Agenda - 01-24-2013-13 (5) - Laserfiche WebLink

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M MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor and Town Council FROM: Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager SUBJECT: Triangle Fire District request from Orange County DATE: January 14, 2013 PURPOSE The staff memorandum from Fire Chief Dan Jones provides an analysis and describes options relative to Orange County's request to realign fire districts in the southern part of the County. The County proposes to a contract with Chapel Hill to provide fire protection in a service district within the urban services boundary, but outside of and adjacent to Town limits, to serve a particular neighborhood. We have no obligation to provide primary fire protection outside of the Town limits. We do have mutual aid agreements in place to provide response assistance to our neighboring emergency services agencies. This neighborhood currently benefits from such an agreement. Orange County has identified, from their perspective, that a service agreement with Chapel Hill for fire protection is their first choice to resolve the issue. ISSUES and CONCERNS Orange County and the Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro have a long standing plan for orderly growth of urban areas while preserving rural areas of the County. This plan has been successful in minimizing sprawl within Orange County, allowing municipalities to provide urban level services and preserving the benefits of nearby rural areas and farms. The neighborhood in question is included in the urban services boundary and the Town's extra - territorial jurisdiction and, under past policies of the state, clearly intended to be part of the Town eventually. I am not sure why this area has not been annexed under previous annexation authorities. Recent actions by the NC General Assembly have severely limited the ability of Towns to initiate annexation. A referendum is now required and a simple majority of all registered voters from only the proposed annexed area who actually vote in the referendum voting against the annexation would prevent the annexation from going into effect. For annexation of this neighborhood to occur through voluntary petition, it must be initiated by a 100% petition from the property owners. In all meetings with Orange County and citizens on this issue we have reiterated our position that annexation would be the most effective means to resolve this issue and the solution we recommend first and foremost. Because the petition process requires 100% of the affected properties to be party to the request, it is practically impossible to achieve that outcome and in this case there are residents who have already stated opposition to that option. Annexation would avail those residents the full benefit of all Town services and also include them as participants in Town direction and cost of service. There is a business argument to accept the County's request to provide the fire protection service and receive the associated revenue since the Fire Chief s analysis indicates that the service demand can be absorbed within existing resource levels. Since we already respond to this area