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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDocumentation_Regular_Tab 5C_2/11/1993 , .(i 4'4i1," ;��,�+' r =i. VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA . Post O[t�ce BoY 3z73 337 Toqur�m Drlvc ,' Tequats,�lorld 334694273 - (407)575-6200 ;i,•° .12' Pax:(407)575-6703 ce; \-jp V I L L A G E o f T s Q U E S T A V Y L L 71 G E COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING MINUTES JANUARY E 1 , 1 9 9 3 I. The Tequesta Village Council held a scheduled workshop meeting at the Village Hall, 357 Tequesta Drive, Tequesta, Florida, on Thursday, January 21, 1993. The meeting was called to order at 5:30 P.M. by Mayor Earl L. Collings. A roll call was taken by the Recording Secretary, Fran Bitters. Councilmembers present were: Mayor Earl L. Collings, Vice Mayor Edward C. Howell, Ron T. Mackail, Joseph N. Capretta and William E. Burckart. Village Officials present were: Village Manager Thomas G. Bradford, and Joann Manganiello, Village Clerk. Department Heads and Village Attorney John C. Randolph were also in attendance. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA The Agenda wan approved as submitted. III. REVIEW or TEETEQURMTA FIRE/RESCUE TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATION RELATIVE TO A TEQUEBTA FIRE DEPARTMENT Citizens voiced their views regarding an independent fire department for Tequesta: Mike Kayo, Jupiter resident, employed by Palm Beach County Fire Rescue, stated that the present proposal recommended by the Fire/Rescue Task Force is not equal or better service for leaser cost. It was Mr. Mayo's position that equal or better could be easily arrived at if one would dial 911, state an emergency, and see what service shove up on the scene. He felt also that backup capability was another major consideration, as well as there being a strong need for an operational evaluation report. Councilmember Capretta felt equal or better could be met but might require more manpower , and/or equipment than proposed by the Task Force. Recycled Paper Village Council Workshop Meeting Minutes January 31, 1993 Page 2 Tom Rodth, Vice Mayor, Jupiter Inlet Colony, stated that last year Jupiter Inlet Colony (JIC) had its own tank force to look into the similar situation. In its investigation, that task force discovered that in 1985 JIC's F/R costs were $50,000 ($230/household) , escalating to $184,000 ($825/household) for 1993. JIC's service requirements have not changed from 1985 { to 1993, with an average of approximately 20 calls per year, two of which are fire-related and those usually false alarms. Nr. Rodth urged the Village Council to consider only what is necessary arid adequate for Tequesta, and what reasonable costs should be for fire/rescue services. Mr. Rodth felt the Fire Rescue Task Force's recommendations met what is necessary, adequate and what was reasonable cost. Ronald Pamper, 225 Beach Road, President of Beach Road Association, stated that though there is no question about the quality of service provided by PBC F/R, continued escalating costs of providing those services is a real concern of the . citizens. Palm Beach County F/R costs are out of control. Since Tequesta is a small modern village•, with limited growth potential, no industry, with a historically minimal fire situation, why can't local residents be confident that the quality of service can be maintained, with substantially lower controlled costs, if Tequesta decided upon an independent fire department. Mr. Pemper stated that members of the Beach Road Association agree and give solid support to the Village Council's decision to cancel the contract with PBC F/R and urged them to implement the program proposed by the Tequesta Fire Rescue Task Force for an independent Tequesta Fire Department, contracting rescue services with North County Ambulance no later than October 1, 1993. Betty Nagy, asked the following questions: Regarding volunteers: Who are they; what age groups; are they residents of the Villages do they work - if. so, will their companies allow them to leave their jobs if a fire were to happen; what would the course be to insure these men - some company's insurance will not pay if their staff are working as a firefighter and are injured while fighting a fire; what will their response times be from their jobs; what experience levels would these men have; how would their fire training be . handled if they work during the day; what would the cost to the Village be for their training; has this cost been included in the estimate of total costs for this program? Village Council Workshop Meeting Minutes January 21, 1992 / Page 3 • Mr. Bradford stated that the volunteers are envisioned to be from the Jupiter/Tequesta area. It is not yet known who these men will be. The age groups will be 18 years -of age or older. It is not required that these men be a resident of the Village • of Tequesta, as long as the Tire Chief believes these . individuals can provide an adequate response time, or at least • respond a significant amount of times pursuant to his protocols that he may set up. Since the Village proposes to pay these volunteers $100 par month, it is assumed that most of them will have full-time jobs. Whether companies which employ these volunteers on a full-time basis would object to the men leaving their jobs if a fire was to happen is not known. The cost of Workers Compensation for these men is in the feasibility report done by the Village Manager. Response time would depend upon where the volunteers work. Experience levels would be set up by the Fire Chief. It is envisioned that volunteers would be participants in the fire training on an on-going basis. The cost to the Village for that training is anticipated to be much lees than a full-time firefighter since it is envisioned that most of their training would be on-sits, with the firefighters hired by the Village. However, if they go to school for training, the-Village must cover that cost. Monies for the training of volunteers was not in the feasibility report since that training is anticipated to take place on site. John Cunningham, concerned regarding equal or better service, felt that adequate response time would be impossible if a fire station was located on the west side of the railroad tracks. Village Manager Bradford answered questions which were • previously posed to him: How many paramedics with each ambulance call? The proposal of North County Ambulance (liCA) was two paramedics 24/hours per day responding to each call. Average time personnel have in certification in titles. for paramedics? No contract has yet been executed with MCA and certification levels have not been determined. How and who will be responsible to check and verify that staff will. continue on the certification and experience level for each call? If minimum experience levels were to be established in the certification, it would be the responsibility of the . Village Fire Chief and the Administrator.for NCk. If NCR. does not abide by all conditions of the contract, what recourse will the Village have and where will another service be found?Options are paramedic service could be done in-house, could talk to PDC and/or martin County ret paramedic service only, Village Council Workshop Meeting Minutes January 21, i993 Page l • If Tequesta signs a contract with NCa for eervice, how will JIC pay its fair share of this service? The proposal is that the oost of service will be handled in the same contract • • manner as it is today between PBC and JIC, and PBC and • Tequesta. The total cost of fire service, plus NCR service, will be divided according to total taxable value of both cities. where will NCA get backup in a responsible response time compared to the present 3-minute response time? It is assumed mqA rill utilise their own in-house ambulances to do their own bitokup. ten Meinksn Beach Road Association, stated that he lives in a 9-story building and as the result of PBC's amendment to the Cods (requiring sprinkler systems in buildings over 5-stories high)_, sprinkler systems were placed in this building, though there has never yet been a fire in any building on Beach Road. Mr. Meinken stated that residents of Beach Road feel Tequesta can "run its own ship", and do the job with its own fire service. Jack Fredrickson, 282 Country Club Drive, stated that the level of service proposed in the Tequesta Fire Rescue Task Force recommendation is considerably less than what Tequesta • has presently. Adequate service can be provided, but not through the present proposal. He felt: 1) the Village of Tequeata was not wealthy enough to provide the same level of service it now receives from PBC F/R; 2) Volunteers are impractical for response on first level. Response time is better if they respond from a fire station; 3) coats projected in the Task Force proposal are minimal. Mr. Fredrickson felt • there is a way that Tequesta, given proper time to analyze, can provide a level of service for a- reasonable cost factor. Sal Hutchinson, felt the Tequesta Fire Rescue Report was flawed in several areas: 1) options did not address "equal or better" and were all substandard to PBC/FR; 2) costs shown in report were not factual. Mr. Hutchinson felt all options were not seriously studied, Tequesta could not practice control if they contract services, there would be no substantial costs savings to taxpayers, average response time using volunteers is an unacceptable 8-10 minutes, PBC F/R will have a mill cap in 1996 which will control costs, Palm Beach Gardens or Martin County are not capable of providing adequate back-up to Tequesta. village Council Workshop Meeting Minutes January 21, 1993 Page 5 Village Manager Bradford gave an overhead presentation, ussing different scenarios, of costs connected with a Tequesta independent fire department: Io Contracting with NCA and 3 men per shift for FY93 and FY94; o Local Option Firefighter Retirement Plan, contracting with NCA for rescue services, and 4 firefighters per Shift. for FY93 and FY 94. o 5-yeetielorecast of Village fire department options with 7% annual rate of increase. • Chief Brice, PBC F/R, stated that it must be taken into account that when the MSTUs were collapsed that that, in some way, made an impact on Tequesta's increase in costs - it was not a budget increase. To assume a 13.7% annual rate of increase, based on past history for PBC was unfair. Mr. Bradford responded the annual rate of increase since MSTU consolidation is higher than 13.7%. Mayor Collings read into the Record a letter received from Dorothy Campbell asking if a traffic study would be done for the location of the proposed fire station adjacent to the i Village Hall and if so, have those costs been placed in the Task Force Report. Councilmember Burckart stated that a fire station is typically located on a main thoroughfare where access is good. Village Manager Bradford stated that traffic on Tequesta Drive is somewhat irrelevant from the point of view of station location. Traffic counts in comparison are: I o Station 11, 3500 trips/day; o in front of Village Hall 7506 trips/per day; o PBC F/R at Juno Beach on U.S. #1, 28,468 trips/day; o PBC F/R at Alt AlA in Cabana Colony, 26,881 trips/day; PBC F/R on Okeechobee Blvd. , 31,448 trips/day. Mr. Bradford stated further that there is nothing wrong with Tequesta having a station located on a street which has 7,000 trips/day. A . traffic study would not be needed for station location, but may be needed to comply with PBC traffic performance standards. Lis 'Mauer felt Tequesta should move forward with an independent fire department with adequate service. She felt ' the objections from citizens was merely due to the fact that citizens don't like change. village council Workshop Meeting Minutes January 11, ifll page s Herman arise, Chief of Palm Beach County Fire/Rescue, stated that he felt PBC F/R costs were not out of line, that it provides a high level of service which Tequesta could not match and a better level of service than Tequesta proposes. He felt Mr. Bradford's assumption of 7% annual rate of increase for Tequesta might be unrealistic. He felt that when Tequesta gets unionization, gets staffing issues and discovers that the overtime account does not cover theme, or is not able to accomplish all they want in a pension, that when Tequesta starts to 'ndgotiate contracts, their personnel costs will go up. He felt there were some hidden costs Tequesta has not yet thought of which are not included in the Report. He felt, though Mr. Bradford's report was excellent, covering the subjects of formation of a fire/rescue department very well, prices were understated, particularly in the out-years. He suggested Tequesta atop using PBC F/R as a 'whipping post' and use a different rationale for their real reason for wanting to be independent, and not place the blame on PBC F/R. Chief Brice stated that Tequesta has a very sensitive and critical issue on which to make a decision and wished them wisdom on that decision when considering the lives and property of the people in Tequesta. Mayor Collings asked if there were any guarantees the County's proposed 3 mill cap will not go higher. Chief Brice stated the County Commission controls the cap. Commissioner Karen Marcus stated a 3 mill cap is a 3 mill cap and felt it wasn't going to go any higher - caps are there for a reason. Commissioner Marcus stated she would like to see the costing for Tequesta done out of a 5/man 5/man, since that is the service provided by PBC F/R. Bhe felt also that .Tequesta's coats would go up beyond what is projected. Councilmember Burckart asked what happens if Tequesta opts out of PBC F/R leaving county pockets such as Bermuda Terrace to be serviced. Chief Brice stated that PBC plans to leave a rescue (probably. an ALS pumper with 3 firefighters/paramedics) at the Seabrook Station servicing a fire from the Jupiter aide. • • Village Manager Bradford read a letter from Jan Mart stating that she felt the whole fire/rescue issue for Tequesta was decided with too much haste and was concerned regarding service to areas such as Colette Drive just off Riverside . Drive. Village Council Workshop Meeting Minutes January 21, 1993 Page couneilmember Capretta stated Tequesta wants setvice that is adequate for Tequesta, not one which is adequate for Palm Beach County overall. When looking at the small Village of Tequesta, its fire risk is small. Chief Brice responded that statistics show that, in America, most people die in homes. Therefore, first response is important. Needed for first response are: a pumper with an officer and a firefighter to make entry and someone to pump on the truck; an overall incident commander to oversee the situation; some kind of backup to other operations such as ventilation. A minimum number of people on arrival should be five. sending more than one station to the ocene, as does PBC F/R, makes up for industrial areas. If there was an emergency at a commercial complex, three engines would be sent instead of two, an aerial and two rescues. The beauty of the PBC F/R system is, when. more people are needed, the system is able to dispatch other { stations in order to raise the complement. For a residential community, Chief Brice would recommend five people on two separate apparatus. Chief Mortimer reminded that it was his recommendation for Teguesta to have in-house paramedics, which would give a minimum of five people on the scene. If Tequesta contracts with RCA, there will be four people on duty. Therefore, mutual aid would be important, and volunteers would be important. Councilmember Capretta felt the County Commission has no credibility with the people and that there is a real fear that the 3 mill cap might be disregarded, and that the reason municipalities want to control their own. costs is because there seems to be no control at the county level. Commissioner Marcus stated her credibility must be okay in north county since she received a lot of votes from that area, showing that somebody has faith in the county system. Again she reiterated that Tequesta should not use the county as a whipping boy. Roger Anderson,. JIC, felt that the entire county cost structure is out of control and that Chief Brice is the whipping boy because of disparities caused by the County Commission. He stated further that JIC is being forced out of the PBC F/R system because those costs are completely out . of control for the risk involved. Comparing fire/rescue costs to other costs, Commissioner Marcus stated that though JIC residents may not have school age children, they still have to help pay education costs - the same applies to fire/rescue { costs countywide - that's how the taxing system works. Village counoil Workshop Meeting Minutes January 21, 1093 Page • Pauline Hutobineon asked if 7% cost increases are based on the similar increase of the Tequesta Police Department, does that mean that the fire department will be run like the police department, i.e. , with only two men on most of the time and • if someone retires, that position will no be re-filled. Mr. Bradford responded that Tequesta would abide by whatever the . requirements were for the minimum level of service. For the police department, Tequesta's minimum level or service requirement"is two men per shift, 24 hours/day. vice Mayor Howell felt that what he sees represented is not so much a question of Costs - the real issue is "exactly what is it that Tequesta wants to do". He felt most discussions have been merely a 'butting of heads' without resolving real issues. The real issue is, does Tequesta want a fire department with which everyone can be comfortable. He felt much time had been wasted going through details which are completely irrelevant. It was Vice Mayor Howell's recommendation that a Referendum take place on the fire/rescue issue. Wade Griest asked Chief Brice if it was true that PBC would save approximately $1.5 million if Tequesta opted out of PBC F/R. Chief price stated the cost of the station is approximately $1.1 million. If the County leaves in place what they now say they will leave in place, it will eliminate approximately $700,000 from the budget. Mr. Griest stated that Fire Chief Reher of west Palm expressed concern that he was misquoted by Mr. Griest at the last Council meeting. Mr. Griest restated the comment he made at Village Council which was: "I might add Chief Reher of West Palm Beach reviewed the Tequesta Fire Rescue proposals and advised by phone he thought • it was a very workable plan." Mr. Reher stated that others had stated to him that the comment stated that he had approved all of Mr. Bradford's figures, as well as many other things, which was strictly untrue. Pert Towns stated that Tequesta does have fires and stated an incident where extensive damage took place. Xt was her '• position that if Tequesta could provide a fire department with . equal or better service than PBC F/R and at less coat, she would be in support of it. Her present concern is backup service. vice Mayor Howell left the meeting at 7:15 p.m. Village Council Workshop Meeting Minutes January 21, 1993 Page 9. counailmember Burckart left the meeting at 7820 p.m. Village Manager Bradford read a letter submitted by Richard Berube. Mr. Berube had several questions regarding the retirement/pension plan and subsequent cost estimates. Mr. Bradford explained that if Tequesta is in the Florida Retirement System, it will raise the budget $60,000, as previously shown on the overhead. Monies that could be received from the premium tax allowed by Florida Statute 175 was not ihdluded. Legal coats were included in the fire department budget, as well as those costs being a line item in the General Fund Budget. Dr. Stanley Jacobs summarized some of the facts from the Tequesta Fire Rescue Task Force study. Mayor Collings suggested that though not yet scheduled, it might be advisable to have the members of the Fire Rescue Task Force sitting up front to answer any questions at the next Village Council Workshop Meeting regarding fire/rescue. Mary Corwin questioned why a mobile home was considered as a temporary fire station when such is against Tequesta Codes. Mayor Collings suggested that Ms. Corwin receive a response in writing. Mary sexy suggested that Village Council wait one more year before making a decision to opt out of PBC F/R, and that issues concerning back-up support be settled. She also suggested that any updated figures be published in the Village Newsletter. Village Manager Bradford stated that Martin County has stated an interest in doing a Mutual Aid Agreement with Tequesta. Mrs. Seay asked Chief Brice if PBC FIR would be able/willing to offer back-up to Tequesta. Chief Brice responded that the situation would have to be studied, since there is no way that he would suggest to the County Commission that the northern unit be taken out of service and use it for the benefit of someone who is not paying taxes into the PBC F/R system. It could not be done through a Mutual Aid Agreement since Tequesta could not offer any service to PBC which PBC does not already have. It may be possible to offer . service for a fee. Mr. Bradford stated he would be interested in exploring the same kind of agreement for service with PBC F/R as has been entered into with Royal Palm Beach. Village Couioil Workshop Meeting Minutes January 91, 1993 Page 10 Don Buy stated that he felt the Fire Rescue Task Force ended too quickly, and that perhaps two more months of analysis needed to be done, and other options needed to be studied. He had several questions to Mr. Bradford regarding the Florida • Retirement System. William Kirkland stated that one does not always need a battalion to do the work of a squad. Tequesta is a small Village apd does not need all the coverage that PBC F/R is providing. ''die felt Tequesta pays a tremendous amount of money compared to the risk involved. Tequesta does not have a bad fire record. When measured against the risk, the cost for fire/rescue should be considerably less. He felt the Council was able to make an intelligent decision regarding the direction the Village should take in the fire/rescue issue, and stated that the Council does have an obligation to the citizens to reduce costs. It was the Village council's consensus to conduct another meeting with the Fire Rescue Task Force members for questions and answers to fire rescue matter. IV. AMY OTaIR MATTERS There were no other matters before the Village Council. • Village Council Workshop Muting Minutes January 21, if•3 Page V. ADJOURNMENT Counoilmomber Mackail moved that the meeting be adjourned. Councilmember Capretta seconded the motion. The vote on the motion was: Marl L. Collings - for Ron T. Mackail - for Joseph''W. Capretta - for the motion was therefore passed and adopted and the meting vas adjourned at 8:25 F.M. Respectfully submitted, li4444' gdr414. Fran .Bitters Recording Secretary ATTEBT: Joann Nanganiello Village clerk DATE APPROVED: