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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009.0113.TCWSM.Minutes TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS
MINUTES OF THE WORK STUDY SESSION OF THE
FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL
January 13,2009
Mayor Schlum called the meeting to order at 5:32 p.m.
AGENDA ITEM#1—ROLL CALL AND VOTE TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION.
ROLL CALL —Present for roll call were the following members of the Fountain Hills Town Council: Mayor
Jay T. Schlum, Vice Mayor Henry Leger, Councilmember Cassie Hansen, Councilmember Keith McMahan,
Councilmember Mike Archambault, Councilmember Contino, and Councilmember Ginny Dickey. Town
Attorney Andrew McGuire and Town Clerk Bev Bender were also present.
AGENDA ITEM #1 - ROLL CALL AND VOTE TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION: I)
PURSUANT TO A.R.S. §38-431.03(A)(1),DISCUSSION OR CONSIDERATION OF EMPLOYMENT~
ASSIGNMENT, APPOINTMENT, PROMOTION, DEMOTION, DISMISSAL, SALARIES,
DISCIPLINING OR RESIGNATION OF A PUBLIC OFFICER, APPOINTEE OR EMPLOYEE OF
ANY PUBLIC BODY, EXCEPT THAT, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF SALARY DISCUSSION, AN
OFFICER, APPOINTEE OR EMPLOYEE MAY DEMAND THAT THE DISCUSSION OR
CONSIDERATION OCCUR AT A PUBLIC MEETING. THE PUBLIC BODY SHALL PROVIDE
THE OFFICER, APPOINTEE OR EMPLOYEE WITH WRITTEN NOTICE OF THE EXECUTIVE
SESSION AS IS APPROPRIATE BUT NOT LESS THAN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS FOR THE
OFFICER, APPOINTEE OR EMPLOYEE TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE DISCUSSION OR
CONSIDERATION SHOULD OCCUR AT A PUBLIC MEETING. (SPECIFICALLY, FOR THE
PURPOSE OF INTERVIEWING APPLICANTS FOR POSSIBLE SERVICE ON THE BOARD OF
, ADJUSTMENT; AND (II) PURSUANT TO §38-431.03(7), DISCUSSIONS AND CONSULTATIONS
WITH DESIGNATED REPRESENTATIVES OF THE PUBLIC BODY IN ORDER TO CONSIDER
ITS POSITION AND INSTRUCT ITS REPRESENTATIVES REGARDING NEGOTIATIONS FOR
THE PURCHASE, SALE OR LEASE OF REAL PROPERTY (SPECIFICALLY, POSSIBLE FIRE
STATION SITE); AND (III) PURSUANT TO A.R.S. §38-431.03(A)(4), DISCUSSION OR
CONSULTATION WITH THE ATTORNEYS OF THE PUBLIC BODY IN ORDER TO CONSIDER
ITS POSITION AND INSTRUCT ITS ATTORNEYS REGARDING THE PUBLIC BODY'S
POSITION REGARDING CONTRACTS THAT ARE THE SUBJECT OF NEGOTIATIONS, IN
PENDING OR CONTEMPLATED LITIGATION OR IN SETTLEMENT DISCUSSIONS
CONDUCTED IN ORDER TO AVOID OR RESOLVE LITIGATION. (SPECIFICALLY, (A) THE
GOLF RESORT, LLC LITIGATION, (B) THE FIREROCK LITIGATION, AND (C) A POSSIBLE
AGREEMENT WITH THE FORT MCDOWELL YAVAPAI NATION RELATING TO AN
ENTERTAINMENT VENUE).
Mayor Schlum MOVED to convene the Executive Session at 5:32 P.M. and Councilmember Dickey
SECONDED the motion, which CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY by those present(7-0).
Mayor Schlum recessed the Executive Session at 6:30 p.m. and convened the Work-Study Session at 6:35 p.m.
L
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AGENDA ITEM#1 - CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
Present for roll call were the following members of the Fountain Hills Town Council: Mayor Schlum, 44)
— Councilmember Dickey, Councilmember Archambault, Vice Mayor Leger, Councilmember Contino,
Councilmember Hansen and Councilmember McMahan. Town Attorney Andrew McGuire, Town Manager
Rick Davis and Town Clerk Bev Bender were also present.
AGENDA ITEM #2 - PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION REGARDING THE PROGRESS
ASSOCIATED WITH THE REVIEW AND ANALYSIS OF THE CURRENT FIRE SERVICE
CONTRACT AND POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVES.
Town Manager Rick Davis addressed the Council relative to this agenda item and stated that one of the very
first endeavors he embarked upon when he assumed the position of Town Manager in July was to ask the
Council if he could form a committee to begin researching options relative to long-term fire protection in
Fountain Hills. He explained that the request was prompted by the realization that in June of this year the
Town's contract with Rural Metro would expire. He said that following one-on-one conversations with the
members of the Council, it was apparent that a list of options had to be developed as soon as possible. He stated
that if one of the options turned out to be "going municipal" with a fire department, they would need adequate
time in order to make that transition. He noted that Councilmember Archambault, Councilmember Dickey and
Councilmember Contino offered to serve on the committee and they were joined by Public Safety
Commissioner Chair Larry Moyse, Finance Director Julie Ghetti, Human Resources Director Joan McIntosh and
Town Attorney Andrew McGuire. He added that he had served as a facilitator for the committee, which began
meeting in September. He stated that they worked through several meetings utilizing various methodologies and
initially determined that the scope of the project was "quite wide" in that they were considering quite a few
options - (1) remaining with Rural Metro; (2) forming a municipal fire department; (3) contracting with another
entity for services currently provided by Rural Metro and (4) forming a legal consolidation of services with
another jurisdiction. He said that the committee's early conclusions allowed them to narrow the scope of the „..0)
evaluation to a serious consideration of the first two options.
Mr. Davis informed the Council that the methodologies they used included discussions with fire personnel and
Rural Metro officials, discussions with fire and municipal officials from other jurisdictions, an analysis and
evaluation of Fountain Hill's communication infrastructure and options and a financial analysis of the Town's
fire offerings and budget projections based on the scenario that they would form a municipal fire department.
Mr. Davis reported that the committee determined the following: (1) The Town could realize some initial
savings associated with hiring its own firefighters but the gains would likely be short lived. Early budget
projections and comparisons assumed that the current contract cost of$3,028,000 would be followed by a 5%
increase annually, as had been historically experienced by the Town. Based on this assumption, the Town
would have realized between $300,000 and $400,000 annually in savings by simply employing its own
firefighters. However, early discussions with Rural Metro indicated the company's willingness to actually lower
next year's contract cost to $2.85 million and tie future increases to a 3% increase over the next five years.
Based on these new assumptions, the Town would realize a scant $33,000 in annual savings the first year of
operations, which they would expect to occur in 2010. He emphasized that with the new numbers from Rural
Metro if they were to still go forward and opt to employ their own firefighters and establish a municipal fire
department, the 2010 savings, projected on the figures and assumptions provided, would be approximately
$33,000. He noted that the savings would evaporate in subsequent years and without any changes in the
assumptions that had been made; they would expect that by the second year of operations it would actually have
been cheaper to be with Rural Metro than running their own fire department. He indicated his willingness to
discuss the assumptions that had been made in coming to the conclusions presented. Mr. Davis also discussed
the committee's second finding, (2) and said that regardless of direction, the specific challenges associated with
fire protection must be addressed. During the course of this study, difficulties were revealed in the Town's
current service offerings that need improvement. He said that first, response time to the Eagle Mountain area of „vie
the Town was not adequate and a need existed to immediately bolster emergency response in that general area.
He added that the topography of the Town was such that certain communication dead zones existed within the
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incorporated area. While Rural Metro had operationally found methods to work around this challenge, a
permanent remedy might be found for these dead zone areas through the installation of appropriate
infrastructure.
Mr. Davis noted that the Motorola study was ongoing and should enable the Town to identify these areas in the
near future. He said that meanwhile, Rural Metro officials had expressed their willingness to immediately
address and remedy both of these situations. He stated that these had been some of the Town's most significant
concerns regarding fire protection. He added that both options came with certain advantages and disadvantages,
which he had outlined in his report. He said that advantages associated with staying with Rural Metro included
not disrupting an already high level of service; Rural Metro's apparent willingness to lower the cost of the
Town's current contract (budget projections had already anticipated a 5% increase) and the reduction was very
beneficial particularly during these difficult economic times; Rural Metro had an apparent willingness to address
the response times and deal with communications and infrastructure challenges; and, by staying with Rural
Metro, the Town could avoid the costs associated with the transition. Mr. Davis added that the disadvantages
associated with staying with Rural Metro included foregoing the opportunity to have a municipal fire
department (some control issues accompany that decision); personnel - firefighters were not necessarily
permanent in Town but this fluidity was acerbated by the reality that younger firefighters would be drawn to
Fountain Hills to begin their careers but were likely to leave as they gained more experience; a municipal fire
department would provide community identity, control over the Town's own destiny, staff stability might
improve, some savings in year one of the operations and a transition could be done sometime soon. He added
that another disadvantage was that forming a municipal fire department could ultimately prove to be more
costly. He noted that transition was costly and might have to be completed as early as June 2009 unless the
Town extended the current contract with Rural Metro. He said that no stable financial support existed for a fire
department at this time and explained that these types of services were generally supported by more stable forms
of revenue such as a property tax, which did not exist in Fountain Hills.
Mr. Davis discussed conclusions and recommendations and stated that the entire committee recognized the
sincere desire on the part of many officials and citizens to move towards the formation of a municipal fire
department. He added, however, that the timing of such a move was a critical consideration and based on Rural
Metro's willingness to lower costs and decrease the rate of annual increases, in addition to their willingness to
address certain service deficiencies identified in the report; Fountain Hills should renew its contract with Rural
Metro. He said that the committee therefore made the following specific recommendations:
1) Renew the five-year commitment with Rural Metro based on aforementioned considerations and
stipulations;
2) Reconvene the Fire Services Committee in 2010 to evaluate service levels and execute additional
evaluations of municipal fire department possibilities;
3) Inform residents of the need for a stable support mechanism before they bring on a municipal fire
department.
Mr. Davis added that there were certain considerations and limitations that the Council could review in the
report but noted that the savings that Rural Metro was proposing included the elimination of the Master
Subscription, an element of the contract that provided a subsidy to residents that covered the difference between
what they were billed by their insurance company for an ambulance trip and what the bill actually was. (If an
ambulance trip bill was $800 but insurance only covered $700, the remaining $100 was covered by the Master
Subscription and historically this had amounted to an approximate $54,000 item in the fire contract.) He said
that Rural Metro made some assumptions in bringing forward the savings (i.e. that the Town would be
considering whether to keep the Master Subscription or not) and reported that it was not within the scope of the
study to determine whether they should eliminate that or keep it because they felt that it bordered on a policy
decision that the Council would need to consider. He stated that the committee wanted to bring this to the
Council's attention so that they could make this determination.
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Mr. Davis advised that Rural Metro had not shared a great deal of information with the committee regarding
how they were able to lower the contract cost but stated the opinion that the decrease was probably associated,
based on their descriptions of what they had been able to do to lower the costs, economies of scale and systemic
efficiencies. He asked the Council to keep in mind that none of the limitations change the recommendations
being presented at this time. He thanked the Council for the opportunity to address them and said that he and all
of the members of the committee were present to respond to any questions from Council. He thanked everyone
involved for their hard work and diligence in this regard.
Mayor Schlum thanked the members of the committee for their efforts and said it was always good to review
options and ensure that the Town was providing its residents the best service at the best cost.
Mayor Schlum asked what the timeline was and Mr. Davis replied that the committee's intention was to present
the options to the Council this evening, respond to questions and conduct research to determine answers to any
questions that required additional study. He said that they would like to bring this issue back before the Council
during the first meeting in February and ask that the Council gave them clear direction as to how they wished to
proceed. He added that they would proceed from that point and said that they would be happy with any
direction provided.
The Mayor asked if the committee believed that Rural Metro's level of service would remain on a par with what
they were now (with improvements previously discussed and the Master Subscription issue) if they decided to
go with that option. Mr. Davis responded that the committee did not identify any other variations that would
impact the current level of service.
In response to a request from Councilmember Contino, Mr. Davis said that they had not received any specific
indication from Rural Metro relative to how they intended to address the response times in the Eagle Mountain
area. He added that an idea was floated at their last meeting regarding the possibility of establishing a
temporary response station in the Fry's shopping area. He said that he would assume that Rural Metro would be
following up on that option and addressing the issue. He added that if the ambulance was called to another
location, there would be an automatic "move up" of other apparatus in the system that would continue to cover
that area.
Councilmember Archambault asked if they had received a report back from the TOPAZ study and he said that
they had not.
Finance Director Julie Ghetti advised that she had spoken with representatives of Motorola today and they were
collecting data and anticipated that it should take no longer than a week to accomplish this task. She stated that
the study would take two weeks and they anticipated that the whole thing will be done and a report issued back
within a month.
Discussion ensued relative to the fact that the Master Subscription had to do only with transportation and not
service or level of care; the fact that paramedics were assigned to both of the Town's stations and the ambulance
was for transport purposes only; paramedics were also assigned to the ambulance; the fact that Rural Metro had
an obligation to provide ambulatory care for all of Maricopa County (Certificate of Need); Council's desire to
discuss the Master Subscription further with Rural Metro and the fact that the Subscription was also for people
who were uninsured; and the fact that the Council will not be voting on this issue until they had a chance to
review and study the TOPAZ report.
Councilmember Dickey stated that if the term of the contract was for five years, and they did decide to move in
that direction, perhaps they could look at a shorter timeframe in which to change the agreement (a six-month
notification time). She added that they had to specifically deal with Eagle Mountain and the communication
since Scottsdale used one type of communication and Fort McDowell another. She emphasized the importance
of ensuring that those issues were worked out. She also pointed out that as far as the stable financial support
necessary for a municipal fire department, they also needed stable financial support for a contract. She said that
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she would also be interested in finding out more about how Rural Metro was able to lower the contract amount.
She requested that everyone keep in mind what they wanted to provide to citizens and to the firefighters.
(...,
Councilmember Archambault commented on the Certificate of Need and asked how the Town would acquire
one and what the timeframe would be if they decided to form their own fire department. He expressed the
opinion that the Town was not yet ready to begin moving towards the formation of their own fire department.
Councilmember Archambault said that he believed that he had read in the contract that the Town had to give
365 day's notice for cancellation and asked if that was on the anniversary date or whether it could be anytime
during the year.
Town Attorney Andrew McGuire replied that it was 365 days any time during the contract so essentially on day
two of the contract, the Town could give that notice. He said that because they budget was based on fiscal year,
the practical reality was that the Town would likely give notice at the end of the fiscal year if they did not intend
to put it into the following year's fiscal budget.
Councilmember Archambault commented that they all wanted to move towards the formation of their own fire
department for various reasons but said that he just did not feel that now was the right time.
Vice Mayor Leger complimented the members of the Committee on their report and noted that Mr. Davis had
stated that "meanwhile, Rural Metro officials had expressed their willingness to immediately address and
remedy both of these issues (response time in the Eagle Mountain area and dead zones with respect to
communication)." He said that it was going to be really important to him that there was in fact a tangible plan
addressing both of those issues the next time this subject was discussed.
Councilmember Contino requested additional information (cost per singles/family) if they had to pick up the
Li cost of the Subscription.
Councilmember Archambault noted that the Master Subscription was just for the ambulance; it covered what
Rural Metro lost when they did not collect all of the costs. Rural Metro based their number on previous calls
and added 5%. He added the opinion that they kept an eye on that because they had not come back to the Town
during the first five-year contract and said they were losing money. He referred to comments from
Councilmember Contino and explained that before they had the Fire District, Rural Metro petitioned every
property owner to subscribe to the service and pay a portion of the cost(they did not have to sign up).
Mr. Davis indicated that he would obtain additional information on the Master Subscription and other issues
raised by the Council (going to a subscription service if they did not sign up with Rural Metro) to present at the
next meeting. (i.e. what was Rural Metro charging the County islands for subscription service per residence;
impacts on Town residents per family for ambulance usage, etc.).
Councilmember Dickey said that if there was such a thing as an ambulance subscription, she would like to know
more about that and what it would cost someone if they only had one call a year(insurance gaps, etc.).
Councilmember Archambault stated that he would like to find out if Rural Metro was willing to lower the
Master Subscription fee ($54,000) and said it was important to find out what it would cost the residents to obtain
the same service.
Mayor Schlum commented that quality of service was of the utmost importance.
AGENDA ITEM#3 -ADJOURNMENT OF THE WORK STUDY SESSION
(6.. Mayor Schlum adjourned the Work-Study Session at 7:16 p.m. and reconvened the Executive Session at 7:20
p.m.
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Councilmember Archambault MOVED to adjourn the Executive Session at 8:45 p.m. and Councilmember
Contino SECONDED the motion, which CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY by those present(7-0).
j
TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS
By
ayor Jay Schlum
ATTEST AND
PREPARED BY:
Bevelyn J. n r,Town Clerk
CERTIFICATION
I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Work Study Session
held by the Town Council of Fountain Hills on the 13th day of January 2009. I further certify that the meeting
was duly called and that a quorum was present.
DATED this 5th day of February 2009.
A,Zei,C
fi.A
Bevelyn J. B d:',Town Clerk
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