HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/02/2012 Work SessionCity of Springfield
Work Session Meeting.
MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING" OF
THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD
MONDAY, APRIL 2, 2012
The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225 Fifth
Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, April 2, 2012 at 6:00 p.m., with Mayor Lundberg presiding.
ATTENDANCE
Present were Mayor Lundberg and Councilors Pishioneri, VanGordon, Wylie, Moore, Ralston and
Woodrow. Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi, Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery, City
Attorney Mary Bridget Smith, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff.
1. Work Session Discussion of a Proposal to Expand the Springfield Homeless Overnight Parking
Program.
Planning Supervisor Jim Donovan presented the staff report on this item. In July 2009 Council
adopted Ordinance 6244 allowing overnight parking for homeless families in church parking lots
under supervision of the St. Vincent DePaul Overnight Parking Program. Springfield Shelter Rights
Alliance (SSRA) now proposed extending the program to: 1) permit camping by homeless singles and
couples on approved sites, and 2) expand the list of approved sites to include public institutions,
industrial properties and construction sites in addition to participating church properties.
Staff was recommending preparation and "adoption of code amendments allowing expansion of the
existing program to serve homeless singles and couples as, requested and to expand the list of
approvable sites to include industrial properties with the proposed referral system. The staff memo
(Attachment 2 of the agenda packet) outlined the proposal and staff recommendations.
The existing budget authorization of $7000 per year would be sufficient to cover the costs of
expansion in the first year and fund approximately 25 -75 sites total, depending upon length of stay.
There were no new financial impacts at this time. Future work session discussions would include
specific financial impacts based upon Council direction for the program.
Mr. Donovan referred to the expansion of the program to serve singles and couples. Staff
recommended a referral process for applicants continue to be used to ensure Springfield citizens were
being served. He discussed Attachment 2 of the agenda packet which showed the different sites
requested and staff comments of each.
Councilor Woodrow asked how many sites were available.
Mr. Donovan said about a dozen churches were signed up and the program had served about a dozen
families. He noted that the budget was set aside at $7000.00 per year and had been lightly used. The
program could be expanded with very little additional cost.
Councilor Pishioneri asked Chief Smith if there had been any issues with this program. No. He asked
for the description of industrial properties.
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Council Work Session Minutes
April 2, 2012
Page 2
Mr. Donovan referred to Attachment 2 page 3 which outlined the advantages and disadvantages of
industrial sites. Mr. Donovan clarified that when they referred to `security' under the advantages, it
referred to the client, not security of the site by having someone acting as a night watchman. That
should not be confused with legitimate security or night-watchman's presence. The City didn't want to
put the clients of the program in that role or have those expectations.
Councilor Pishioneri said it was a great program and he appreciated all of those that had been
involved. To make it more inclusive was appropriate. He supported including industrial sites, but
wanted construction sites looked at more carefully. Construction sites would likely be a higher risk for
criminal activities, so he would discourage construction sites.
Councilor Moore asked if they had contacted any industrial sites and if there were any potential sites
that had interest in participating.
Mr. Donovan noted a number of members of SSRA "and St. Vincent DePaul in the audience. People
that were members of churches and also business owners were aware of the possible expansion. One
function of the public notice for adoption of the ordinance would be to solicit comments from others.
There would be some education needed for those interested in participating.
Councilor Moore said the application did appear thorough and she appreciated that. She would like to
expand to singles and couples.
Councilor Woodrow asked if there was a reason to have a maximum number of sites.
Mr. Donovan said part of it was due to budget. He had referred to 25 -75 singles and couple that could
be served, which was citing the difference between family stays of up to 3 months. Singles and
couples would have a 30 day maximum stay, so 12 parties could be served for each site costing about
$1000 per year for garbage and sanitary facilities. They could implement this incrementally and then
adjust as they determined what worked best.
Councilor Woodrow said incrementally was a good idea with a re- evaluation at a certain point. She
would like a timeline established for a check -in to see how the program was being utilized.
Mr. Donovan said at that increment, staff would meet with Council.to determine whether or not to
expand or decrease the program.
Councilor Ralston asked for an example of an industrial site.
Mr. Donovan said they could include some of the large industrial areas similar to those on Laura
Street. They often had a large amount of parking and large setbacks. There was opportunity to have the
camper behind the fagade of the building to maintain integrity of the business, but maintain safety for
the occupant.
Councilor Ralston said there was a lodge on Laura Street. He asked if they would qualify.
Mr. Donovan said they could if they were zoned industrial.
Councilor Ralston said he agreed there was an unserved constituency of the homeless so was pleased
with the expansion. He supported industrial, but not construction sites.
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Council Work Session Minutes
April 2, 2012
Page 3
Mr. Donovan said the budget constraints would dictate how much they could expand the program.
Councilor Pishioneri encouraged the members of SSRA to look under Oregon Statute 181.870(6), (3)
and (8)(a) in regards to the definition of private security and licensed professionals. It needed to be
clear to the residents that they were not providing security.
Mr. Donovan said that would be clear in the staff report and that information was provided to all of the
residents. Mr. Heath from St. Vincent DePaul (SVDP) was on every site routinely checking in and
while there he provided the rules in a clear way.
Councilor Ralston said the cost was $1000 per site per year. He asked about the figure provided in the
staff report.
Mr. Donovan said the number was based on using one site numerous times. They hoped this would
make a difference in a lot of people's lives.
Councilor Wylie said it was important people had a place to go that was safe. The City had taken it
slow and it had a good track record. She supported the expansion and noted that SVDP were excellent
managers. '
Mayor Lundberg thanked the SSRA for their work and for advocating for the homeless in the
community. It was an important issue that needed to be addressed. This gave people a spot to stay
rather than having to move from place to place. Many construction and industrial sites had alarms, so
it would take some thought in deciding which sites would work. She would like feedback on how
those sites worked, but was very supportive.
2. Fire Merger.
Fire Chief Randall Groves presented the staff report on this item. This item was discussed with the
Mayor and four councilors on March 12, but was being brought back so the full Council could
participate in the discussion.
In July 2007, Chief Murphy, Chief Groves and staff initiated Three Battalion integrated responses
where the closest and most appropriate response was sent regardless of jurisdictional boundaries. This
was to try to provide the best service possible and had been succesful in making response times better,
performance on scene better, and safety for clients better. In July 1, 2010, Springfield and Eugene Fire
Departments implemented the Functional Consolidation. That intergovernmental agreement (IGA) left
the two fire departments as separate entities, but took a common administration oversight over the two
organizations.
The primary benefit of a functional consolidation was that it permitted both cities to share savings
resulting from eliminating redundant resources, taking advantage of existing vacancies of key
personnel.. Meanwhile, service levels were being maintained or improved as a result of joint
efficiencies. In FYI 1, savings of $606,999 were realized due to the functional consolidation, with
Springfield's share estimated at $286,952. Projected personnel savings for the City of Springfield for
FY12 was $413,608, with a combined savings of $876,239 for the two cities. Some of the reductions
were for budgetary purposes and some as a result of consolidating services. Everything reduced from
the consolidation was one less thing that needed to be reduced in the budget reduction, and vice versa.
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Council Work Session Minutes
April 2, 2012
Page 4
Chief Groves said page 2 of Attachment 1 of the agenda packet included tables that showed the cost
savings achieved each year. The cost savings had not been adjusted for inflation. Table 1 reflected the
FYI I actual savings by city which were entirely from the functional consolidation. More was I saved
during this first year than anticipated. The next year (FYI 2) savings included a combination of staff
reductions and functional consolidation reductions. Those savings were projected, but the department
was on target to meet or exceed the savings by the end of the year. FY13 projected savings included
further staff reductions and anticipated a savings of $1,169,639 for a total combined savings of
$2,652,967 for the three years.' Information on the cost to restore the departments back to two separate
departments was noted on Table 5 of Attachment 1. These costs were adjusted for inflation to FYI
dollars. That cost was estimated at just under $500,000 for each City.
Chief Groves said another concern from Council was the cost differential between the two IAFF
contracts. Comparing the Eugene and Springfield contracts showed a 3.25% difference. That did not
take into account Springfield's current contract which would narrow that margin even more. There
was also concern regarding the labor market if the two departments combined. He noted that State
statute provided that comparables were based on city size served, not size of the department and
Eugene was already compared to Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue ,(TVFR). He referred to two
arbitrations that included using TVFR as a comparable to smaller communities and noted that because
TVFR served communities of comparable size to those cities, they were used as a comparable.
Chief Groves said tonight staff was here to ask for direction from Council to move forward with a
common form of governance between the two departments. The goal was to keep working with the
labor units and the two cities to have one organization with the Chief still reporting back to the two
City Managers and two City Councils in the budget processes. This would allow them to work with
the labor units to try to negotiate a common success agreement. In. doing that, the department could
achieve further savings with logistic support, and with hiring and training. The two departments had
already held one successful joint recruitment and training process, and were just starting another. This
process had cut costs in half for both cities not only in fire administration and training, but Human
Resources as well. They hoped to move forward with that next level of efficiencies. They had tried to
take this at a slow pace to make sure everyone was comfortable with the process. They were
approaching two years with the functional consolidation, which was intended to be an interim step as
they worked towards a common unit of operation. They currently had fewer staff doing more work,
which was not sustainable, but was a necessary step to get to this next level.
Chief Groves referred to Attachments A and B located in Attachment 1 of the agenda packet. Those
tables showed the cost breakdowns of what the cost differentials could be regarding the labor
contracts. Attachment A applied the Eugene contract to Springfield utilizing the City of Springfield
health care insurance. The difference in that scenario was $308,628 without adjusting it to
Springfield's new contract, which would decrease that difference. Attachment B applied the Eugene
contract to Springfield with the Eugene health care costs included within a range. Both cities had
entered into a study regarding health care and looking at self - insured (which Eugene had now) and
fully insured (which Springfield had now). Going to the self - insured model could range from costing
$38,628 to saving $203,118.
Mr. Grimaldi said they were looking for direction from Council.
The City Council had three options:
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Council Work Session Minutes
April 2, 2012 -
Page 5
1) Direct the City manager to negotiate an intergovernmental agreement that implements the
governance model outlined in the Council Briefing Memorandum (Attachment I. of the agenda
packet) and also negotiate labor agreements that reflect a merged. organization
2) Direct the City Manager to stop discussions regarding the merger and take actions needed to
reestablish a separate fire department
3) Request additional information prior to giving direction regarding the governance model and
labor agreements
Councilor Woodrow said she was very appreciative that they currently had a chief and two city
managers that were willing to work together, but that may not always be the case. She asked how they
would address disputes when they didn't all agree.
Mr. Grimaldi said the governance model did not require that both cities made the same policy
decisions. He provided an example. There could be a time when differences would arise. If they had a
difference that was irreconcilable, they could terminate the agreement.
Chief Groves said over the last two years, they had worked to normalize the standard operating
procedures (SOPs) between the two cities. Those were nearly complete. In talking with both cities'
human resources staff, they had determined that it was important to come up with standard personnel
policies for both cities since the firefighters would be working in both cities. The other area they were
working on standardization was through purchasing and information technology. Through some of this
work, they had found the savings in the insurance costs. As they progressed through the process, they
were providing conservative cost saving figures.
Mr. Grimaldi said the two cities would need to be on the same page regarding labor issues. Through
the years, they had never collaborated and yet were still less than 3% apart.
Councilor Moore said a constituent had a concern about team building among the firefighters. She
asked if that was part of future planning. She felt it may take several 'years before we identified
ourselves as an integrated department.
Chief Groves said they trained together more now than ever before. Joint labor management was
meeting on Tuesday with both unions to talk about those types of issues and how to integrate the
crews.. Currently, they had captains from each city training members in both cities, and Battalion
Chiefs had been moving between cities. Through this process, they had found ways to streamline
because of the idea sharing.
Councilor Woodrow said when she went on a ride -along with the fire crews, she asked the firefighters
what they thought of the merger and didn't receive a negative comment.
Councilor Moore asked about uniforms and equipment.
Chief Groves said funds wouldn't be expended to repaint equipment now, but as they moved forward
they would order.common uniforms and equipment. Symbology was important to firefighters — the
tradition, history, sense of meaning, mission and purpose — and those things would need to be
developed.
Councilor Moore asked if the name of the department was known.
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Council Work Session Minutes
April 2, 2012
Page 6
Chief Groves said there had been some discussions, but they needed to wait until they were given
approval to move ahead. The name would take a lot of thought and needed to include pieces from both
organizations.
Councilor Moore said she was interested in seeing us move ahead, not only for the cos savings, but
for the efficiencies and support.
Councilor VanGordon asked if there would be just one labor contract under the governance model.
Mr. Grimaldi said they would need to talk with the. unions.
Chief Groves said there were also other negotiations with the service staff and their contracts. For the
firefighters, it could be one singular contract or two companion contracts that were identical that
eventually merged into one contract.
Councilor VanGordon asked if there were two contracts, if the language that tied them together would
be in the contract or in the IGA.
Chief Groves they needed to wait until things were more assured before having some of these
conversations. The contract may not happen in one year..
Councilor VanGordon said he was ready to go forward and liked the governance model. It was
important when negotiating the IGA to provide some flexibility to allow them to find more advantages
and benefits in merging. He would like the IGA to give some management and administrative
flexibility. He acknowledged the administrative staff that had been going above and beyond. He
wanted to make sure they knew they were appreciated.
Chief Groves said it was the most dedicated staff he had worked with and they couldn't move in this
direction without them. He acknowledged that labor had also come along and tried to help problem
solve through this process. He appreciated the support.
Mayor Lundberg noted the three choices Council had before them and asked Council for their
direction.
Councilor Pishioneri said this was a big decision. He noted the charts showing the savings each year
and asked if Springfield had been able to reduce our budget by those amounts. .
Mr. Grimaldi said yes, the budget had been reduced.
Councilor Pishioneri spoke regarding the comparable with TVFR. Eugene was currently in their
comparable pool and Springfield was not. With a merger, he asked if Springfield would then be in the
comparables with TVFR.
Chief Groves said they would. He noted that it was not certain what an arbitrator would say if
Springfield went to arbitration regarding comparables. He had only provided information from past
arbitrations as examples.
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Council Work Session Minutes
April 2, 2012
Page 7
Councilor Pishioneri said Springfield made budgetary decisions based on different factors than
Eugene. He asked how a large disparity between the two cities regarding ability to pay would be
addressed.
Mr. Grimaldi said there were options. They could choose to, work with the City of Eugene to find a
compromise or they could terminate the agreement.
Councilor Pishioneri said future budget committees would need to consider that it would cost
$500,000 to separate the departments.
Mr. Grimaldi said he would suggest. they took a multi -year look at costs for separating if that was the
direction they chose to go, not just one year.
Councilor Pishioneri asked if the work load would increase for those already over - worked
Chief Groves said the capacity would improve back to a manageable level. Currently, there were two
separate contracts to administer and two joint management meetings they attended. He would continue
to attend both cities' executive team meetings because it was important for him to understand the
issues of both departments and both cities. Even though they had normalized a number of things, they
still had two ways of operating.
Mr. Grimaldi said staff needed guidance to proceed with labor negotiations and with the governance
IGA.
Mayor Lundberg said they needed to prepare in the best way possible. Council consensus was to move
forward as outlined in Option 1.
Chief Groves thanked them and said staff would continue to try to outperform. So far, all of the
surprises had been a benefit instead of detriment. They had spent a lot of time talking about cost
savings, but the reality was that this was a better way to operate. . .
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 6:52 p.m.
Minutes Recorder — Amy *Sowa
Attest:
Amy So
City Recorder
Pishioneri
3ident