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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BFC-2013-07-30Board of Fire Commissioners Special Meeting Minutes July 30, 2013 PRESENT: Chair Gilligan MEMBERS: Hoard, McGonigal, Ellsworth OTHERS PRESENT: Chief Parsons Alderperson Fleming Information Management Specialist - Myers EXCUSED: Commissioner Sparks CALL TO ORDER: Chair Gilligan called to meeting to order at 1642 hours. ADDITIONS /DELETIONS TO THE AGENDA: There were no additions to or deletions from the agenda. NEW BUSINESS: A. Authorization for Disposition of 1995 Ladder Truck as Surplus Property - Resolution By Commissioner McGonigal: Seconded by Commissioner Ellsworth WHEREAS, the City of Ithaca Fire Department has purchased and taken delivery of a new 2013 Pierce 105 foot Ladder Truck as a replacement for their 1995 LTI /Saulsbury Ladder Truck; and, WHEREAS, the City of Ithaca Fire Department's 1995 LTI /Saulsbury Ladder Truck has been removed from active service since July 14, 2013; and, WHEREAS, the City of Ithaca Fire Department has no further need for the 1995 LTI /Saulsbury Ladder Truck; now, therefore be it RESOLVED, That the Board of Fire Commissioners of the City of Ithaca hereby declares said truck surplus; and, be it further RESOLVED, That the Board directs the truck be sold according to established procedure; and, be it further RESOLVED, That the proceeds from such sale shall be deposited in to the City of Ithaca General Fund, and, be it further RESOLVED, That a credit be documented to the City of Ithaca Fire Department revenue account reflecting the sale of the truck. Carried Unanimously Board of Fire Commissioners Special Meeting Minutes July 30, 2013 B. Review and Recommendation Regarding the Ithaca Fire Department's 2014 Budget Submission Chief Parsons distributed draft budget information to Board for discussion purposes. He stated that this was a very difficult, if not one of the most difficult, budgets to put together. He explained that department heads have faced an unending process of reductions in their budget through at least the past ten years. Every City department is facing the same hardship in preparing a budget to meet the Mayor's request of a 2% reduction in all budgets. He further explained that each department's budget will become part of Mayor's budget that will be presented to Common Council, and probably won't look much like what the Board is seeing today. Each department head will meet with Mayor and City Controller to go over their budgets, and then the Mayor will prepare and present his budget to Common Council that will not necessarily contain all the details of every department's budget submission as had been done previously. He stated that the purpose of the Board's meeting and discussion today is to help guide him regarding what it feels are priorities for the department and should be included in the budget. He reported that in order for the department to meet the 2% reduction in its budget (including all contract increases) means that there will be a $270,000.00 gap between where the 2013 budget is and where the 2014 needs to be. To meet the budget guidelines will result in reduced staff in departments, and affect programming if those reductions come to fruition. He has two proposals for the fire department's budget for 2014 that will meet the Mayor's guidelines. The first one would be to eliminate the fire prevention bureau of the department; which provides revenue to the department and the City. In addition, he faces unknowns about if /when retirements are planned. He has been led to believe there will be a couple which might help the department meet 2% reduction. Otherwise, he is looking at eliminating 5 positions. The second option, which is just as painful, if not eliminating the fire prevention bureau; would be to limit /reduce the number of staff on shift from 5 to 4 positions. That will result in the temporary closing of a fire station, and then the decision of whose neighborhood would not have a fire station temporarily would need to be determined. He stated that it is critical that he knows from the Board what their priorities are. He has been giving tours to the leadership of the City of IFD's programs; and has not been able to get a general consensus one way or the other on what their priorities would be. Today is an opportunity for the Board to share its opinion with him on where reductions should be made. Board of Fire Commissioners Special Meeting Minutes July 30, 2013 Commissioner McGonigal noted that the Chief has been thinking intently about this budget for a long time. Is it possible to reduce the amount of overtime in order to keep a position or two? Chief Parsons responded that there is a certain amount of money needed in the department's overtime budget to cover staffing during training /special events. When staff have to attend training, overtime is needed by other staff to cover the positions, and so that cost comes from overtime budget line. He stated that the department could probably cut 50% of its overtime budget (approximately $180,000) and keep most of the operational needs functioning. However, that would result in "dynamic staffing" which would occur when personnel call in sick and the number of staff on duty drops off to an unacceptable level necessitating a fire station to close temporarily. Alderperson Fleming arrived at 1646 hours. Discussion followed on the floor regarding what fire station would close during the "dynamic staffing" times, and how the decision would be made. Chief Parsons noted that it would result in improved efficiency in response to calls as there would be 3 or 4 staff responding with one vehicle working together which would be better than 2 staff and one vehicle - more effective use of personnel. Commissioner McGonigal asked whether it might be feasible to ask Council to raise fees for services from the fire prevention bureau to increase revenue for the City? Chief Parsons responded that the fire department raised those fees significantly this year. He is happy to report that so far this year the projected revenue for the department is ahead of what was expected, but he reminded the Board that we don't know what the rest of the year will look like. He noted that staff in the fire prevention bureau has been busy with Town of Ithaca inspections and development which has added to the revenue stream, which has been helpful. He further stated that the Board could look at increasing fees for 2014, including the development of a fee /fine for services provided by the department in response to false alarms. He is currently working with the City Attorney on a draft that would require Common Council to approve an amendment to the City Code to collect those fees /fines. Discussion followed on the floor regarding false alarms, which Chief Parsons described as — anything that causes an alarm that is not a true emergency. The draft proposal includes one "freebie" for the response to a false alarm at a particular property, and then fees for second, third, fourth occurrences with incremental increases in the amounts. He noted that the proposed fees do not reflect the actual cost of the response. In addition, in the case of repeat alarms at the same address /apartment /occupant the fee /fine would be assessed to the property owner and not the occupant. The purpose of the proposed ordinance is to discourage false alarms and also provide a way to increase revenue. However, there is a downside which isn't really a negative, in that if there is a positive result from fines because owners repair systems then fines go down, which decreases the revenue flow which sort of defeats the purpose but also results in increased safety. In addition, he noted that because the department provides fire protection services to 41 Board of Fire Commissioners Special Meeting Minutes July 30, 2013 the Town of Ithaca, the Town would also have to pass similar legislation, which he is not sure they would support. Discussion followed on the floor with Board members sharing their opinion that they were reluctant to give up the fire prevention bureau as fire alarm /sprinkler systems need to be inspected to ensure safety of occupants, and the revenue does help support the department from those inspection /review services. Chief Parsons noted that the fire prevention bureau also adds to staffing during the daytime to provide for assistance with calls when needed, which is a big benefit — in addition to the fire prevention piece that includes new development inspections, fire safety systems inspections, and re- inspection of systems. The success of the fire prevention bureau will be measured because the number of actual fires will decrease as annual, regular inspections will occur, which will generate revenue. There have also been significant positive strides made in elevator safety as well. The City of Ithaca has a lot of elevators so the fire prevention bureau is out inspecting and testing to ensure proper maintenance, and one cannot measure the value of that service either. Board members expressed their opinion that if the department has to, it would support the reduction of overtime and implement the dynamic staffing approach. It is important to keep the fire prevention bureau intact because life /safety is a priority for the Board. Chief Parsons stated that he has been reviewing emergency medical calls, which are a significant part of the services that the department provides. He is looking at data and calls, and discussing with staff what types of calls could be taken out of the department's response plan. Unfortunately, the department relies upon the person making the phone call to the 9 -1 -1 system to describe the need and the dispatcher to ask the correct questions of the caller to discern the type of emergency. For those calls that are more medical in nature the department is trying to find the right level of response. Hopefully, it will provide some opportunity to reduce call volume especially with fewer apparatus to respond with and to make sure the department responds to the most urgent calls. The department will need to work closely with the 9 -1 -1 dispatch center on how calls are classified. It's going to be a long process to get there, but should result in a reduction in the call volume for the department. For the record, the call volume is going up — within the past 12 months, 5,100 calls responded to, and it keeps edging up about 1 -2% each year as the City's population gets larger. Chief Parsons further noted that the fire department provides access to a lot of facilities that Bangs Ambulance personnel do not have access to, which also needs to be addressed. Alderperson Fleming noted that many insurance programs reimburse for ambulance rides, and wondered whether there was any possibility that the fire department's services for response to medical problems could be reimbursed. Chief Parsons noted that the administrative costs for implementing such a program would need to be considered. In addition, he feels there is a certain level of service from the department that the community expects, and they don't want a bill for it. He also is not a big believer in billing for services provided by the Ithaca Fire Department. Discussion followed on the floor regarding the City's financial history which has gotten worse through the years as its debt load increased. The City made the decision to E Board of Fire Commissioners Special Meeting Minutes July 30, 2013 borrow for equipment that used to be part of department's budgets, which has ended up costing the City more than the equipment's usefulness, and the City continuing to pay for things that are now worn out and can't be used. In addition more than 60% of the property in the City of Ithaca is tax exempt; and because of the State tax cap of 2% the City cannot take advantage of the new development occurring as it would have in the past - unless Common Council approves a tax cap override. The City cannot keep asking the taxpayers to take on its financial burdens. A brief discussion followed on the floor regarding the classification of calls that the department responds to (alpha, bravo, Charlie, echo) to determine whether the department could not automatically respond to them. It might potentially save on fuel costs, which isn't huge but it's something. The department could probably eliminate 1,000 calls - but 20% would fall into a gray area. If Bangs arrives and needs IFD is there any harm to individual by delay in IFD's response? It's a gamble, and he is working to sort the details out — which might be especially helpful when dynamic staffing occurring. The Board asked what would be the best way for them to make the case to the Mayor and Council to preserve the fire department at least at its current budget level. They also expressed their appreciation to Chief Parsons for these thoughtful and diligent proposals to meet the Mayor's budget request. Alderperson Fleming explained that it was her understanding that Common Council members would get summary level documents from departments to read. Last year was her first budget, and it was distressing to be lobbied by every department head regarding their individual department's needs. Common Council members kind of wanted to avoid that as; last year they were too overwhelmed with mountains of paperwork and details that it was difficult to understand what departments were asking for. She stated that Common Council liaisons to various boards /committees will also lobby on behalf of particular departments. Chief Parsons understands that the Board is really concerned about the fire department. The City of Ithaca is financially distressed, and departments have done a good job, even though budgets have been cut, to still provide the same services. However, that will not be able to be maintained. DPW has 1 street crew where it used to have 2 or 3 crews. This causes delays in projects which the public can't understand. You can't point fingers at anyone in particular for these problems — it's a cumulative process and departments can't continue to provide the same level of services in 2014 if their budgets will be cut as it will mean cuts in staffing and programming. The City needs revenue and tax payers are at their limit. At the same time, roads have to be taken care so there is a need for DPW, there is a need for the building department to do plan review, and there is a need for the Ithaca Police Department to provide protection to the City and to the fire department at certain situations. Chair Gilligan noted that the dynamic staffing of the fire stations will show the department's true colors and determine whether stations should actually be closed. In addition, with the number of potential retirements in the near future it would be a shame to cut the last fire fighters in as they are IFD's future. The future doesn't look great with '61 Board of Fire Commissioners Special Meeting Minutes July 30, 2013 experience being lost to retirements and the department needs to make every effort it can to keep new members, and maintain current staffing levels. Discussion followed on the floor regarding potential grant opportunities available to the department for staffing, but the grant can't be used if the City is reducing staffing — it would become ineligible. Further discussion followed on the floor regarding the obstacles to overcome in order to establish and maintain a bunker program of volunteers to provide support for the department. The challenge for the volunteer today is the huge time commitment, which involves at least 100 hours of initial training, plus ongoing training. Chief Parsons noted that the cost of turn out gear /person is about $2,900.00, which does not make it easy for the department to move ahead with a bunker program. Chief Parsons expressed his sincere thanks and appreciation to the Board for their input. He reiterated that all City department heads are having the same struggles as the fire department and proposals range from possible lay -offs to furloughs. He stated that his final budget is due to the Mayor and City Controller on August 1, 2013. He will provide the Board with a copy of his submittal. Chair Gilligan stated that the Board does not need to take any action today. He noted that further discussion on the department's budget would take place at the Board's regular meeting on Tuesday, August 13, 2013. At this point, he confirmed that Board's support for the Chief to propose in his budget: dynamic staffing, reduction in overtime, retain new fire fighters pending retirements on the horizon, and maintain the fire prevention bureau. C. NEXT MEETING: Chair Gilligan provided a draft of the agenda for August 13, 2013 meeting for the Board to review. He proposed changing the start time to 4:30 p.m. to accommodate Commissioners' schedules better. No Board Member objected to the start time of the meeting being 4:30 p.m. through the end of the year. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 1740 hours. Sarah L. Myers William Gilligan Information Management Specialist Chair