Agenda - 09-17-2013 - 5a - Laserfiche WebLink

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2 1 Commissioner Gordon asked if North Chatham had approved the fire service 2 district agreement. 3 John Strowd said the Board has approved two contracts as of last night, the 4 Southern Triangle, and the Damascus draft agreement. 5 Commissioner Gordon thanked them for their cooperation. 6 Chair Jacobs noted that Commissioner Price will be late due to a conflict. 7 Commissioner Dorosin said, in considering the variety of potential tax changes, it 8 would be helpful for him to see what the total tax impacts will be to each person in these 9 districts. 10 Frank Clifton said staff can probably give a list by area, but the key will be the 11 county tax rates overall. He said the school districts will be more complicated. 12 Commissioner Dorosin said he does not want to make things overcomplicated, 13 but he would like a sense of the overall impact. 14 Frank Clifton noted that none of the fire districts are within the towns. He said a 15 chart could be compiled to total out the increases based on what the Board decides to 16 do. 17 Commissioner McKee said some of these increases for the departments outside 18 of Chapel Hill were driven by efforts to reduce ISO ratings. 19 Commissioner Dorosin asked to what extent these terms have been agreed to as 20 part of the process of creating those districts. He asked if the Board is bound by 21 contract, or is in the process of negotiation. 22 Commissioner McKee said he feels that, regardless of the letter of the law, the 23 Board is honor bound to adhere to the negotiations with Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and North 24 Chatham, for the change in the Southern Triangle area. He noted that he had 25 reservations about the 15 cents. 26 Commissioner Dorosin said this was his sense of the issue. 27 Michael Talbert said both White Cross and Orange Grove are moving forward 28 with stations. He said the contracts approved for the three new districts set a tax rate, 29 not to exceed 15 cents. He said the wording in the contract allows the Board to re-set 30 this amount each year. 31 Chair Jacobs said the Board has asked for several years about reducing ISO 32 ratings, and it is encouraging that the fire departments are working on this by adding 33 extra stations. 34 Commissioner Gordon said she wanted to thank the departments for their 35 service as public safety officers. 36 37 Cedar Grove Fire District$204,527 38 ❑The tax rate for this district is recommended to remain at 7.36 cents for FY 2013-14. 39 In FY 2012-13, the department is in the process of working with the contractor and 40 Orange County Planning Department on the addition to Station #2 to include a training 41 room, kitchen and new office. The department has also installed additional dry hydrants, 42 purchased equipment that is needed on their trucks for ISO, and plans to lower their 43 insurance rating in the near future. 44 ❑In FY 2013-14, the department plans to complete the addition to Station #2; the 45 department has been saving for the last few years for this addition with the hopes to 46 have a large portion of the building paid for, continue to work on lowering the district's 47 insurance rating, and continue to train firefighters for level I & II certifications. 48 ❑Their Five-Year plan includes working on replacing a 1986 model brush truck and a 49 1985 squad truck, work towards setting aside funds to replace the engine at Station #2; 50 their goal is to keep engines and tankers on a rotation that will not allow them to be 51 more than 20 years old before replacing them, and add two part-time staff during peak 52 daytime hours. 53 54 Greater Chapel Hill Fire Service District$281,144