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Agenda 02/28/2012 Item # 5A2/28/2012 Item 5.A. December 23, 2011 Donna Fiala County Commissioner Board of County Commissioners 3299 Tamiaml Trail East, Suite 303 Naples, FL 34112-5746 Dear Commissioner Fiala: A group of citizens from the Isles of Capri Fire District have formed a committee to do a comparative study of the budgetary and operational advantages of various administrative alternatives for the Isles of Capri Fire Department We the Advisory Board support this effort-and agree to.review and act on their recommendations based on our obligation to provide for the health and welfare of the department Specifically, the comparison shall include but not be limited to these scenarios: 1. Maintaining the Fire Departments current administrative relationship with Collier County 2. Changing the administrative organization from Collier County to another Collier Fire Department 3. Merging the Isles of Capri Fire District with a neighboring Fire District 4. Changing the administrative status of the Fire Department from dependent to independent Sincerely, Joe Langkawel, Chairman Isles of Capri Fire Advisory Board C.. Leo Ochs, County Manager Dan Summers, BES Director Packet Page -3- RECEIVED Office of the County p4anaq., DEC 2 9 2011 Actin; r COLLIER COUNTY Board of County Commissioners Item Number: 5.A. 2/28/2012 Item 5.A. Item Summary: Presentation by Joseph Langkawel, Chairman, Isles of Capri Fire Advisory Board, of a fact - finding report concerning administrative options for the Isles of Capri Fire Department. Meeting Date: 2/28/2012 Prepared By Name: BartlettKristi Title: Executive Aide to the BCC 2/21/2012 9:03:05 AM Submitted by Title: Executive Aide to the BCC Name: BartlettKristi 2/21/2012 9:03:06 AM Approved By Name: KlatzkowJeff Title: County Attorney Date: 2/21/2012 11:33:56 AM Name: MitchellIan Title: Executive Manager, BCC Date: 2/22/2012 2:39:29 PM Name: SheffieldMichael Title: Manager- Business Operations, CMO Date: 2/22/2012 2:46:37 PM Packet Page -4- 2/28/2012 Item S.A. Administrative Alternatives for the Isles of Capri Fire & Rescue Department A Report by the Isles of Capri Budgetary and Operational Investigative Committee For the Isles of Capri Fire Advisory Board Friday, February 03, 2012 Packet Page -5- 2/28/2012 Item 5.A. Budgetary and Operational Investigative Committee Table of Contents 1. Introduction 3 2. Mission 3 3., Scope 4 4. The Current Environment 4 5 Capri as an Independent District 4 6. Consolidation Implications within the Capri Community 5 7. Committee Workshop Meetings 6 8. The Three Alternatives 6 The Collier County Option 6 The East Naples Option 8 The Marco Island Option 10 9. Recommendation 12 10. Initial Steps for Moving Forward 12 Page 2 of 13 Packet Page -6- 2/28/2012 Item 5.A. Budgetary and Operational Investigative Committee 1. Introduction The Citizens Budgetary and Operational Investigative Committee was formed to seek out and learn about available alternatives to the current administration of the Isles of Capri Fire District's MSTU. Currently the Isles of Capri Fire District's MSTU is administered by Collier County, under the direction of Dan Summers, Director of the Bureau of Emergency Services. Our goal was to look at three possible alternatives and try to understand how each of the three would be accomplished, and which, if any, would be the recommended option by this committee. We looked at these three options: 1. Remain with Collier County as the administrator of our MSTU 2. Look at an option with the East Naples Fire & Rescue as the administrator of our MSTU 3. Look at an option with the Marco Island Fire & Rescue as the administrator of our MSTU 2. Mission Our citizens committee arose from an unwavering desire to maintain our current level of fire and rescue services for our community, and from serious concerns about our Fire Department's current budgetary and operational situation: A. Budgetary - We are concerned about projected budget shortfalls in the upcoming years. These shortfalls are due to decreasing ad- valorem revenues brought on by the downturn in property values. We feel as if our Fire Department needs to look at alternatives that could reduce our operating costs in order to maintain our current level of services. The area of particular concern is the amount of our annual budget that goes to Collier County for the infrastructure and support services they provide. We believe the prices are high for some of the services provided by the County, and we sought out alternatives that could reduce those costs and help relieve some of the pressure brought on by the revenue shortfalls. B. Operational — We feel as if the County has not managed the affairs of our Fire Department in a good faith manner recently. The way in which Chief Rodriguez was terminated can only be described as a management fiasco by any standard. It is not within the scope of this document to revisit all of the management failures related to the termination, but the information is readily available for anyone who is not already well acquainted with the whole event. We also see ongoing management issues since the termination. Our Fire Department is currently operating without a Chief, and we in the community are being subjected to rumors of misbehavior, misdeeds, and lack of oversight with in the Department. If true, the lack of oversight is troubling because of its potential impact on the readiness and effectiveness of the Fire Department. So we sought alternatives that would allow us to be managed by a more capable management chain, with a specific expertise in the fire service, which the County management simply does not possess. C. County Consolidation - It is the opinion of this committee, after communication with representatives from all levels of County management and a review of documentation provided to us, that the ultimate fate of this Fire Department and our MSTU is to be merged into a single Collier County General Fund Emergency Management Department, and our firefighting resources would be shared across all of the areas of District One for which the County is responsible. While it is hard to pin down a specific Page 3 of 13 Packet Page -7- 2/28/2012 Item 5.A. Budgetary and Operational Investigative Committee timeline for consolidation under the County, we believe that such a consolidation could take place within the next two years. Although the County has not finalized their plan for consolidation yet, we have seen documents from their consolidation study, and County management acknowledges that they have to find a way to resolve the problems created by these disparate, tiny departments in their current form. So we conclude that consolidation is unavoidable under the County. It is simply a matter of time. In light of this, we sought alternatives that would give us some freedom of choice going forward. It should be noted that we did not have consolidation as a factor in front of us at the beginning of this process. It was during the investigation that we discovered how close the County is to formalizing a consolidation plan, and we added it to our list of considerations as a result. 3. Scope This committee did not set out to formulate a comprehensive alternative plan to our current situation. We have neither the expertise nor the resources to create such a plan. The scope of our mission was to define a framework for two plausible alternatives, compare them to our current situation, and see if any of them had any significant advantages over the others. At the end of our investigation, we created this report which outlines the means by which the alternatives might be implemented. We tried to narrow down the options to one that addresses our concerns, and also seems the most plausible, the least disruptive, and that holds the most advantages for the Isles of Capri community. 4. The Current Environment As you know, we have numerous independent fire districts within Collier County, along with two other city fire departments. Talks of consolidation among these disparate districts have taken place repeatedly in the last five years, but no consolidation has materialized so far. We believe these districts have a made good faith effort to achieve consolidation in some form, but the efforts have been plagued by legal and political roadblocks, financial challenges, resource concerns, and in some cases, just bad timing. That said, there is no doubt within the inner circles of the fire service that broad -scale consolidation is on the horizon, particularly as the legal and political impediments are remedied. Virtually every independent fire district in the County is having trouble operating in the black, and they simultaneously support bloated infrastructures and redundant cost frameworks. The logic behind consolidation is clear, the IAFF Local Union Chapter is strongly behind it, and talks among the independent districts are firing up once again. 5. A Note about Isles of Capri as an Independent District In light of this environment of consolidation and the possible easing of legal roadblocks, we believe that any thought of ourselves becoming an independent district would be completely out of the question. To put it plainly, we would be laughed out of Tallahassee if we sought to present such a proposal to the State in the current environment. Furthermore, our revenue structure would be entirely inadequate to build the kind of infrastructure needed to administer even a small fire department such as ours. With all of these facts in front of us, we felt it would be little more than a waste of this committee's time to give this option any serious consideration. Page 4 of 13 Packet Page -8- 2/28/2012 Item 5.A. Budgetary and Operational Investigative Committee 6. Consolidation Implications within the Capri Community In the course of our research into possible alternatives for our Fire Department, we received a series of documents that are part of Collier County's study regarding consolidation of the Isles of Capri Fire District into a single County Department along with two other Fire MSTU's and some other County departments. Specifically, the study outlines the merging of the Isles of Capri Fire District with the Goodland Fire District, the Ochopee Fire District, the CC EMS Ambulance Services and BES Emergency Operations into one single Collier County General Fund Department. This would involve dissolving all of the MSTU's, including ours. The CCBCC has absolute authority to dissolve our MSTU, with or without cause, at any time, and without any feedback from the Fire Advisory Board or any vote on the part of the residents. After looking at these documents and talking to County Manager Leo Ochs, we have come to the conclusion that County management will ultimately consolidate these departments. They feel as if they need to solve the problem created by these separate departments, and we believe they will do it within the next two years. Furthermore, this study calls for specific resources to be taken from our District and stationed at the Goodland Fire Station permanently, which is troubling to us. For reference, The Isles of Capri Fire District MSTU was created by the Collier County Board of County Commissioners under Florida Status 125. In part, Florida Statute 125 specifically grants the BCC the power to: (q)Establish, and subsequently merge or abolish those created hereunder, municipal service taxing or benefit units for any part or all of the unincorporated area of the county, within which may be provided fire protection; law enforcement; beach erosion control; recreation service and facilities; water; alternative water supplies, including, but not limited to, reclaimed water and water from aquifer storage and recovery and desalination systems; streets; sidewalks; street lighting; garbage and trash collection and disposal; waste and sewage collection and disposal; drainage; transportation; indigent health care services; mental health care services; and other essential facilities and municipal services from funds derived from service charges, special assessments, or taxes within such unit only. (r)Levy and collect taxes, both for county purposes and for the providing of municipal services within any municipal service taxing unit, and special assessments; borrow and expend money; and issue bonds, revenue certificates, and other obligations of indebtedness, which power shall be exercised in such manner, and subject to such limitations, as may be provided by general law. There shall be no referendum required for the levy by a county of ad valorem taxes, both for county purposes and for the providing of municipal services within any municipal service taxing unit. So, as we look at the possible alternatives for our MSTU, we work under the belief that the County will consolidate us within a year or two if we take no action at all, and we feel as if we are under the gun to provide plausible alternatives in order to give us some freedom of choice. We recommend that talks with these alternative fire districts begin immediately in order to provide the time needed to work out the details and formulate a cohesive alternative plan. Even if the plan proved to be implausible, we need the time to make that determination before our District is consolidated into a larger department under the County. It would be inaccurate to say that consolidation has no benefits for us. There are obvious budgetary advantages to creating a leaner, thinner organizational structure that is part of a larger pool of resources, but we are troubled Page 5of13 Packet Page -9- 2/28/2012 Item 5.A. Budgetary and Operational Investigative Committee by the prospect of our resources being taken from our District at a time when we are also dealing with revenue shortfalls. We believe strongly that our existence as a Fire MSTU has allowed our tax dollars to be spent within the boundaries of our community, and we believe the residents of this District would not want that to change. We believe our community gains comfort from the fact that our Fire Department's resources and personnel are dedicated to our District exclusively, and we believe our residents would resist any effort to change this unique level of protection. If we should find ourselves faced with a higher millage rate in the near future, the net effect of a consolidation would be an increase in our tax rate at the same time as our resources are being diminished. We see this as a grave concern and we believe our Fire Advisory Board should take the same approach. 7. Committee Workshop Meetings Our committee engaged in workshop meetings with the administrator of each of the three organizations included in this study. They were: Marco Island Fire & Rescue — Mike Murphy, Chief East Naples Fire & Rescue — Kingman Schuldt, Chief, and Tom Cannon, Commission Chair Collier County Bureau of Emergency Services - Dan Summers, Director The workshop meetings were all enlightening. Each of the three organizations had a unique outlook on our Department and our relationship within the larger fire service community, and each has a different outline for a future Isles of Capri Fire Department. We thank each of the administrators for taking the time to meet with us and providing their insights into our situation. 8. The Three Alternatives: The Collier County Option Collier County has managed our Fire Department since its inception. And even though we have seen significant management issues recently, it is fair to say that our experience with our Fire Department over the long term has been a positive one. We have enjoyed a high level of resources, and we have benefited from an excellent Fire Chief who has been a neighbor and friend. Chief Rod has been exactly the kind of man a community would want as its Fire Chief; dedicated to protecting the lives and property in this District, committed to training and continuous improvement, and building this Fire Department from the ground up. A. The Meeting Our meeting with Collier County included Dan Summers and Barbara Shea. While they were not very candid about any consolidation plans, the meeting was informative and cordial. We met for about two hours, and discussed the services that the County provides as administrator of our MSTU. We had a broad conversation about consolidation among the independent fire districts, and also about our community's desire to keep our Fire Department in its current form. They have a good grasp of the environment in which they are working, and they have significant challenges in front of them that are larger than just the Isles of Capri. Page 6 of 13 Packet Page -10- 2/28/2012 Item S.A. Budgetary and Operational Investigative Committee B. Functional Description The future of our Fire Department under Collier County is unclear. The County is not quick to share with us any detailed information about their consolidation plans or timelines. They freely acknowledge that a study is underway, one of several that have taken place over the past few years. As a committee, we accept the statement that there is no formal plan underway yet. However, we strongly believe that consolidation is inevitable, and that a broader groundwork is being laid right now to `grease the skids' for a future consolidation. So the best functional description we can put on this option is that our District would exist as an MSTU, just as we are now, until the County ultimately moves forward with the consolidation of our District into a General Fund Department. In the absence of any specific timeline from the County, we would expect this to be within the next year or two. C. Advantages Our relationship under Collier County provides us with an economy of scale in terms of expenditures, such as the ability to make certain purchases in bulk, access to large group insurance and retirement plans, the existence of career advancement resources, legal representation, etc. It may be difficult for any alternative plan to offer comparable services for a cheap as the County. Over the history of our Fire Department, we have been largely satisfied with job they have done protecting our residents and property, and we have enjoyed a good relationship with the Department and its Chief. D. Disadvantages A consolidation plan under the County represents the dissolution of our Fire District. It means the end of our Fire Department as we have known it all these years. We believe a change of this magnitude would be a big negative for our community, and while we can't speak for the residents of this District, we believe the residents would resist it in the strongest terms. All of the advantages we gain from being the sole beneficiary of our ad valorem taxes will be brought to an end. Our tax dollars and resources will be spread out across a larger region, and we will lose the security of having a well - outfitted Fire Department dedicated to our small community. We will become just another County department, with no involvement in the affairs of our Fire Department whatsoever. Indeed, it will no longer be ours. Even if consolidation is inevitable for every fire department in the next decade or two, we feel that our community benefits immensely from our unique situation, and that we should stave off consolidation for as long as reasonably possible. We feel as if the County has not managed the affairs of our Fire Department in a good faith manner lately, and we believe this kind of management will continue until such time as we are consolidated. The way in which Chief Rodriguez was terminated revealed some genuine management shortcomings that negatively impact the well being of our Fire Department. We also see ongoing management failures since the termination that are troubling because of their potential impact on the readiness and effectiveness of the Fire Department. Page 7 of 13 Packet Page -11- 2/28/2012 Item 5.A. Budgetary and Operational Investigative Committee No one in the Collier County management chain has specific expertise in the fire service. We seek alternatives that would allow us to be managed by a more capable management chain, with a specific expertise in the fire service. E. Impact on Operating Costs Maintaining our current level of service might require an increase in our millage rate. It is not within the scope of this report to delve extensively into the implication of such an increase, but the idea of a millage increase has already been floated by County staff. If such an increase is implemented thoughtfully, it might be the least painful way to maintain our level of service until property values go back up. In this case, we would recommend that a sunset provision be included to bring the rate back down when housing values improve. The East Naples Option East Naples Fire & Rescue is a large and capable organization. They have a broad infrastructure and they possess a depth of fire service expertise from the bottom up. This is a fully professional, unionized Fire Department, and there could be no question about their ability to manage our affairs effectively and provide the resources needed to support our operation. Not only do they have sufficient resources to support their own large district, but they provide services such as fleet maintenance and training for several other fire departments within Collier County. A. The Meeting We had a very informative and productive meeting with the folks from East Naples. In attendance were Chief Kingman Schuldt and Chairman Tom Cannon of the East Naples Fire Commission, along with two members of the support staff. We felt like they approached us in a good faith manner, with a desire to help and inform as much as possible. Chief Schuldt is both positive and energetic. He has been in the fire service for at least two decades. He comes across as someone who enjoys his work in the fire service and is dedicated to his community. Coincidentally, he has a long standing friendship with Chief Mike Murphy of the Marco Island Fire Department, which we see as an advantage for our area overall. B. Functional Description Functionally, the only workable scenario for a relationship with East Naples would be for them to administer our MSTU for a limited time, like a year, while we collectively work out a plan for consolidation. Upon consolidation, we would become part of the East Naples Fire District for good. We don't think we could remain a County MSTU and allow East Naples to administer us indefinitely because: 1) Such an option would still leave us open to consolidation within the County at any time. 2) East Naples did not propose such an option, and we do not think they would want to administer us unless consolidation was part of the plan. Page 8 of 13 Packet Page -12- 2/28/2012 Item 5.A. Budgetary and Operational Investigative Committee C. Advantages East Naples is a large fire department with a significant pool of resources. Despite the economic challenges they have faced, they are still in a position to provide all of the support and resources that our community would need. Ultimately our station would be manned by a staff of union firefighters with resources shared among all of the East Naples stations. We would not want for sufficient protection or resources in this scenario. East Naples is a neighboring district so it would be a natural fit to alter the district lines to accommodate consolidation. They offered to allow us to have a seat on their Fire Commission, so that one member of their Commission would come from our District. This would allow us to have a say in the affairs of our District, even in the context of a consolidation. It is the only consolidation scenario that offers this benefit. Through their Fire Commission Chair Tom Cannon, they have an excellent working relationship with Commissioner Donna Fiala. D. Disadvantages This option suffered a setback when East Naples was denied their millage increase by the voters of the District. Our District has a current millage rate of 2.0 mills, and East Naples is still at 1.5 having lost the vote this week. Since the millage rates would have to be normalized in the case of a consolidation, the only possibility now would be to lower our millage rate to 1.5 mills. While this might benefit us in terms of a lower tax bill, it will put us at high risk of losing our current level of service. East Naples simply could not afford to subsidize our current level of service if our millage rate went down by a half a mill. If we were to ask the BCC to let East Naples administer our Fire Department until such time as a consolidation could be implemented, we are still vulnerable to consolidation into the County under FS 125. As long as we are a Collier County MSTU created by our BCC, we will be subject to the possibility of such a consolidation. In the view of this committee, that puts us in essentially the same position as if we just stayed with the County to begin with. There will be implementation challenges related to the redrawing of district lines. With the current laws on the books related to the merging of fire districts, it is likely that East Naples would have to go to Tallahassee in order to change the district lines to include us. Such a process would be time consuming and expensive, and no one is sure what the outcome would be, not even the folks from East Naples. At this time, no one really knows how to go about doing it. As with the County option, consolidating into the East Naples Fire District represents the dissolution of our Fire District. It means the end of our Fire Department as we have known it all these years. We believe a change of this magnitude would be a big negative for our community, and we also believe the residents would resist it in the strongest terms. All of the advantages we gain from being the sole beneficiary of our ad valorem taxes will be brought to an end. Our tax dollars and resources will be spread out across a larger region, and we will lose the security of having a well - outfitted Fire Department dedicated to our small community. Even if consolidation is inevitable for every fire department in the next decade or two, we feel Page 9 of 13 Packet Page -13- 2/28/2012 Item 5.A. Budgetary and Operational Investigative Committee that our community benefits immensely from our unique situation and that we should stave off consolidation for as long as reasonably possible. E. Impact on Operating Costs There will be no measurable savings under this scenario. In the first year during the period when East Naples would be administering our District, it is unlikely that any cost savings could be achieved, and of course, once consolidation takes place, such considerations are academic because our budget becomes part of a larger East Naples budget, and an entirely knew financial situation unfolds for us that could not be anticipated now. The Marco Island Option Marco Island is another highly capable and experienced Fire Department. While not as big as East Naples, they appear to do things by the book, their equipment looks to be in tip -top shape, and from what we could see, their Chief runs a tight ship. Like East Naples, there could be no question about their ability to manage our affairs effectively and provide the resources needed to support our operation. They enjoy strong support from their City Council, and they have not experienced the crushing financial shortfalls that so many of the other departments are going through. In fact, they are talking of opening a second station on Marco in the near future. So they are looking forward while some of the larger departments struggle to stay afloat. We credit their successes to their Chief, Mike Murphy, who would be the key operational lead for our department in a Marco Island scenario. A. The Meeting All of us on the committee were very impressed with the Marco Island operation. In attendance at the meeting was Chief Mike Murphy and a member of his staff. Chief Murphy had hoped to include the City Manager at our meeting, and we were sorry we did not have a chance to meet him. Chief Murphy is a highly experienced Fire Service Executive who has relationships and influence statewide. He has been in the Fire Service in South Florida for over three decades, and he has helped build the fire service across the region. He has been instrumental in introducing legislation to keep children safe, and he continues to act in a steering capacity in the Florida fire service. Chief Murphy's career was spent in markets far larger than our own, and Marco Island is lucky to have landed a man of his stature. He came across as a thoughtful individual who was interested in helping us achieve our mutual goals. B. Functional Description Marco Island came up with an elegant and intriguing scenario that preserves our MSTU for the foreseeable future. In this scenario, our MSTU would be transferred from Collier County to Marco Island. Our existence as an MSTU would remain the same, the only difference would be that our management chain would go up through the Marco Island City Council instead of the Collier County BCC. In terms of the mechanics of such a transfer, it would involve dissolving the Collier County MSTU and forming a new MSTU under Marco Island. Functionally, we would continue to operate the same way we do now, with our ad valorem taxes staying within the District, and our resources dedicated to our community. There would be no long Page 10 of 13 Packet Page -14- 2/28/2012 Item 5.A. Budgetary and Operational Investigative Committee term plan for consolidation, and we would still have a Fire Board, our own equipment, our "Isles of Capri Fire District" identity, etc. �, , Consolidation with Marco would be out of the question for two main reasons: 1) We are not within the Marco Island city limits, which would be a deal breaker for City Council and Marco residents alike. 2) Marco's fire millage is 0.5 mills. The disparity in our respective rates would be nearly impossible to reconcile. C. Advantages They key advantage to this scenario is that it is the only one that allows our MSTU to continue to exist for the foreseeable future, with no consolidation plan attached. While moving our MSTU to Marco Island might sound like a significant change on the surface, it is in fact the only scenario that allows us to avoid the larger change, which is consolidation. As stated earlier, we believe strongly that our existence as a Fire MSTU has enabled our tax dollars to be spent exclusively within the boundaries of our community, and we believe the residents of this District would not want that to change. We believe our residents would resist any change that puts at risk our unique level of protection. Even though details of the new MSTU will have to be hammered out on an official level with Marco Island, this is the only option that would allow to essentially keep things the same. We believe our residents and our Fire Board would have a stronger voice and a friendlier audience in the Marco Island City Council than we do with the BCC. Donna Fiala has always been a loyal representative and a faithful friend, of course. But our recent experiences with other officials like Commissioner Henning and County Attorney Klatzkow have revealed to us the adversarial nature of their approach and the low value they place on issues that might be important to regular folks like us. Chief Murphy has a close working with Commissioner Fiala. He is deeply embedded in the community on Marco and he has the strong support of his City Council and City Manager. Chief Murphy believes the City Council will like this idea, and got positive feedback from the City Manager as well. Many Capri residents have personal or professional relationships with individuals and officials on Marco, and Marco Island is right next door rather than 12 miles up the road. The relationship seems like it would be good fit, and it places us in a more positive relationship with both the Marco and East Naples Fire Departments because of the good relationship they share. Since we are right in between those two districts geographically, we see a big advantage in being a part of the high level of cooperation that these two departments already display, while simultaneously maintaining our existence as an MSTU. D. Disadvantages We are not completely sure how to accomplish this transfer. There will be questions with respect to the ownership of our Fire Department's assets, and there may be complications involved in closing out the books on the old MSTU and transferring our operations and assets to a new one. This will have to be Page l l of 13 Packet Page -15- 2/28/2012 Item 5.A. Budgetary and Operational Investigative Committee resolved early in the investigation process so we are on sure footing with respect to our rights, our obligations, and our assets. E. Impact on Operating Costs Marco Island does not have the deep pool of resources that East Naples has, and it cannot provide the economy of scale that the County offers. So we do not believe we would see a significant savings in terms of our operating costs with this option, we will still be facing the same challenges with respect to reduced ad valorem revenue, so there might still be a need to look at a millage increase or some other belt tightening to see our way through these difficult times. 9. Recommendation We recommend that the Isles of Capri Fire Advisory Board pursue the option of transferring our MSTU to Marco Island. In making this recommendation, we relied on one overriding philosophy. We do not believe any consolidation scenario is a benefit to our community, and the Marco Island option is the only one that will allow our MSTU to exist into the foreseeable future with no impending consolidation hanging over our head. We believe our unique situation as an MSTU has significant advantages that should be preserved for as long as they can. Our ad valorem dollars are devoted to our specific community, we have some voice in the affairs of our Fire Department, our impact fees are dedicated to our own capital expenditures, and our fire station, which is walking distance away for most of us, is dedicated to our District. While we cannot speak for other residents, we believe that most of them will feel the same way. From the small sampling of feedback we received, the impression we got was that our residents would not like the idea of losing our Fire Department to a larger iistrict or to the County. However, we also believe that the residents should be informed of our situation by the Board, and that the Board craft a plan to keep the residents apprised of their efforts going forward. Before choosing a recommendation, our committee agreed that we would submit this report without recommendation unless we were unanimous in our decision. This choice was unanimous on the first vote. 10. Initial Steps for Moving Forward Immediately: Send a letter of intent to Donna Fiala and the rest of the BCC informing them of receipt of this report and of your intention to review the report and possibly act on one of its recommendations Next Fire Board Meeting: Discuss this report and the recommendation herein, also allow our committee to update the report with any late breaking developments, clarifications, etc. Make a decision on which option the Board chooses to pursue. If further action is to be taken, submit a petition to go on the BCC agenda to present your decision. Form a committee of Fire Board members and residents to perform the study and formulate the plan. Page 12 of 13 Packet Page -16- 2/28/2012 Item 5.A,. Budgetary and Operational Investigative Committee Next BCC Meeting Go up there and ask for permission, the time, and the resources needed to work with the other department to formulate a detailed plan for making the change. After the BCC Meeting Make initial contacts, schedule a first meeting, and begin the process. End Page 13 of 13 Packet Page -17-