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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_Workshop_08/20/1992 • VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA. BUILDING DEPARTMENT Post Office Box 3273 • 357 Tequesta Drive Tequesta, Florida 33469-(1273 • (407) 575-6220 FAX: (407) 575-6203 V I L L A G E O F T E Q U E S T A V I L LAG E C O U N C I L W O R K S H O P M E E T I N G M I N U T E S A U G U S T 2 0, 1 9 9 2 I. The Tequesta Village Council held a workshop meeting at the Village Hall, 357 Tequesta Drive, Tequesta, Florida, on Thursday, August 20, 1992. The meeting was called to order at 9:00 A.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, William E. Burckart, Joseph N. Capretta, and Ron T. Mackail. Also in attendance were: Village Manager Thomas G. Bradford, and Village Clerk Joann Manganiello, and Bill Kascavelis, Finance Director. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Vice Mayor Howell moved to approve the Agenda as submitted. Councilmember Mackail seconded the motion. The vote on the motion was: Earl L. Collings - for Edward C. Howell - for William E. Burckart - for Joseph N. Capretta - for Ron T. Mackail - for the motion was therefore passed and adopted and the Agenda was approved as submitted. III. REVIEW OF TEQUESTA FIRE/RESCUE SERVICE OPTIONS Village Manager Bradford explained that because Fire/Rescue is a very important public safety service and because it has become very expensive, it was necessary to hold a workshop to consider possible alternative service options. • Fire/Rescue costs have increased in Tequesta 149% in seven years, (3.38 times more than the CPI which went up 34%; 9 times more than the rate of population growth; and will exceed, at the current rate, $1M in 3 years, $2M in 8 years). • Village Council Workshop Meeting Minutes August 20, 1992 Page 2 ------------------------------- The Police Department, (during that same time period), which has the same pension plan as PBC F/R, and also is a public safety service provider, only increased 66~ in costs. Some service options which could be considered are: 1. Contract with Martin County Fire/Rescue for service to Teguesta with or without Jupiter Inlet Colony. 2. Enter into a service contract for Fire/Rescue services with a private entity such as Wackenhut Corporation. 3. Solicit cost of service proposal from City of Palm Beach Gardens for fire service with medical/rescue provided by North County Ambulance. 4. Continue present service contract with Palm Beach County Fire/Rescue keeping the cost of the same within the • Teguesta millage rate. (Status Quo). 5. Continue service with Palm Beach County Fire/Rescue but eliminate the cost from the Village budget and millage rate by joining the MSTU by referendum. 6. Create an independent Teguesta Fire/Rescue Department serving Teguesta only. 7. Create a Teguesta/Jupiter Inlet Colony Joint Fire/Rescue Department. 8. Create a Teguesta Fire Department with or without Jupiter Inlet Colony and contract for rescue services from North County Ambulance. 9. Join in a regional North County Fire/Rescue Department with Jupiter Inlet Colony, Jupiter and Juno Beach. Mayor Collings stated to Palm Beach County Fire/Rescue (PBC F/R) Administrator, Herman Brice, that the reason for this workshop meeting is because of concerns over the substantial increase in the curve of Fire/Rescue costs from the County, and asked Chief Brice why, in his opinion, these costs have increased so substantially beyond the cost of living and other • costs. Village Council Workshop • Meeting Minutes August 20, 1992 Page 3 ------------------------------- Chief Brice explained there were several reasons: o Palm Beach County F/R went through a phase of equalizing the service, from Broward County to Martin County, which took some capital expenditures which were not included in the Budget. o Palm Beach County F/R costs are higher than most Fire Departments because of the need to standardize trucks, to build fire stations, and to expand the services. o There has been a standardization of the pay plan. o Tequesta, since 1984, has enjoyed a F/R contract which is far below what the actual cost was, paying for about half of what it cost to operate the Tequesta F/R station. Out of 37 cities in the County, Palm Beach County F/R serves 10, as well as portions of the County. Mayor Collings asked • if, to a greater or lesser degree, the ten municipalities are underwriting some of the County service costs. Chief Brice answered that all their service cities, combined, represent approximately 13-14% of their total service area, and stated that Tequesta should be looking at the cost to the homeowner, not the cost to the municipality. He felt it was not appropriate for Tequesta to feel they were off-setting the cost of someone else's service. He further pointed out that the PBC F/R taxing rate is based on ad valorem. Councilmember Burckart asked what the future is with the Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU). Chief Brice answered this was presented to the Board in July, with plans to revise (i.e., making cost to homeowners more equitable, speculate on the impact of eliminating schools, government buildings, churches, etc.) and will be re-presented in October. Councilmember Capretta felt that Chief Brice~s answers prove (since the system is so expensive) that PBC F/R could never be cost-effective for a municipality, and felt that if PBC F/R serviced only the ten municipalities, and not the County at large, costs to the municipalities would be less. Chief Brice felt Mr. Capretta did not understand PBC's F/R system and that his opinion was not accurate. Mr. Capretta felt that F/R costs would continue to escalate, and asked for a prediction, • over the next 5-10 years, of those costs compared to the cost of living. village Council Workshop • Meeting Minutes August 20, 1992 Page 4 ------------------------------- Chief Brice stated the Public Safety, Police and Fire costs accelerate more than any other municipal, local, or county government service. He stated the PBC F/R is not a deteriorating system in need of recovery, and it has been able to keep up with its replacement program. There has been a recent contract settlement, necessary to bring staff up to the market value of comparable positions, which also caused increases in costs. Mr. Brice stated further that he has already submitted to Tequesta a five-year projection of costs. Councilmember Mackail inquired about the potentially pending $SSM Bond Issue for PBC F/R. Chief Brice stated that at the present time there are no plans to pursue the Bond Issue, but at some point it may need to be looked at as a possibility. Mayor Collings asked Chief Brice to explain his reference to "standardizing equipment". Chief Brice explained that PBC F/R is pretty much standard now. Since consolidation, the entire fleet of Rescues have been replaced, and 17 Pumpers have been . purchased. Mayor Collings asked why PBC F/R felt it was important to take over the ambulance service. Chief Brice answered: 1) it will improve patient care and avoids coordination problems; and 2) by doing this, a $2.5M positive fund balance is projected over the next two years to offset taxes. Chief Brice felt it was necessary to move away from, in a fair and legal way, the formula under which PBC F/R has been operating since 1984. He felt that a better way for Tequesta/PBC F/R to expend their energies would be to find ways to look at other cities, bring in areas that can be protected with the same or little increase in staffing, and bring all prices down with an assurance of level of service. Mayor Collings stated that PBC F/R now serves 10 municipalities and asked how serving only 9 of those would impact the F/R system. Chief Brice stated it would depend upon which municipality opted out. For instance, if Highland Beach opted out, it would be a "wash". If Tequesta opted out, there would be approximately a $400,000 positive cash flow. Peter Allen of North County Ambulance stated he felt there may have been some mis-perceptions regarding level of service and • quality of care, and the disadvantages of county control as opposed to local control. Village Council Workshop • Meeting Minutes August 20, 1992 Page 5 He explained that in 1990, when the County made its largest increase in costs was also the year they started a BLS Engine Response, (i.e, when someone calls 911, the F/R Dispatcher would decide whether or not an ALS unit was needed). If the Dispatcher decided an ALS unit was not needed, then he/she would request a BLS unit, which was a fire engine with firemen, but no paramedic and no advance life support equipment. Because this is a county control, and not local control, the municipality has no control over cost increases, and no control over the fact that paramedic service was not received all the time. The BLS system is backed up by North County Ambulance, which does provide paramedics on every truck. Mr. Allen felt that this situation was a big disadvantage to County control. Another big disadvantage is quality assurance, with one medical director over the entire County (which is expansive) of paramedics. Mr. Allen pointed out further that North County Ambulance costs the Village of Tequesta nothing. Their payment either comes from the patient himself/herself or their insurance company. Of the $2.5M the County would hope to realize, North County Ambulance would receive nothing. Mayor Porto, of Jupiter Inlet Colony, stated he, too, felt that PBC F/R was taking advantage of the property owner because of an assessment increase. IV. DIRECTION OF VILLAGE COUNCIL, RELATIVE TO TEQUESTA FIRE/RESCUE OPTIONS Vice Mayor Howell felt that because a homeowner's property assessment increases and that homeowner's F/R costs increase accordingly, does not necessarily mean the household salaries increased to a point where the property owner could afford an escalated increase in F/R costs. He felt F/R cost increases to the homeowner on that basis were unfair. He stated that he has only witnessed one fire in Tequesta since 1967, and felt the Village was not getting value for its cost. Councilmember Burckart concurred with Vice Mayor Howell, and suggested a closer look at the ERU concept. He suggested that a 10th option be added to the list of options, i.e., involve • Palm Beach County in determining the costs of stations north of Donald Ross Road creating a separate MSTU. Village Council Workshop Meeting Minutes August 20, 1992 Page 6 Councilmember Capretta felt Option 9 was the best of all options, but felt the Village should continue to review F/R to investigate seeking equal or better service at lesser cost, and be in control of its own destiny. He recommended the creation of a Task Force which would include representatives from the surrounding communities which would be interested in forming a joint North County F/R service to do a feasibility study. Councilmember Mackail concurred with Councilmember Capretta regarding Option 9 and the creation of a Task Force and felt the Village should consider opting out of the PBC F/R system. He also felt the ERU language needed to be re-visited. Mayor Collings felt Option 9 was ideal. He stated further that if the Village opts out by September 1, 1992 (after which the Village would receive PBC F/R service for one more year), it would be necessary to hold a special Village Council meeting before September 1 in order to make that decision. • A tentative date of August 28 at 9:00 a.m. was set. Mayor Collings further suggested that each Councilmember write a one-page memorandum, regarding their conclusions, for submittal to the Village Manager. Village Manager Bradford stated that if the Village was strictly interested in cost, he would recommend that, in the long run, it would be best to consider a joint Fire Department including Jupiter, Tequesta, and Jupiter Inlet Colony. But if the Village is interested in more than cost, it would be better to look at the North County Regional option, since that would offer the possibility of more return for the dollar. Chief Brice suggested that if a Task Force is formed, that PBC F/R participate on that Task Force. V. ANY OTHER MATTERS There were not other matters for discussion. • Village Council Workshop Meeting Minutes August 20, 1992 Page 7 ------------------------------- VI. ADJOURNMENT Councilmember Mackail moved that the meeting be adjourned. Vice Mayor Howell seconded the motion. The vote on the motion was: Earl L. Collings - for Joseph N. Capretta - for Ron T. Mackail - for William E. Burckart - for Edward C. Howell - for the motion was therefore passed and adopted and the meeting was adjourned at 10:50 a.m. • ATTEST: J ann Manganie o Village Clerk DATE APPROVED: Respectfully submitted, ~yl~~~~ Fran Bitters Recording Secretary