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

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21 1 the opportunity to have the State give final approval by July 1St has passed. He said that if the 2 districts can be established, the State may or may not act by September or later to change the 3 ISO rating. 4 Commissioner Gordon asked how the contracts will be negotiated with the fire service 5 providers. 6 Michael Talbert said the contract with the providers would be effective July 1 St 7 regardless of the ISO rating. 8 Commissioner Gordon asked about the service district. 9 Michael Talbert said the service district will be established prior to June 30th and 10 contracts will be in place prior to July 1St 11 Commissioner Gordon asked how far those contracts for North Chatham and South 12 Orange have gotten. 13 Michael Talbert said a first draft has been reviewed with the County Attorney. He said a 14 second draft was reviewed with the Fire Department Chief's Association in January, and a final 15 draft is expected in early March. 16 Commissioner Gordon clarified that early March is the goal for North Chatham, the 17 Town of Carrboro, and South Orange. 18 Michael Talbert said this is for the whole Chief's Association and the plan is to 19 eventually change all of the contracts. He said all three departments mentioned have been at 20 the meetings and have given input on the contract changes. He said there will still be some 21 negotiations after March but it will be done between March and May. 22 Commissioner Gordon asked if it would be done by May 21St and Michael Talbert said 23 yes. 24 Chair Jacobs said it seems like a lot of issues have been worked out at staff level and 25 this is an opportunity for the town to try and achieve another goal separate from fire service. 26 He said he is not in favor of involuntary annexation, but he is not averse to a discussion about 27 why annexation is desirable for the residents in question. He said perhaps this discussion could 28 be put into a framework of two years with a commitment to bring the annexation issue to a vote 29 within those two years. He suggested a five year contract with a two year opt out, and a two 30 year commitment for the county to help facilitate a discussion process with the residents for 31 possible annexation. He said this will make it more of a mutual compromise and may address 32 some of the issues Chapel Hill has with long term planning interests. 33 Commissioner McKee said he sat through the Chapel Hill meeting in January and the 34 discussion went entirely to annexation and not fire service districts. He said it is true that 35 Chapel Hill responds to all fires in this area through a mutual aid agreement with other entities 36 just like all the other departments in the county have with adjacent departments. He said this 37 does not have to be this complicated and the people who are supposed to be helped are being 38 forgotten and are not being discussed. He said there are 112 homes that through no fault of 39 their own will incur an increase and are at risk of not being able to acquire insurance at some 40 time. He said, a solution needs to be found to those 112 homes and this has been much more 41 difficult than originally thought. He said the original deadline was missed and things were 42 handed over the Fire Chiefs and the staff to come to an agreement and their agreement is the 43 transfer of the property being discussed to Chapel Hill. He said the feedback he has received, 44 said that before the January meeting, the rate was 10 cents. He said they are forgetting 200+ 45 other homeowners that are proposed to get a 15 cent rate without much corresponding 46 reduction in home owner's insurance. He said a problem is being solved with some folks and a 47 problem is being created with others. He said all of the discussion is around planning, police 48 and service provisions of Chapel Hill and this is not part of this discussion; this is about fire 49 provision for this area from the perspective of a service to citizens and what is physically 50 responsible. He questioned jumping to a 15 cent rate is fiscally responsible when there is a