the engine companies. The plan checking would occur at City Hall through the fire inspectors. Complaints would be handled by the daily staff in the City. Cm. Burton said he was concerned about the image of Dublin. Mr. Harwood stated San Leandro put their own logo on the fire engines and Dublin could do the same thing. Cm. Burton asked if Alameda County would also take care of Camp Parks. Mr. Ambrose stated we currently do not have a contract with Camp Parks. He stated taking over Camp Parks was not part of this proposal. Cm. Burton asked how this contract would be different from the contract with Police. Mr. Ambrose stated all the details of the mechanics of the contract have not been worked out. This was just a request for proposal. Cm. Burton asked if Alameda County was under assessment for taxes? Mr. Ambrose stated there were two sources of revenue, however, the primary source is dedicated property tax and the other source is EMS revenue which was a different situation. CIT~ COUNCIL MINUTES 454 ~OLUME 15 ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING September 23, 1996 PAGE 454 Chief McCammon stated the EMS supplemental assessment revenue is the only revenue that could be impacted by that. All primary revenue to run the unincorporated area is through property tax. It was not an assessment district. Mayor Houston asked the significance of the ISO rating. Mr. Harwood stated this was the rating for insurance purposes to set the amount that can be charged on a premium. This primarily affects the commercial and industrial buildings. One is the best and 10 would be at the bottom of the rating system. We currently have a very high rating of 2. We would be maintaining the rating, and it is based on how good your water system is and how good your fire defense system is. Mayor Houston asked if the County vote on the Utility User Tax could affect the County Fire Department's operation. Chief McCammon stated that was a discretionary tax, they do not receive any now, so they can't be hurt by it, but everyone in the County will vote on it. Mayor Houston asked if funds were just to be used for police services. Chief McCammon stated that libraries, police services, trial courts and animal control services receive part if it, fire has zero funds. Mayor Houston asked for more information on the wage scale. Chief McCammon stated salaries are determined by a wage formula based on 11 jurisdictions, its an average of the 11 and re~evaluated every year. Mayor Houston asked about 800 MHz, was that the industry standard and will we all be at the same stage as everyone else? Mr. Harwood stated the 800 MHz was the standard that people work towards because you can get the computer system over it as opposed to just using voice. Mayor Houston asked if Dublin police services were on that scale. Mr. Ambrose stated yes. Mr. Harwood stated t-hey all don't talk to each other because that would crowd up the system; however, all systems were on the 150 system, which is for State mutual aid. Mayor Houston asked what the significance was with the PERS system being in place. Mr. Ambrose explained how the PEPS system would work. CITY COUNCIL MDiGTF.,S 455 VOLUME 15 ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING September 23, 1996 PAGE 455 Cm. Barnes asked who would be on the Fire Council Advisory Committee, along with one Councilmember. Chief McCammon stated there would be 9 members, with 2 representatives from the City of San Leandro. It was not a policy making body, just an advisory body. Cm. Burton asked how many personnel were in the Alameda County Fire Department? Chief McCammon stated 225 were in the organization. Cm. BUrton congratulated Alameda County on their outstanding job on putting together this proposal. Mayor Houston declared a five minute break. The study session was reconvened at 7:05, and all four Councilmembers were present. Deborah Acosta, City Manager of the City of Pleasanton, stated the Twin Valley Fire Proposal would be for contract services, however, they were interested in having Dublin as a full partner in their JPA. She introduced several staff members and stated the Union Representatives were here to show their support of this proposal. Stewart Gary, Livermore Fire Chief, gave a visual presentation on the Twin Valley Fire Service Proposal. He stated the San Ramon decision caused the Twin Valley Fire Department to quickened the pace of consolidating the Tri-Valley talks. He talked about who the proposers were; Livermore and Pleasanton; he went over the proposers commitments; the proposers union commitments; incident responses, fire suppression options, he narrowed down the preferred service option as defined by the preferences of Dublin staff; maximum response times; he explained what each partner City would receive; he showed a sample response time matrix; community education, how fire prevention would be handled; administration; facilities and equipment, assumption of personnel, he stated that of the 32 positions that DP, FA had, they could absorb 30 now, and in the next year, there would be several retirements that would occur which could absorb the extra £ people; he covered insurance, training and term of agreement. On each subject he had a variety of points that were expanded upon. Cm. Moffatt asked what was the quint concept? Mr. Harwood stated it was a ladder truck that pumps water. Cm. Moffatt asked what all~risk capacity meant? Mr. Harwood stated the reference was to handle all types of catastrophes. CIT~ COUNCIL MINtlTE$ VOLUME 1 Il ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING September 23, 1996 PAGE 456 456 Cm. Moffatt asked about the reference to second response in 8 minutes, 90% of the time. What was it 90% of? Mr. Harwood stated 90% was in reference to the calls. Cm. Moffatt asked if DRFA staff would be integrated or be a special unit. Mr. Harwood stated they would be one unit, and may move around within the Department over time. Cm. Burton stated that we have just established a self-inspection program that is popular with small companies. Would that continue? Chief Gary indicated from his seat - yes. Cm. Burton asked what else we needed, what is the next thing on the priority list in the way of equipment or facilities? Mr. Harwood stated Dublin would need to bring from DFRA sufficient equipment and open a new facility at Santa Rita. Possibly in the future; relocate the station at Santa Rita as development occurs. Also, the question arises of how do we staff that station. Cm. Burton asked if City Council will be involved in the decision or just given a budget. Mr. Harwood stated the City Council set the pace and makes the decisions, it would be a local issue. There may be advisors, but the City Council would make the decision. Cm. Burton asked how the Santa Rita fire station would be handled. Mr. Harwood stated DFRA had an agreement with the County and that Dublin would have to have an agreement to use that station. Mr. Ambrose stated Dublin would have to sit down and work with the County to use that facility. Cm. Burton asked about the two fire stations now, would they be in the Dublin City limits? · · Mr. Harwood stated yes. In theory, there would be four stations, two in Dublin and two in Pleasanton that overlap into Dublin, that would be responding to calls. CITY' COUNCIL MINUTES 457 VOLUME 1 S ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING September 23, 1996 PAGE 457 cm. Burton stated in Livermore they require sprinklers in everything. Will we have to put up with that. Mr. Gary stated absolutely not. They would advise City Council, and if that makes sense to design an Ordinance along those lines, they have the expertise to help the City do that. If City Council wants nothing to do with it, that would be a City Council policy decision. Cm. Burton asked if the Twin Valley proposal had a set formula as to what percentage Dublin would be? Mr. Ambrose stated the Twin Valley proposal was approximately 3.2 million without equipment replacement. Cm. Burton asked if we buy our own equipment and then they maintain it. Mr. Ambrose stated yes, that was correct under both proposals. Cm. Burton stated what he was hearing was that there would be possibly no lay-offs, is that true? Mr. Ambrose stated in both proposals, there may be some lay-offs. That would be for the entire DRFA staff, not just the suppression staff. The County has indicated that they have adequate vacancies to accommodate all 32 positions, and Twin Valley stated they could guarantee 30 now, and possibly 32 in the near future. The administrative officers are not included in the cost of these proposals. Cm. Burton stated it was a very nice presentation. Mayor Houston asked about the 6.5 percent of over head, how is that number derived? Mr. Ambrose stated it was a representation of the way they view the administrative cost or demand for administrative service to be from the line personnel we will be contracting for, and very close with what our contract overhead rate is with the Sheriff's Department. Mayor Houston asked what has to happen in order for Dublin to accomplish the time table. Mr. Ambrose stated Twin Valley needed to form a joint powers agency between the two Cities, and meet with the two locals in order to have one bargaining unit, one salary and benefit schedule, and one set of policies. They would have to be at an agency level, as well as labor level. CIT~r COUNCIL MINUTES VOLUME 15 ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING September 23, 1996 PAGE 458 458 Mayor Houston asked regardless of what we do, what was status as of now. Chief Gary stated that when they chose as partners to answer the RFP in July, everything went to full throttle. They have committed in .writing to the City Manger to have all agreements in place and accepted by the Council and bargaining units no later than February 1, 1997. Both labor units have started the labor process and have a draft MOU, and they are very far along, and if given the green light, would accelerate the process. Cm. Burton asked if the final decision would be made October 1 ? Mr. Ambrose stated it would depend on the City Council. Staff would prepare a report identifying the options and the analysis of the options prior to the October 1 Council meeting, and if they are ready, they would have the information necessary to make a decision. Cm. Burton asked if that would include the option of going it alone. Mr. Ambrose stated yes. Cm. Moffatt asked if $ member joint power agency vs. contract made a difference. Mr. Ambrose stated they would discuss that at the October 1 meeting. Mayor Houston thanked the chiefs and those involved, and for the professional proposals that were shown this evening. He continued the meeting to October I. He announced the meeting of October 1, 1996 will start at 6:00 p.m. instead of 7:00 p.m. .:::.5:.. There being no further business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m. .::~.:::.. ATTEST: Deputy City Clerl~ Mayor CITY' COUNCIL MINUTES 459 ~/OLUME 15 ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING September 23, 1996 PAGE 459