Agenda - 04-23-2013 - 5a - Laserfiche WebLink

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18 1 • On February 11, 2013 the Chapel Hill Town Council again considered the County petition to 2 the Town to consider modifications to the existing Greater Chapel Hill Fire 3 Insurance District as discussed in the background. Several members of the Town 4 Council still consider annexation as the preferred method of providing fire protection and all 5 other Town services to these residents. There was discussion about the 15 cent rate being the 6 maximum rate allowed and Town Council discussed how the tax rate could be increased. The 7 Chapel Hill Town Council voted unanimously to enter into a service agreement to extend the 8 Town's current fire district into the affected neighborhoods for a period of two years and initiate 9 conversations with the County about how the changes in annexation laws affect the rational 10 planning model established within Orange County. 11 12 Listed below are actions need to be taken before three (3) new Fire Service Districts can be 13 created and included in the County's Fiscal 2013/2014 annual budget. 14 15 • Approval by the Orange County Board of Commissioners after holding a public hearing 16 on April 9, 2013. Attachment 14 lists the detailed procedures for notifying property 17 owners prior to conducting a public hearing. 18 • Approval by the North Chatham Fire Department Board of Directors 19 • Approval by the State Fire Marshal's Office 20 • Approval of new Fire Protection and Emergency Services Agreements before July 1, 21 2013 for the three (3) new Fire Service Districts 22 23 Michael Talbert said if this moves forward, it will take 4-6 weeks to get to a public 24 hearing and a letters will have to be sent to all parcel owners in the three fire districts outlining 25 plans with maps provided. He said this will be about 6,000 letters mailed out 4 weeks prior to a 26 public hearing. 27 Michael Talbert said if this goes forward, then the Board of County Commissioners 28 could approve the creation of the new districts. He noted that this would also have to be 29 approved by the North Chatham Fire Department and the information would be sent to the 30 State Fire Marshall's office, with an eventual move toward a new fire protection and emergency 31 services agreements with the three providers. 32 Michael Talbert again reviewed the three recommendations stated earlier. 33 Commissioner Dorosin asked for clarification on the one year opt out and asked if the 34 opt out was possible only in the first year or anytime each year. 35 Michael Talbert said the option is available at the beginning of each fiscal year and 36 notice would have to be given prior to June 30. 37 Commissioner Gordon said that Orange County has opted out by cancelling the existing 38 service contracts for these three areas. She said the contracts will run until June 30, 2013 and 39 then they must be renegotiated and signed to go into effect July 1. 40 Frank Clifton said either party can opt out of a contract with a year's notice. He said the 41 contracts were written back in the 90's and times and issues have changed, so the effort now is 42 to standardize the contracts with each of the districts and towns and deal with some of the 43 issues. He said that his recommendation is that a 5 year agreement be entered into and the 44 town can opt out, if it so chooses. 45 46 PUBLIC COMMENT: 47 48 Mayor Kleinschmidt thanked Michael Talbert for his assistance with this matter. He said 49 it was Michael Talbert who suggested that Chapel Hill do a two year contract. He said that 50 Chapel Hill was mainly concerned about the planning implementations. He noted that all but a