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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04.14.14 Work Session Minutes Council Work Session Minutes April 14,2014 Mayor Larson called the work session to order at 6:30 p.m. Present: Larson,Bartholomay, Bonar,Donnelly Absent: Fogarty Also Present: David McKnight, City Administrator; Robin Hanson, Finance Director; Kevin Schorzman, City Engineer; Tim Pietsch, Fire Chief; Jim Schmitz, Assistant Chief; Justin Elvestad, Captain; Adam Fischer, Captain; Matt Donnelly, Fire Fighter; Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant MOTION by Donnelly, second by Bonar to approve the agenda. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. Fire Department Ladder Truck Assistant Chief Schmitz explained the reasons for a ladder truck and the situations in which this vehicle would be used. The vehicle would serve the City for at least 25 years. They would prefer the vehicle to have two water turrets and built-in rescue tools,but these are not required. The vehicle would carry four to six fire fighters. The vehicle would have to have a generator, breathing air,portable rescue tools, ice/water rescue equipment, rope rescue equipment. This would be the first truck out in any commercial/industrial fire. It would be the second truck out for residential,rescue and medical. All fire fighters are fire operation apparatus certified and this is a requirement to operate the vehicle. There is also yearly continued training. Currently, all ladder operations are fulfilled by mutual aid, such as the grain elevator rescue. Assistant Chief Schmitz gave examples of structures in Farmington where a ladder truck would be used. The national guidelines give recommendations for what vehicles should be responding for different types of structures. A single family home is considered a low hazard and two engines and one ladder truck should respond. Industrial and commercial buildings are considered a medium hazard and should have three engines and one ladder responding. Schools are a high hazard because of the occupancy. The level of response should be four engines or pumpers and two ladders. Apartments/senior living can fall into medium or high hazard. These buildings are sprinkled,but that does not put out a fire that starts on the outside of the building. A ladder truck would be used for decontamination and rescue situations such as the grain elevator, from water,trees and buildings. Assistant Chief Schmitz noted our residents expect the fire department to get to them if needed. It takes 20 to 30 minutes to get a ladder truck into town. Daytime response for mutual aid can be difficult. Lakeville has to page all four of their stations to get enough fire fighters to assist Farmington. Assistant Chief Schmitz felt Farmington is long overdue for a ladder truck. 12 Council Work Session Minutes April 14,2014 Page 2 There are different options for an aerial apparatus. An elevated waterway is a large pipe that extends into the air and shoots water down. The cost is $800,000. A ladder truck costs $1 million. The Fire Department is recommending purchase of a platform truck at$1.2 million. The articulating platform is a much larger vehicle and costs $1.5 million. Assistant Chief Schmitz gave pros and cons of each option. The elevated waterway does not meet our needs as it does not put a fire fighter on a roof or rescue people out of buildings. The ladder can do some rescue operations,will serve as an elevated waterway and does provide a fire fighter egress. They are physically demanding to climb. There are also ladder weight restrictions as far as the number of fire fighters that can be on the ladder in rescue situations. The platform,which is recommended,can be used as an elevated waterway,performs all rescue operations, provides fire fighter egress,performs precision operations as movement can be controlled from the bucket and is the safest as you are working from inside a bucket. This is also best for rescuing a younger or older person who would not be able to climb down the ladder. It is more expensive and the truck is heavier and longer in length. The Insurance Services Office (ISO) defines the need for a ladder truck. With five buildings that are three stories or 35 ft. or more in height, or five buildings that have a needed fire flow greater than 3,500 gpm, or any combination of the two should have a ladder company. Farmington meets these criteria with just the schools in the district. Adding in the industrial and senior living apartments,the community is well over meeting the expectation. The height of all buildings in the city, including those protected by automatic sprinklers, is considered when determining the number of needed ladder companies. When no individual response district alone needs a ladder company, at least one ladder company is needed if the buildings in the city meet the criteria. Farmington has station one and station two, and they are considered two separate districts. If station two only has three buildings that meet the criteria and station one has two buildings that meet the criteria, we are all still in the same city. So cumulatively we still meet the requirement. The Fire Department understood the Council is trying to get businesses to come here. This is a piece of the infrastructure that we can use to target a hotel. We would have a device to protect their building. Councilmember Donnelly understood the need, the question is how to fit it into the budget. Mayor Larson cautioned the Fire Department to not expect an answer tonight. It will take a lot of work to determine how to fit it into the budget. Residents expect the response, but they are also concerned about their taxes. Assistant Chief Schmitz understood it is not an easy decision and wanted Council to recognize the need. He asked if the concern is exclusively the dollar amount. Council agreed it is financial. Councilmember Donnelly noted we have invested heavily in the fire department this past year with a new engine,brush truck and chiefs vehicle. There are a lot of needs and not enough money. Councilmember Bartholomay asked about the ISO rating and what the insurance savings will be. Assistant Chief Schmitz felt there will definitely be a savings once the decision is made. We do get some credit for a ladder because of the rescue truck. He could not determine how much it will lower insurance premiums. Premiums will go down as the ISO rating goes down. Fire Chief Pietsch noted the residential side will not see a big change. ISO changed the way they 13 Council Work Session Minutes April 14,2014 Page 3 charge their customers. If someone is five or more miles away from a fire station they are considered unprotected. Most of those went from a nine rating to a ten rating. Farmington has been able to lower that to a seven. The commercial and industrial businesses will see the largest decrease in premiums. Councilmember Bonar read the fire department's annual report. On average there are 20 structure fires over a five-year period. Most of the services provided are life safety services, not structure fires. A ladder truck would suit the needs of a structure fire far better than a safety call. He also noted on 3/4 of the calls they drive to the scene,turn around and come back. Assistant Chief Schmitz stated you can look at it that way, but when a citizen calls and expects us to help them, that is the time we need it. A lot of our equipment does sit and that is not a bad thing. The ladder truck would be utilized much more than what they are currently asking for mutual aid. It is not just utilized for structure fires, such as the grain elevator rescue. Councilmember Bonar noted Council made a valiant effort in the last year to meet equipment needs. There is an established CIP and an outline for routine investment. Assistant Chief Schmitz stated they have a five year investment plan up to 2019. It does not include a ladder truck. Compared to ten years ago,this Council in one year made up for a lot of things. The fire department very much appreciated being able to meet with Council to present their needs. Assistant Chief Schmitz stated the fire department did propose a much larger CIP last year and he understood that one did not go through and that their needs would be met through the city CIP. City Administrator McKnight clarified the fire department's CIP is what we are operating from now through 2019. After that it will be included in the city's CIP. Councilmember Bonar stated we are trying to put a structure together to grow the community for the remainder of this decade. At the same time we are also trying to alleviate a considerable amount of debt we acquired in the last decade. That will make it difficult to do anything with a ladder truck in this decade. Assistant Chief Schmitz cautioned the Council we are moving forward with mutual aid as in the past. He noted Chief Pietsch and City Administrator McKnight have discussed daytime response. All communities are dealing with this. Waiting ten years would be detrimental to the city in his opinion. Lakeville is our backbone for mutual aid. They have 100 fire fighters and four stations. In the past they have had to call four stations to get one truck over to us. Apple Valley requested assistance from Rosemount recently and they could not send anyone. Assistant Chief Schmitz understood the financial issue,but the entire fire department feels it needs to be a priority sooner than that. Councilmember Bonar understood they have to balance personnel and property. To do it well you will need adequate equipment and personnel. Mayor Larson wondered why all the surrounding cities need a truck; why can't we share? This discussion helped to change his mind. Assistant Chief Schmitz noted Lakeville has two and Rosemount has one ladder truck. Mayor Larson stated Council and staff will determine where and when this could happen. Councilmember Bonar asked about their approach to personnel. Fire Chief Pietsch stated right now we have several members that work second and third shift. We have enough personnel that we have been getting by on daytime response for fires and medicals. The exception would be a 14 Council Work Session Minutes April 14,2014 Page 4 major structure fire which would require mutual aid. Everyone in the county can send a truck, but they also have to hold some back to protect their own city. At one time everyone on the fire department worked in the community,now that is not the case. Councilmember Bartholomay suggested looking at creative ways to obtain grants to purchase the truck. We have the FAA building to protect so that could be a strong case. He asked if we do cross-training with our current city employees as fire fighters. Fire Chief Pietsch noted the only cross training is with an ammonia leak at the ice arena. The fire department will get everyone out and then the arena staff will deal with the situation. There are currently no city employees trained as fire fighters. Councilmember Bartholomay also suggested recruiting personnel from local businesses. Budget Calendar Finance Director Hanson provided a 2014 budget calendar. Work sessions will be held in June and July for the general fund and the rest of the budget. The August work session will be the last opportunity for Council to ask questions before the preliminary budget approval in September. There will be another review in November of the final general fund and levy. The final tax levy and 2015 budget will be brought to the December 1, 2014, Council meeting for approval. City Administrator McKnight noted the discussions from the strategic plan meeting are being used as a guideline to set the budget. CIP Project Assessments City Engineer Schorzman stated during the planning for the CIP,there were discussions about assessing and not assessing. The CIP does not include revenues from assessments. There will not be assessments with the Akin Park Estates project and likely the 195th Street project. Due to favorable bids on the Akin Park Estates projects, some of the funds will also be used on the Henderson Addition project and will not be assessed. City Engineer Schorzman asked if this is the time to change direction and how should we move forward with the CIP. Councilmember Bonar felt we should not assess in the future. Councilmember Bartholomay agreed. Councilmember Donnelly noted not too many communities assess. It is harder to prove the benefit. The 195th Street project will be a benefit to everyone. You can still assess the churches and schools,but it is still the same pool of people and he was not in favor of that. Mayor Larson recalled if there was a total reconstruction project, we would assess for that. City Engineer Schoranan stated there have been several discussions and he needed a clear picture. The best way to prepare the CIP is to not count on assessments. The current plan does not have assessment revenue even for reconstruction projects. Originally we could assess 35%, now it is down to 19%. The more roadblocks we can remove to the processes without having financial implications,the better it will be for continued implementation of these plans. Eliminating the future pressure from residents having to pay assessments, allows us to keep the plan on track. Mayor Larson agreed this is a good time to take advantage of this pause and change direction to 15 Council Work Session Minutes April 14,2014 Page 5 not assessing. City Engineer Schorzman stated staff will revise the assessment policy and bring it back to Council. Finance Director Hanson stated there is a lot of angst in dealing with assessments and they are a lot of work for staff. The percentages are going way down and it is becoming the norm to not assess. Mayor Larson asked if we can deal with the financing if we move away from assessments. Finance Director Hanson stated there are advantages. It is thoughtfully planned and may be cheaper because you systematically stay on track by addressing maintenance needs when they need to be done. Councilmember Fogarty spoke to staff prior to the meeting and she does like the idea of being able to capture some of the tax-exempt properties, but she also sees the bigger picture of making it easier for staff to administer the plan in the long term. Councilmember Bonar stated not assessing provides a certain amount of parity in the community and ultimately the consumer always pays. City Engineer Schorzman noted historically assessments have been used as a cash flow to repay bonds;they do not do any good for the project being assessed,they help funding for future projects. City Administrator Update Trees were removed at 8th and Walnut Streets for safety reasons and it has improved the sight distances on both roads. Regarding the strategic plan, City Administrator McKnight has met with Dave Unmacht and Mr. Unmacht will provide an outline for staff to work on. The LMC conference is in June during Dew Days week. City Administrator McKnight will be attending for two days and Councilmember Bonar will also attend. Two applications have been received for the Planning Commission. Council agreed to conduct interviews prior to the April 21,2014, Council meeting. MOTION by Bartholomay, second by Bonar to adjourn at 7:50 p.m. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant 16