BCC Minutes 06/24/1991 WNaples, Florida, JUNE 24, 1991
IT B~ REMEMBERED, that the Board of County Commissioners in
the County of Collier, and also acting as the Board of Zoning
and as the governing boacd(s) of such special districts as
~'been created according to ~aw and havinG conduct,~d business
met on thls date at ?<0o P.M. lr] WORKSHOP SESSION Jr, Bui]rlir{g
' Of the Government Complex, ~i.,~;t N.~plos, Florida, wlt]] the
uembe~a present:
CHAIRMAN: Patricia Anne Goodn~oht
VICE-CHAIRMAN: Mlchael J. Volpe
R~chard S. Shanahah
Max A. Hasse, Jr.
Burr L. Saunders
~t~,SO PR~-SENT: Debb¥ Fa~r~, Deputy Clerk; Nell Dotrill, County
~JO, ll~tger; Ron McLemore, A$s~star, t County Manager; Frar,k Brutt,
Development Services Adminlstrator; and James Reardon,
Services Director.
ol
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JUNE 24, 1991
~ ~f TH~ INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIRE CHIEFS STUDY TEAM -
,
Legal notice having been published in the Naples Daily News on
1991, as evidenced by Affidavit of Publicetlon filed with the
workshop was held to discuss the International Association of
Chiefs Study Team Report.
Emergency Services Administrator Reardon introduced Fire Chief
Mr. Coleman proflared his credentials which included Fire Chief
Fullerton, California; Chairman of the International
of F~re Chiefs Accreditation Committee; and Chairman of
Collier County Task Force. He presented a written outline of the
~ntS covered during his presentation, copy of which is on file
~he Clerk to the Board. He explained the accreditation process
the criteria utilized, pointing out that in the accreditation pro-
the sub~ect area does the self study. He referred to a "blue"
presented to the Board of County Commissioners, copy of which
~not provided the Clerk to the Board, He referred to a statement
contained there~n, page 4, which reflects that the IAFC was
an evaluation of the relevancy of the Information that had
been collected and was not to be involved in performing an tn-
~depth analysis of the appraisal themselves. He explained that the
~S not intended to indicate that there is only one way to pro-
m long-term Improved fire protection dellvery system overall nor
the report's way is the manner ~n which to do so. He explained
the IAFC Study Team did not try to fabricate fact, and that the
only used those facts as they applied to the ten criteria, i.e.
· finance, programs, resources, etc. He expounded that the
Study Team's recommendations are based on the future and the
~tomer base, and not on the present. He remarked that the project
~dt~ected toward cost containment instead of savings. He referred
statement contained on page 5, I.e. "Does the combination of
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JUNE 24, 1991
materials, supplies, activities, programs and administrative
that constitute this endeavor seem to accomplish its
~vae?#. He stated that the accreditation model is based on
~ndtcattnG what they want to do and then the study team deter-
whether they are doing it by completing their goals and obJec-
He elaborated that the study team chose. in this study, to
the accreditation model as it applied to the study area rather
~rl¥ in~ivldual agency. He referred to a statement contained
? of the report, i.e. "It must also be stated at this point
th$s pro~ect has become a Great deal more complicated than a mere
'~ew of the Collier Ootmt¥ Fire services in comparison to the basic
o~ Model", adding ~hat this is an understatement. He
tO pa~e 10 of the report which addresses a "Master Plan". He
that the study team did not find any kind of document that
them what the Collier County Fire Configuration should look like
~t ts f~nished, but that Collier County has the potential to pro-
one. He etated that, in his opinion, the Master Plan will be
c~t~cal to Collier County's resource management than any other
le th~ng. He referred to page 14, fourth paragraph down,
upon what era the community began and then increased ..... ".
,ted that in some cases there is a duplication of resources, and
a~en¢ies often find themselves competing for coverage and
fund~n~ sources. He reported on the results of the 77 individuals
~ewed as well ae the questionnaire process. He referred to page
,~.e. "Issues Involved in Fire Protection Delivery". He reported
considerable contrast Oatween per capita fire expenditures,
as Xow as $27 per capita to as high as $200 per capita. He
that eqlltty is an ~ssue and deals with credibility for the
of the community. He added that equity is the single blggest
that everybody is concerned with. He stated that legal Issues
the ~ext blgGest problem, with code enforcement third, and that
a13d sdmlnlstratton came next. He referred to page 36
:g political acceptability. He reported that during the
000
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JUN~ 24° 199~
~tarv~w process conducted in January it became clear that no one
le going to be ~pported by anyone. He stated, however, that the
,common point ldent~fied from all the interviewess is the desire to
~nde the study and move on to other issues. He remarked that,
on what the study team found, they could not bring total
to all the ~e~uee. He referred to a section contained on
$T titled "Flaws to All of the Options". He related his belief
local control does not mean cost savings. He stated that by the
the decie$on to move ahead has been made things change, salaries
the cost of fire trucks go up, etc. He stated that cost
~s the real issue. He remarked that all the options
are designed to ~mprove the possibility that future cost
a~e focused on higher levels of cost benefit to the taxpayer
Just an increase in the cost of the service level. He
:!¥Fecapped that the four options available to Collier County are: 1)
the status q~/o; 2) formation of a county-wide dependent
&nd de~erm~n~n~ whether the City of Naples should be part of
consolidation; 3) formation of a county-wide independent
~ ~h'ld 4) the concept of functional consolidation. He next
tO pa~e ~0 addressing fiscal lmpscts. He referred to a docu-
entitled Voluntary Performance Standards for Fire Protection
i~ Districts. He exp~ained that this document has not been adopted but
~f ~t were adopted, it would make it possible to compare "apples
apples and oranges with oranges". He reported findings that
are 2~ fire districts in Collier County protecting approximately
000 to 170,000 people. He projected there can be an increase to
people in ~0 years. He referred to the statement contained on
51 re~arding the initial fiscal impacts of a consolidation
~sr Co%lnt¥ ranges from a low of $20.~S to a h~gh of $200.97 for an
O~ $~9.~1, which he said ~ below the national average of what
;ted to f~me protection in most communities as the national
~e closer to $90-$100. He relayed the eight =ecommendations
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SUNg 24, ~99]
by the Task Force which include: creation of one unified
:",: service organization for all County and City fire service respon-
)liity areas; development of a transition period to determine ads-
St&fling, administrating, financing, operating and logistical
for single unified emergency services agency; that this single
should be given the responsibility to functionally provide all
'a~e service levels found in the accreditation model; the general
of Collier County should support and provide at no cost to
, .:~atrtct those services for which they are currently organized and
Y can be best and most cost effective at providing; the
should establish a multi-tier fire fighting delivery system;
i~cities should consolidate their emergency fire services into the
fleW Independent Fire District; the District should be able to contract
i'~OVtde special select additional services to those wanting to pay
hlng that Is above the base level; and that all the support
,. ces of district be under the authority and control of the Fire
1'11 answer to Commissioner Volpe questioning what made the process
complicated than any other, Fire Chief Coleman stated that, when
with multiple agencies, you get a lot more variables than
with before and then you have to address ranges of things.
Xn reply to Com~lssioner Saunders asking the ~mportance of the
'~hcl~/sion of the City of Naples with the consolidation of the tndepen-
ftl-e departments of the county into one unified system, Fire
Coleman stated that if the City of Naples and others chose not
'~o~n, the remainder of ~he recommendation will still hold.
In answer to Commissioner Hasse, Fire Chief Coleman stated that
· ~e opinion on the matter seems to be based on their
: ling of what it will do, whether it will help or hurt them.
·lre Chief Coleman stated that, as the community continues to
:~,~ow, the issue of who is paying for fire protection is obscured by
he risk Atse]f. He added that equity ]n a Study area says that if
~, 1~ one end of a town has a lower economic status than someone
~ ~ JUNE 24, 199!
'~ otha~ end of towrl, they should not be receiving different levels
Protection.
Comtestoner Shanahah commented that one of the most d/sap-
:~ng th~ngs was the lack of quantifiable cost related data for
!h' Co~l~leetoner Volpe remarked that some type of unified fire
o~ganlzatlon makes sense to him.
~Coltealoner Haasa questioned bow you set aside the identities of
.:l~divldual fire districts, to which Fire Chief Coleman replied
t many commrunities facing similar decisions have chosen to leave
name of the co~lty on the fire apparatus.
F~e Chief Coleman stated that, as communities beg~n to grow,
lea point In time when co,unity identity gets very blurred.
remarked that when implementing the consolidation effort it is
1~ important that the human factors be dealt with during the
:. Period of Protecting identity.
In ~er to Co~tsstoner Volpe, Fire Chief Coleman stated that
look~n~ at the EHS delivery system the Task Force decided that,
~:1on~-te~m, Integrating EMS will be the best approach due to the
of beln~ able to Utilize the fire stations and Personnel
~1 purposes.
~o~testoner Volpe ~ettereted thet the recommendation Is for EMS
~fl~e ~ote=~lon ~o be integrated.
Ohuck Mohlke, Cbatrman of the Citizens Study Group on Fire
~datton reported on the Progress of his group. He relate~ that
~ae ~ informal meeting which took place today Prior to the
where ln~iries were directed to Fire Chief Coleman and that,
result of same, the Study group will likely resolve any issues
fo~mall~ transmit its recommendations to the Board of County
~re prior to their July ~3rd meeting. He requested that the
Oo~y Co~issioners seek to get closure on this issue within
le period of time.
In response to CoPiestoner ~oodnlght, Mr. Mohlke confirmed that
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JUNE 24, 1991
g~ou9 wLll meet July 11th and that their recommendations
be forthcoming shortly thereafter. He added that the study group
has agreement that they wlll be forwarding to the Board of
Co~eelone~e all the ms~er~al which ha~ been "accepted" by
CO.lttee.
Co~leslone= Haeee expressed apprec~ation for the efforts of the
Study Group on Flre Consolidation as well as those of Fire
&f Colem~ and hle orQantzatton.
Oo~lee~oner Goodnlght requested that the Citizens Study Group on
Fl~e Con~ol~datlon have their recommendations ready and be placed on
agenda for one of the weeks In August at a time set.
Co~leelone~ Sanders concurred w~th Commissioner Hussars remarks
· he efforts of the partlea involved.
~ere betrig no further buslness for ~he Good of ~he County, t~e
wa9 a~Journed by Order of ~he Chair - T~me: 3:06 P.~.
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