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

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MEMORANDUM TO: Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager FROM: Daniel Jones, Fire Chief SUBJECT: Orange County Request to Enlarge Greater Chapel Hill Fire District DATE: January 14, 2013 INTRODUCTION Tonight, the Council is being asked to consider a request from Orange County to encompass a portion of the Southern Triangle Fire Protection District into the existing Greater Chapel Hill Fire Protection District (outside of Chapel Hill corporate limits) in order to mitigate the costs of homeowners insurance imposed on residents in the area currently being served by the North Chatham VFD. These residents have recently experienced sharp increases in homeowner's insurance premiums due to insurance companies becoming more accurate in determining legal fire protection coverage areas. Previously these residents were considered by their respective insurers to be within Chapel Hill's fire protection due to the proximity to Chapel Hill fire station 45. As a result they received lower insurance premiums than they would receive if covered by North Chatham VFD. Chapel Hill currently responds into this area on an "automatic mutual aid" agreement with North Chatham VFD for fires and other incidents, however, Chapel Hill is not the legally responsible jurisdiction for the area which is how insurance is determined. BACKGROUND The State of North Carolina anticipates that areas developed to urban standards will be provided fire protection by cities. When that development occurs outside of a Town, the State uses a system of fire districts to provide fire protection to unincorporated areas. This is done either by the establishment of a tax district or a service district. These districts are administered by the Counties through franchises or contracts with volunteer fire departments or adjoining municipal fire departments. By its inclusion within the urban services boundary and the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the Town of Chapel Hill, the Town and County's joint planning anticipated that this area would eventually be within the Town limits. Because of recent changes to the State's annexation laws, the Town's ability to initiate this annexation have been severely limited. Chapel Hill has not traditionally provided fire protection outside of the municipal limits with the exception of a very small "donut hole" unincorporated area known as the Greater Chapel Hill