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Ochopee FCD Advisory Board Minutes 04/15/2014 Ochopee Fire Control Advisory Committee Minutes April 15 , 2014 OCHOPEE FIRE CONTROL DISTRICT ADIVSORY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES OF APRIL 15, 2014 CALL TO ORDER: The meeting came to order at 4:02PM. Roll Call of Attendees The following were in attendance: Alan McLaughlin, Fire Chief, Ochopee Fire Control District Len Price,Administrator,Administrative Services, Collier County Frank Hawkins, Chairman of the Advisory Committee, Port of the Islands Ron Gilbert, Advisory Committee Member, Port of the Islands Anthony Davis, Advisory Committee Member, Port of the Islands Additions and Deletions to Agenda None. Approval of Agenda A motion was made to approve the agenda it was seconded and passed. Approval of Minutes of Regular Meeting of March 10, 2014 A motion was made to approve the minutes of March 10, 2014 as written it was seconded and passed. Page 1 REPORTS: Chief's Report Budget Chief Alan McLaughlin -We are still on track with the budget as we enter into the third quarter. We will be entering contract negotiations on the 21St of April and hopefully we will be able to reduce some of our budget. The last contract had language in it that was missed so personnel had to be furloughed which increased overtime and job banker expenses. A year ago the Clerk of Courts interpreted a section of the contract differently than what was intended costing the Department an additional $12,000 in expenses. These issues are going to be corrected in the new contract which could mean a possible budgetary savings of$30,000. He wants to institute the contract earlier than the Oct 1, 2014 deadline to possibly in June or July which would reduce some of the budgetary expenses during 2014. Frank Hawkins —What do you mean when you say you are on track with the budget is there a variance or range? Chief McLaughlin — We kind of do a projection as to how we have done over the past three years and compare that to what is going on in the current budget as to whether we are on track or if we have spent less or more than in the past. Personnel have helped in the past with stabilizing the overtime and job banker expenses by trading for time off instead of taking leave time. Line of Duty Deaths Chief McLaughlin -The US Firefighter line of Duty Deaths for the year of 2014 is 33 and for the month of March 12. Awards and Recognitions Chief McLaughlin - We do not have any awards and recognitions however, we did complete the Lieutenant testing and have established a list of five eligible personnel. We will promote off that list when positions come available. The list is established for two years unless otherwise stated in the union contract. Page 2 Operations Report Chief McLaughlin —We had 72 calls for the month of March that is an all time record. We are 17% up over last year's volume of incidents. Our medical call volume is increasing all over the District not just on 1-75. We had four mutual aid calls outside the District to Marco Island. There was one boating accident call to Marco Island. There was one fire inspection in the Isles of Capri Fire District by Ochopee Fire Personnel. There were no fire investigations. Frank Hawkins—What are the circumstances in which Ochopee would respond to a mutual aid call and Isles of Capri doesn't? Chief McLaughlin — It depends on where the call occurs on Marco Island if it is on the south side, the highlands, winterberry or caxcambus pass Ochopee is the next call out. OLD BUSINESS 1-75 Station Chief McLaughlin—The 1-75 station is moving right along. Vacant position on Advisory Board Chief McLaughlin — He notified the Mayor that he needs to appoint someone to the Advisory Board the current appointee is not attending the meetings. Everglades City Agreement for Service Chief McLaughlin —The Everglades City Agreement for Service is still on County Attorney Scott Teach's desk but it will be coming back to Everglades City for their review. The language has been changed to allow the Ochopee Fire Control District to have AHJ authority so that we can conduct fire inspections in Everglades City however, enforcement would still go back to Everglades City. District I Frank Hawkins—What is going to happen with District I? Chief McLaughlin — He has no idea. You submitted your letters and he gave a presentation to Mark Isackson. The idea is still out there. Page 3 SCBA Up Date Chief McLaughlin - The SCBA have arrived therefore that project is concluded. We expect to put them in service in two weeks and we intend to put the old equipment up for auction. He is hoping to obtain $5,000 to$8,000 for the old SCBA equipment. RLS for Expansion of Ochopee Fire District Chief McLaughlin — The RLS and the executive summary for the expansion of Ochopee Fire District is part of District I and the ISO rating. The purpose of taking in the southern part of District I would mean Ochopee Fire District would touch the Marco Islands Fire District's boundaries because in the ISO rating system it is stated that if the neighboring District that administers mutual aid has a station within five miles of the District line the other District would receive full credit. This means if Ochopee Fire Control District took in the southern portion of District I we would comply with this rule and would obtain credit for Marco Islands Fire Station. NEW BUSINESS ISO Rating(Results Attached) Chief McLaughlin — We didn't do very well regarding our water supply Everglades City has problems with their water system. In the next two years he is going to work on improving the water supply. There were some other items on the ISO list that needed improvement and the Chief is already working towards making those changes. We made an ISO rating of four by one point and he is already making improvements that will give the District an additional 10 points. A four rating is 60 to 70 points so there is a possibility of an ISO rating of three next time. He is gearing up for ISO to come back in two years to re-evaluate the District and he is hoping for an ISO rating of three. We did well going from a 6/9 to a 4/X rating. If we can add a training facility it would give us three more points. He is working with CID to lease property so that a training facility could be added. EMS is also interested in assisting with this project because they have firefighters that need to train as well. He purchased a new training program which will also help improve our rating. Frank Hawkins — How would the consolidation of Ochopee and East Naples affect the ISO Rating? Chief McLaughlin — You are still rated on areas Golden Gate has areas that are 9 and 10 East Naples has areas rated at 10 they are a 4/10. Regardless of being consolidated or not it doesn't matter they look at areas. ISO is coming every five years whether you ask them out or not. Page 4 Chief McLaughlin — You can ask for a survey prior to a review we just fill in what has been changed and then send it back for a re-evaluation but we have to wait two years before we can do that. A merger might help but it depends on where your stations are. He is scheduled to speak at the CID Meeting regarding the new ISO Rating. He has notified the Mayor in Everglades City and there is an article in the Mullet Wrapper regarding the ISO Rating change. Researching the possibilities of merging Ochopee Fire District with East Naples Fire District Chief McLaughlin — Commissioner Henning requested that the Fire Departments look into the feasibility of merging Ochopee Fire Control District with East Naples District and what it would take to do that. They want us to take a hard look at the feasibility, what it would take and how it would be done to merge the two departments. We have had some brief discussion about it internally but we have not officially sat down with all the parties involved to discuss it. Frank Hawkins — Is this going to be the same process as used for the Isles of Capri and East Naples merger? Chief McLaughlin—No. Len Price — Isles of Capri was a completely different set of circumstances it was generated by the community. Ron Gilbert — I am disappointed that we did not know about this before the commissioner meeting. Do you know why Ochopee Fire Control District was late in finding out about all of this? Chief McLaughlin —No I found out about this two days after it was mentioned at a Golden Gate Commission Meeting. Ron Gilbert — If they want to join with us and find out what to do they need to treat us with more respect. Chief McLaughlin — Commissioner Henning did apologize that some of this information did not come out or was transferred he felt there should have been better communication. Commissioner Henning said there would be an involvement of the Ochopee Advisory Committee, County Staff, and Staff from the East Naples/Golden Gate contingency and their elected board members. So we will go through the process similar in dollars and numbers that we did with Capri but without the direction they were taking. Page 5 Chief McLaughlin -Two years ago several of the Isles of Capri community members went to the County Managers Office and told the County how poorly they were managing the fire service so they wanted someone else to do it. The County relented so they put some bids out to see who wanted to manage Isles of Capri. Marco Island put in a bid and then East Naples put in a bid so because of this process they are merging with East Naples Fire District. The County intended to hire a Chief for Isles of Capri so they are where they are today because of their request to the County two years ago. East Naples made a proposal to take Isles of Capri over based on what was told to the County by the Community and their vote because they felt the Department was doing badly. As far as he knows no one is interested in getting rid of our fire department this Is a completely different paradigm that existed with that community. The community chose to make the change. Ron Gilbert—One of the objectives to this is to lower the millage rate is there anything you can do now to lower our millage rate? Chief McLaughlin—There is nothing I can do because I don't have the power to do it. Ron Gilbert — How does District I play into this, if you received credit for the service you are already providing to District I? Chief McLaughlin —One of the proposals he heard was if you merge District I with Ochopee Fire District and brought the millage rate down to 3.75 which is the maximum rate for a split District. Realistically if the County was to continue to give us the Pilt money and District I we could bring our millage rate to 3.75 add two more people to give us 24 hours supervision and not have to merge to do that we could do that today if they were willing to do that. District I is political that is the bottom line. Len Price — District I is currently at a millage rate of 2 so if it was merged in even at a millage rate of 3.75 the commissioners would be imposing a tax increase on the tax payers. Chief McLaughlin — If they are willing to do that because of a merge they could do that today lower the overall millage rate of the larger population of tax payers. Because of obligations we are going up to 4.7 mills almost a %of a mill increase for three years. Len Price — First let me say the bottom line goal of the Board of County Commissioners has been fire consolidation for a long time and they want to see it throughout the County. It has long been a stated goal to see one Fire District for all of Collier County. As they start to see Golden Gate and East Naples merging and North Naples and Big Corkscrew merging they see there is a possibility. There was a time it was just talk and no one was moving anywhere. This specific issue was brought up at a board meeting by one of the East Naples Commissioners and he simply asked Commissioner Henning if he would entertain it. Page 6 Len Price - Commissioner Henning was at that meeting to listen he was not authorized to entertain anything. He took the next step which was to take it to the whole board of county commissioners and that is why you were not consulted to begin with. The Florida Sunshine rules make communication very difficult sometimes. The Commissioner is not allowed to make any decisions on his own until the board directs him to do so and he cannot talk to any of the other board members until he does so in a public meeting. Essentially he asked do you folks want to have staff look at this as to whether it is feasible at what point in time or do you not want to have discussions about it. We are going to put meetings together with all the stake holders and in my mind the first thing we need to do is identify what are our goals whether we are merged or not. What are our goals, what are our requirements then we take another look is there anything missing that we are not getting right now that can be improved upon. Then we look at what would it be like if we were all together. The goals that the commissioners laid out for us included the same or better service, same or better millage and that none of our firefighters or staff lose their jobs or any of their benefits they keep their rank. We are going to have conversations and we are going to bring back to the board some sort of recommendations which will include options. Frank Hawkins—The County is already well documented in wanting one County wide fire entity. Chief McLaughlin—The Commissioners have. Len Price—So is it feasible? Chief McLaughlin—This started in 1980. Len Price — It has come up and it has failed time and time again will it this time there is no way of knowing. But we won't know what is doable until we put the pencil to the paper. We have a special assessment coming to pay for the station and to pay for the breathing apparatus that has to be resolved. We also have the issue of the new station on 1-75 we have funding from the State of Florida for four years. The meetings for the feasibility study will be publicly noted. Frank Hawkins —It wasn't that long ago there was a lot of turmoil and unrest at East Naples we are keeping our costs under control and our service is good I would hate to see us get involved with a big mess. Len Price—Those are fair issues and need to become part of the final report. Tony Davis—Especially this area because of its uniqueness of this District. Len Price—Because of the distance from every place else. Page 7 Tony Davis — How are we going to have a positive effect on East Naples any way it is 20 miles away. Frank Hawkins— He thought that East Naples had purchased property by the Golf Course on 41 for a station. Chief McLaughlin—They did the property is about seven miles from here. Ron Gilbert—Doesn't the geographic area of the Ochopee Fire District generate the pilt money? Chief McLaughlin - About 82% of the Ochopee Fire Control District was taken up by the Big Cypress purchase that is what generated the pilt. Pilt was initially started by Vince Doerr because he had a relationship with the Park Manager he is actually the one who got the County started collecting the pilt for the purpose of funding the fire department. Prior to the collection of the pilt funds Ochopee Fire Control District was a volunteer department. In 1991 the pilt money was moved into general fund by Diane Flagg because they needed money for ambulances so it has been in general fund since 1991 but that is under the control of the manager. Ron Gilbert— If it's the Ochopee geographical district that is generating the pilt money why do we have to go begging for it every year to piece out our budget when the expense is here? Len Price — I don't know about pilt or pilt budgeting. I do know it is not guaranteed every year and as a matter of fact there was some concerns due to some changes in the federal rules that is might not happen. We are okay for this year but this could be a continuing theme on down the road. Chief McLaughlin —Pilt this year was stuck in the farm bill. It is not a guarantee but there is still some County land touching Broward and some portions of Dade. Because of Florida law only 11%of the pilt funding has to be used in one of four areas, law enforcement, roads, schools and fire protection the other 89%the County can spend as they please. Ron Gilbert—If we received more or all of the pilt wouldn't that lower our millage rate? Chief McLaughlin—Yes, considerably. Page 8 Ron Gilbert — I believe that is why our millage rate is so high because you have to make the expenditures to cover that area but the people owning property here are supporting that. We supported 1-75 forever and never received any contribution from the State or the reds now that situation is getting better with the new fire station out there we will no longer have to bear all that cost. One reason our millage rate is so high we have been spending a lot of money covering an area that we don't get any contribution from. The geographical area has to be covered and the pilt was instituted to cover that expense but we aren't getting the pilt money. Frank Hawkins—Do you know how long this feasibility study will take? Len Price— Her next step is to speak at the Everglades City Council Meeting in order to obtain a representative from Everglades. She thinks possibly a period of three to four months will be sufficient time to collect the information. The question is what would be the right time period she does not want to have the meetings while the seasonal residents are away. Chief McLaughlin—It is about the same October to Easter. Ron Gilbert—There are 25%to 30% of the people live here year round but a lot of the seasonal residents are not registered to vote here. Len Price — So when it comes to voting it will be one group of people that might be different than the group that might be interested. Ron Gilbert — Some of the seasonal people are registered to vote here because they spend more time here. Len Price — Doesn't expect much activity during the summer regarding the feasibility study because she wants to wait until the seasonal residents return for their input. Chief McLaughlin—Even the board of county commissioners break for the summer plus we will be busy setting up the station and conducting personnel interviews for 1-75. Ron Gilbert — Sometimes the most vocal group of people aren't necessarily the ones with the right ideas. Len Price— Ultimately any decision that is made will be by the board of county commissioners. They will listen to every ones opinions but they will vote on what they believe is in the best interest of the community. A lot of times it is what the people wanted and sometimes it isn't. Frank Hawkins—You have to look at it from the stand point of the long term outcome. Page 9 PUBLIC COMMENT None ADJOURNMENT A motion was made to adjourn the meeting it was seconded and passed the meeting ended. Jt Frank Hawkins, Chairman, Ochopee Fire Control District Page 10