Agenda - 09-05-2013 - 5a - Laserfiche WebLink

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13 1 The Board considered approving new Fire Protection and Emergency Services 2 Agreements for Three (3) New Fire Service Districts with the Town of Chapel Hill, Town of 3 Carrboro and North Chatham Fire Department, and authorizing the Chair to sign. 4 Michael Talbert said there is a handout replacement for attachment 3 for the North 5 Chatham Fire Department, and there were some technical and grammatical corrections. He 6 thanked John Roberts for creating these documents. He said there will be contracts coming 7 later for the other fire departments. He said contracts were cancelled in June of 2012 for these 8 three departments, knowing that the service districts would be re-done. He said it is imperative 9 that new contracts be done before June 30. 10 Michael Talbert said each agreement has a map attached for fire service districts and 11 the beginning date will be July 2013. He said the wording is slightly different, and the maximum 12 rate for all of these contracts is 15 cents. Several sections have been added regarding: ISO 13 ratings, information about state law, response times, insurance types, and a section that 14 requires a certified audit. He said all of these have been reviewed by the three departments, 15 and these are all 5 year contracts with a one year cancellation requirement. 16 He said there are no financial impacts to the county; but all three departments will be 17 asking for a tax increase by the Board of County Commissioners in the coming year. 18 John Roberts said this agreement also requires that each department comply with 19 Orange County purchasing and financial requirements. 20 Commissioner Gordon said she would like to know what was changed on the North 21 Chatham agreement, and in the future she would like to have a mark-up copy prior to the 22 meeting. She said she would like a policy that when documents are changed, the Board is 23 notified of where the changes occurred. 24 Chair Jacobs agreed. 25 Commissioner Gordon noted that the County has a policy on gender neutral language, 26 and she referenced the use of"manpower" on page 19. She requested that this be changed to 27 "firefighter." 28 Commissioner Gordon also noted a need to correct "Board of Director" to "Board of 29 Directors" on item number 12. 30 Commissioner Gordon said she appreciated the efficient and thorough process by 31 county staff. She said this has been extremely complex, and she thanked the staff for their 32 work. 33 Commissioner Rich referenced John Roberts' mention of a change in the contract. 34 John Roberts clarified that the attorneys and all of the fire departments have reviewed 35 all changes. 36 Frank Clifton said Chapel Hill already follows the state purchasing process procedures. 37 Commissioner Rich thanked Michael Talbert for his hard work. 38 Commissioner McKee said the fire departments negotiated with the county on these 39 agreements and the design of them. 40 He said he would forward an email he received on a news article from the coast about 41 departments losing their ISO ratings. He said this has been due to various factors, including a 42 lack of adequate personnel on rosters and fire scenes. He said this has affected multiple fire 43 departments. He said that this is not happening in Orange County and the County is working 44 on a comprehensive system, a better contract, and better service provision. 45 Commissioner porosin noted that item number 4 states that fire departments will get 46 98.5% of tax, and he asked if the rest is kept by county. 47 John Roberts answered yes. 48 Commissioner porosin asked if the 15 cents is a statutory maximum. 49 Michael Talbert said no. He said, under a fire protection district, that is a maximum; but 50 under a fire service district, all taxes levied by the county cannot exceed 1 dollar and a half.