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Ochopee FCD Advisory Board Minutes 10/14/2013 2013 Ochopee Fire Control District Advisory Committee Minutes October 14 , 2013 OCHOPEE FIRE CONTROL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING OCTOBER 14, 2013 CALL TO ORDER: The meeting came to order at 4PM Roll Call of Attendees The following were in attendance: Chief Alan McLaughlin, Ochopee Fire Control District Assistant Chief Caleb Morris, Ochopee Fire Control District Frank Hawkins, Chairman, Port of the Islands Ronald Gilbert, Port of the Islands Anthony Davis, Port of the Islands Macbeth Collins, Everglades City was not present Additions and Deletions to the Agenda There were no additions or deletions to the agenda. Approval of Agenda The agenda was approved as presented. Approval of Minutes of the Regular Meeting of 9-9-13 The Minutes for the meeting of 9-9-13 were approved at written and the Chairman Frank Hawkins signed the minutes. Awards and Recognitions Chief McLaughlin—There are none to report for this meeting. Page 1 REPORTS: Chiefs Report Budget Chief McLaughlin — We are on track with the budget. We are in our second week of the new budget most of the blanket purchase orders have been opened. We are looking at some of our major line items such as hose which has been ordered for the year. Now we are working on ordering uniforms Chief Morris is in the midst of that project. We will be replacing one set of turnout gear this year. Frank Hawkins—How did we end the last fiscal year? Chief McLaughlin—We were really close I think we ended with $8,000. We did have some carry forward from some of the closed blanket purchase orders. By closing some of the purchase orders and doing the budget amendments earlier in the year it helped to offset our personnel expenses. We have traditionally been able to carry about$30,000 to$34,000 into the next year but as you cut every year that number is going to go down and if you have any unexpected costs during the year that offsets the carry forward. We have also hit rock bottom as to how far we can trim costs. Chief McLaughlin — So far for 2013 the US Fire fighter Line of Duty Deaths is 81 and for the month of September there were three. Ron Gilbert—Have you ever had a death at Ochopee Fire Control District? Chief McLaughlin -- None in Ochopee and there has been one line of duty death in Collier County which was in 1985 and that was in the Golden Gate Estates Fire. Operations Report There were 53 incidents for the month of September 2013 there was one call out of District it was mutual aid to Marco Islands Fire District it was a boat call to Cape Romano. There were 7 fire inspections that were done in Isles of Capri Fire District by Ochopee Fire Control District personnel and billed to Isles of Capri Fire District. No Fire Investigations were done. Ochopee Fire Control District personnel had 483 hours of training for September 2013. The call volume has been up this summer. Page 2 Assistant Chief Morris—He feels the year round resident population is increasing. Chief McLaughlin — He feels it also has to do with having an aging population because the local medical calls have increased. The Port of the Islands calls have increased as well. OLD BUSINESS: 1-75 Station Chief McLaughlin — 1-75 is progressing more rapidly than anticipated. Senator Richter is going to try and speed things up so that we can get the inter local agreement signed by the end of this month which means the funds would then be distributed. The grand opening has been moved up from October 2014 to July 1, 2014. He plans to attend the construction meetings that will be held at the 1-75 station site every Monday at 1:30PM. Eventually he will have a more detail schedule for them but right now he is still waiting to hear back from FDOT. It does look like we will be getting the 3.5 million as requested. The start up fee is approximately 1.47 million and then the operational fee of 1.4 million. There was a caveat from Senator Richter the state wants out of the 1-75 station funding in 5 years. However, he has received direction from the Secretary of Transportation if during that time frame if the economy improves Collier and Broward County can ask the state for a toll increase to continuing funding the stations. It would probably only be an increase of a dime per car to continue funding these stations. He said the Florida Department of Transportation would look at that because the County cannot fund the station. The State wants to opt out of funding the operation of the 1-75 station in three to five years; however, Senator Richter is going to make sure this agreement continues as long as he is in the Senate. Once we have an agreement regarding the station we will know how long we have before the state will withdraw its funding then the County Manager will contact Broward County and have some joint sessions to put the toll increases in a bill for submission. He does not see a change of service here the funding will be paid by the tolls as it should be. Frank Hawkins—What is Broward County's involvement? Chief McLaughlin— Broward has a fire station on 1-75 at the 34 mile marker that they have fully funded and now because the state is giving us money they want funding also. The State was afraid that was going to happen and they are not going to do it. The state is claiming that the Ochopee Fire Station is a special case. They are going to fund the station for three to five years then the tolls will fund it which is what we asked for three years ago. So we are going to get the facility built and the means to continue to run it in the future. Tony Davis—Is there a possibility we would not get the toll funding? Page 3 Chief McLaughlin — No, it is the suggestion of the Secretary of Transportation that we go after raising the toll rates for funding. Ron Gilbert—He asked if there was any federal funding? Chief McLaughlin — He said no, it is a State road, FDOT maintains that section of the road even though I-75 is an interstate highway. Up Date Port of the Islands Station Chief McLaughlin — They are moving along with the construction of the station and the first construction meeting will be 10-24-13. It might be done a month early so it will still be after Christmas before it is completed. Vacant Position on Advisory Board We still need someone for the Advisory Board. Tony Davis—Did approach Arlo Hilton but he is too busy he won't be able to join. He also asked if a convicted felon can be on the Advisory Committee. Chief McLaughlin —A convicted felon cannot serve in public office. Everglades City Agreement for Service Chief McLaughlin — Everglades City has submitted the agreement to their attorney he is amending it. He should receive the new agreement by the end of the month and then it will be sent to the County Attorney for their review. He has spoken with code officials and the County Attorney's Office in regards to addressing the fire inspection aspect of this from the liability of the District and the County quite distinctly. In the current agreement it is very vague as to who would be responsible in the event a death occurred due to a fire event with in Everglades City this has to be cleaned up the wording has to be clear and distinct. He is going to meet with the mayor for clarification as to what his expectations are regarding the service Ochopee Fire District is to supply to his municipality. We are going to absolve ourselves of any responsibility under state statute for inspections, or enforcement of fire violations or fire plan reviews within Everglades City unless we are given 100%jurisdiction over these issues otherwise we are only going to provide fire suppression and rescue medical services. Page 4 District I Chief McLaughlin — He went over a printed power point presentation with current information regarding District I. We don't want to take in all of District I just the area we are serving which is 71% of the area. He is presenting this information so that they can formulate a letter to present to Commissioner Fiala and BCC Staff. He went over the District I map explaining each area and why we should only take in the area we are covering now There is $302,000,000 taxable dollars in District I and another $52,000,000 in tangible improvements. The tangible improvements come from all over the place so it is hard to determine where those numbers come from. Of the$302,000,000 only$38,000,000 is in the area we cover. Frank Hawkins — At one time we discussed that Ochopee would take in all of District I and we would contract out the areas we couldn't cover with East Naples, Golden Gate and Isles of Capri Fire Districts are we not going to do that now? Chief McLaughlin —No, the County Attorney suggested not pursuing contracting with the other Districts because of the legalities;they felt it was not a good idea. Frank Hawkins- If we don't pursue that would it still be labeled as District I? Chief McLaughlin—It will still be labeled as District I until it is annexed into the other Districts. Chief McLaughlin The distribution of units served and percentage of District I covered by the contracted Fire Districts are as follows: Ochopee Fire Control District covers 366 units=70.2%of District I East Naples Fire District covers 91 units= 17.4%of District I Golden Gate Fire District covers 56 units= 10.7%of District Isles of Capri Fire District covers 8 units = 1.7%of District I Chief McLaughlin—Under the current contract the revenue is divided as follows: Golden Gate Fire District receives 29.33%of District East Naples Fire District receives 29.33%of District I Ochopee Fire Control District receives 29.33%of District] Isles of Capri Fire District receives 12.01%of District I Page 5 Chief McLaughlin-The present distribution of revenue is: Golden Gate Fire District $85,900 East Naples Fire District $85,900 Ochopee Fire Control District $85,900 Isles of Capri Fire District $58,400 Total $316,100 Chief McLaughlin—Ochopee is requesting to incorporate the area they protect into our District. This would result in approximately $68,200 which is 20.8% of the total District One revenue. We are getting $85,900 now under contract the more valuable properties are in the other Districts areas. We are currently getting 26% of the District One revenue. The units we want to take into the Ochopee Fire District at this time generate$68,200 at 2mills; however, if that area is incorporated into our Fire District it would be taxed at 4mills increasing our revenue to $136,400. Right now we are getting $85,900 if we take it into our District we will receive approximately $50,500 more even though it is a smaller percentage because of the higher millage rate it will generate more revenue. Once we take it into our District we won't receive District I funding any more. The remaining funds in District I would be $260,500 to be divided between the remaining three departments. The new contract percentage rates would be: East Naples Fire District 37%_$96,385 Golden Gate Fire District 37%=$96,385 Isles of Capri Fire District 26%= $67,730 All of the District's involved would make more money. There is still the option to take it all in and contract the areas we can't cover but that would not be a good option. We would only receive another $27,000 but it would be a lot of complex legalities involving contracts it wouldn't be worth it. The call volume in our area of District I have diminished significantly because of the creation of the Picayune State Park where as calls have increased in some of the other areas of District I. He would rather let those other Fire Districts cover those areas because they are closer. Frank Hawkins—So the argument is not to take in all of District I anymore it is to just take in the portion of District I that Ochopee is already covering. Chief McLaughlin—The next question is what does the tax payers in that area think about it. Frank Hawkins—He brought up the fact that the tax payers in District I are only paying two mills where as for the same coverage the rest of the taxpayers are paying four mills. Page 6 Chief McLaughlin—He said there are only 27 tax payers in our portion of District I. Frank Hawkins — He asked if Golden Gate and East Naples Fire Districts might have an alternative argument regarding the boundaries of District I. Chief McLaughlin — No, he spoke to Commissioner Paige of East Naples. East Naples and Golden Gate Fire District are trying to merge so their prospective District I areas are going to merge. Commissioner Paige said if Ochopee Fire Control District were to annex their section of District I it will just make it easier for East Naples and Golden Gate to do the same. Frank Hawkins — Why does pulling our money out increase the portions paid to the other departments? Chief McLaughlin — Because when we pull our $68,200 out of the total it leaves a balance of $260,500 to be divided among the other three fire departments. Frank Hawkins— Our area of District I is only generating $68,200 even though we are getting a bigger split of the funds right now at $85,900 so we lose there but by bumping it up to 4mills we gain a lot more. Chief McLaughlin — We are consolidating District I by taking the piece that is relevant to Ochopee Fire Control District. If all the Fire Districts incorporated their sections of District I it would cease to exist the County wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. Then the County would only have Isles of Capri Fire District, Goodland, and Ochopee Fire Control District. In the future you might see a more urbanized corridor type Fire Department and then a rural fire department that would extend from lmmokalee to Corkscrew and all the way down covering about 85% of the County with a millage rate of 3.5 or 3.8. There is also the possibility because of the feuding that exist between the independent fire departments and their lack of financial accountability that there is the probability of the Fire Departments consolidating under the County which would secure the accountability of tax payer dollars. The Chief's goal is to make Ochopee Fire Control District as solvent as possible within the next three to five years. NEW BUSINESS: Chief McLaughlin—Would you like for us to produce the agenda before the meeting so that you can review it. Frank Hawkins—Yes Chief McLaughlin directed that in the future the agenda is to be e-mailed 4 to 5 days prior to the advisory committee meetings any new items will be put in as an add on. Page 7 SCBA Chief McLaughlin —SCBA is self contained breathing apparatus we need to replace our current equipment. He has found a company in which we can lease purchase the equipment with 10% down. The total price for the new equipment is approximately $110,000 which includes 17 air packs and 36 cylinders. We are going to seek out quotes which could run anywhere from $96,000 to $120,000. Our current SCBA is valuable to vendors who refurbish old equipment for resale. If we were to sell the equipment he feels we could receive enough funds to cover the 10% down for the new SCBA. He is going to ask for a loan from general fund for the down payment inorder to engage in a contract for the new SCBA equipment. We have been making payments on two engines in the amount of $44,000 of which the last payment will be in January 2014. He is going to keep those funds in the budget for payment on the new SCBA equipment. The equipment would be finance for two years with payment to begin one year after the equipment has been purchased. Once we receive the new air packs he is going to sell the old equipment and use those funds to pay back the general fund loan for the down payment. We will continue to budget the $44,000 for the next two years to cover the payments on the new equipment. Purchasing this new equipment should put us in good shape for the next 15 years and it would be a zero impact to our budget. Further Discussion of District I Frank Hawkins — He requested a step by step game plan to be incorporated into the next agenda regarding the approach to incorporating District I. Chief McLaughlin — He suggested sending a letter to the current commissioner of our District and a copy to the County Manager as well. That would initiate the process then it will come to the staff. Then it will go to the board as a resolution via staff and support. Ours would be via resolution because it is a redesign of district lines. You begin the process by sending a letter of intent from the Ochopee Fire Control District Advisory Committee with the facts of who, what when and why. It should create a resolution to be brought back to the Board of County Commissioners for a vote. Frank Hawkins -- So we start with a letter of intent from our Advisory Board to our County Commissioner and County Manager to trigger internal activities. Page 8 Chief McLaughlin — If it does not trigger any activity then you would have to meet with the commissioner one on one or you could have a meeting with her and hand her the letter. He is hoping we can get a resolution done by March and no later than April in order to get it on the next tax rolls. He already has a resolution that was prepared in 2009 but was never submitted because the idea was tabled. PUBLIC COMMENT: None. ADJOURNMENT: A motion was made to adjourn it was seconded and passed the meeting ended. Frank Hawkins, Chairman Ochopee Fire Control District Advisory Committee Page 9