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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/06/2002 Work Session . MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD ON MONDA Y, MAY 6, 2002 The Springfield City Council met in work session at Springfield City Hall, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Jesse Maine Meeting Room, on Monday, May 6,2002, at 6:30 p.m., with Mayor Leiken presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Leiken and Councilors Ballew, Fitch, Hatfield, Lundberg, Ralston and Simmons. Also present were City Manager Mike Kelly, Assistant City Manager Gino Grimaldi, City Attorney Joe Leahy, City Recorder Kim Krebs, and members of staff. GUESTS: Conrad Kristensen, Emergency Services Education and Consulting Group (ESECG) Mayor Leiken mentioned that the council met at 6:00 p.m. and toured the Emerald Art Center at 500 Main Street. 1. Fire District Feasibility Study. . Fire Chief Dennis Murphy was present for the staff report. He said the purpose of this work session was to acknowledge receipt of the consultant report, answer questions of the council, and hopefully council will then provide staff direction on whether or not to continue the process. He ' said based on the direction of the council, and then staff of the Finance Department, City Manager's Office, and the Fire and Life Safety Division would then work together to present options to the council later this month for consideration ~mddirection. The Fire & Life Safety Department contracted with Emergency Services Education and Consulting Group (ESECG) for evaluation of the feasibility of the formation of a fire district to serve Springfield and surrounding areas. Phase 1 ofthe study evaluates the financial feasibility within Springfield and the Urban Growth Boundary and explores the potential advantages of fire district formation. Chief Murphy introduced Mr. Conrad Kristensen from ESECG. Mr. Kristensen said the report represents the official culmination of several months of work. As a consulting service, he said they see a lot of this across the natioh and in the state of Oregon where fire departments are looking at creating a more regional base service as opposed to the traditional municipal based service. He said the reason for that can be many, as well as varied, but most often it is driven by economics. . Mr. Kristensen said they were directed to look at the feasibility of providing service in the Springfield metropolitan area through a fire district. He said this report takes an exhaustive look at that, and is as complete as they can make it. He said they examined four different ways of creating a fIre district in Springfield, 1) a formation ofa district; 2) through a merger; 3) through annexation, and 4) through consolidation. He said each of these different scenarios is addressed in Oregon law. He said the conclusion is yes, it is feasible to create a fIre district, and in looking at the economics, they created an economic baseline cost, and they asked themselves what the service would cost in the City of Springfield. He said they worked those numbers in an imaginary tax rate as if the service were being provided today in order to determine the cost to the average citizen. He said the model they have created comes down slightly on the negative side. . Springfield City Council Work Session Minutes - May 6,2002 Page - 2 The best-case scenario is approximately $100,000.00 less each year, and the worst-case scenario approximately $50,000.00 less each year. He said in reviewing the entire service, that isn't much. Mr. Kristensen said the advantages of a fire district are that it would provide the city a basis for providing stable funding for the service for the long term. It would set the stage for more regionally based service in the Springfield metropolitan area. Mr. Kristensen said their fmding is that this is feasible, and they would recommend the preferred option that the City of Springfield pursue annexation to an existing fire district, and would recommend the Willakenzie Fire District. He said in conclusion this is feasible, the tax rate of the Willakenzie Fire District are fairly stable, and that there is head room in the taxing authority to deal with the funding of the capital needs ofthose expansions, or both. Councilor Ralston asked if it would include staffmg the 28th street fire station. Mr. Kristensen said no, their charge was to evaluate the service exactly as it is provided today, in reviewing existing services only. Councilor Ballew said just as an observation, there may be a great deal of resistance from the citizens in paying more money, and she was not sure that citizens would want to give up their own fIre department and have it merge to a fire district that now has less than 1 % of what our current Fire and Life Safety Division currently provides. . Chief Murphy said some of the questions that council has raised during this discussion would not be able to be answered at this meeting. He said it would only be answered with a meaningful dialogue with the constituents, the voters, and the prospective voters of a district yet to be formed. He said for staff to speculate some of these issues would be premature. He said the important thing at this time in the assumptions is that nobody wants to create something that costs more or something that is less effective. He said we would not create or change something just for the sake of changing. He said the Fire and Life Safety Division as other city departments has consistent unmet needs that are not in the projected budget for the future, he said this would establish new dialogue with the voters, and ask them, whether or not this is a viable option. Mr. Kristensen talked about a similar survey that was performed in Clackamas County approximately 8 years ago. He said the results ofthat survey were surprising in that they found that the average citizen does not care who provides the service or where it comes from, but what they did care about is that the agency responding to their aid is efficient, quick, and effective. Mayor Leiken said if we are going to look at this in a serious manner, and continue to look forward with this option, not to dwell on September 11 th, but obviously the Fire Department seems to be at a higher level. There is probably a big different in citizen reaction now versus eight years ago. He said citizens are very supportive of the fIre department, and if we are going to pursue this option now may be the time. He agreed with Chief Murphy, if we are going to change for the sake of change that would be a waste of time. He said in reviewing the funding issues, we need to examine this option very seriously for the future. He said in reviewing the materials, there is a lot of information needed in order to make a firm decision, and educating the leaders ofthis community may be a necessary first step. . Springfield City Council Work Session Minutes - May6, 2002 Page - 3 . Councilor Fitch said this is a preliminary point right now, but agrees with the Mayor that it is worth some further study. The study should be carefully measured, not rushed, and encouraged council to direct staff to return for another work session in May. Councilor Lundberg said she places Fire and Life Safety as the top service that this city provides, as it is the service that all citizens would potentially use. She said citizens will always see tbe value, and that is number one in her mind, everyone is going to use this service at some point. She said she would like more information on the idea of a fire district as well, The council discussed the results oftbe citizen survey taken in December. \ Finance Director Bob Duey responded to questions related to financial issues of the council. Councilor Simmons said he would like clarification on what the composite rate would be, what it is, and the internal load shifting. He said he would presume that lOO citizens would sign a petition to vote on this issue, so the question is can the voters of Willakenzie Fire District resist that annexation as well? Who would vote in the process, those who would ultimately be impacted? He said he recognizes the value of the study, but again there are a number of unanswered questions that need to be responded. He said the fIre district is worthwhile to explore, but has some hesitancy about the process in that he does not see a clear and prevailing standard of tremendous benefit. He questioned whether the city had written permission to make copies of the study due to the copyright statement. . Mr. Leahy said the city has permission to provide a copy of this study to anyone who requested it, as that was an issue that was negotiated at the time the city entered into the contract with the vendor. City Manager Mike Kelly said there are two actions staff is requesting of council on this issue. 1) Accept the report, (not approve, not adopt) if the council is satisfied that the consultant has met their obligation in the scope of the contract; 2) Does the council have interest in this topic to schedule a May 28 work session. If council directed staff to proceed with that May work session, staff at that time would bring back options, pros and cons, as well as legal interpretations regarding who can and cannot vote, description of the process, as well as others including any special instructions the council may have to staff. Councilor Ballew said she would be interested in finding out if the Fire Department were removed from the city, what the impacts would be to the remainder of the city. Councilor Hatfield said this issue is not a priority, as there are other discussions that need to take place about the future ofthe city before council begins making decisions at this scale. He said part of this issue is that there is no service or financial benefit to the citizens. The council discussed whether or not there would be a financial benefit to the citizens of the city if the decision were made to create a fire district. After further discussion, council consensus was to accept the study, and directed staff to return on May 28 for work session and further discussion. . Springfield City Council Work Session Minutes - May 6, 2002 Page - 4 . 2. Special requests to speak at public hearings for Regular Session. City Manager Mike Kelly said late this afternoon the City Manager's Office had received two special requests for additional speaking time for the annexation public hearings scheduled in the regular session. He asked the council if they chose to discuss those requests now, or defer the discussion in the regular session. He explained the normal process that takes place when a request is made to the City Manager's Office., He explained the advantages and disadvantages of allowing the additional requests of time. City Attorney Joe Leahy said as a point of clarification, one of the requests arrived in his office on Friday, May 3, and he was out ofthe office and unable to respond until late in the afternoon. The council discussed the issue, and said if granting the special requests would save time, they would consider each request later in the Regular Meeting. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 7:01 p.m. Minutes Recorder - Kim Krebs (" . .