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06-27-2002 - Special Joint w/Port Orange & New Smyrna Beach SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING JOINT MEETING WITH PORT ORANGE, EDGEWATER AND NEW SMYRNA BEACH PORT ORANGE REGIONAL LIBRARY 1005 CITY CENTER CIRCLE JUNE 27, 2002 THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL of the City of Port Orange was called to order at 4:05 p.m. by Edgewater Mayor Donald Schmidt. Pledge of Allegiance Invocation — Silent Prayer Mayor Schmidt asked everyone to introduce themselves. The following individuals were in attendance, some of whom arrived following the meeting having been called to order: Port Orange Councilman Buzzy Windle Councilwoman Mary Martin Councilman Allen Green Vice Mayor John Jackson Mayor Dorothy L. Hukill Kenneth W. Parker, City Manager Margaret T. Roberts, City Attorney William A. Cade, Jr., CIA Director Mike Ertz, Fire Chief Kenny Burgman, Administration Commander Glenda Leftwich, Recording Secretary Edgewater Councilman James Brown Mayor Don Schmidt Kenneth Hooper, City Manager Tracey Barlow, Fire Chief New Smyrna Beach Commissioner Aretha Bell Commissioner Jim Hathaway Commissioner Larry Sweet Commissioner Bill Rogers Special City Council Meeting Minutes June 27, 2002 Page 2 Mayor James Vandergrifft Frank Roberts, City Manager DISCUSSION /ACTION 4. Update on CIA William Cade, Jr., CIA Director, gave a progress report and provided copies of a summary document regarding the project and elements that brought us to where we are. Mr. Cade thanked everyone involved in having the vision and courage to put public safety first and to put local politics aside when they made the decision to consolidate communications and commit to fiscal resources. Everyone present is to be commended for their willingness to share governmental authority. Personnel policies regarding rules and regulations are being released to staff. Personnel pay and benefits has been an issue and that package has been sent out. CAD software has been installed and there has been some training on how to enter data. The process of entering officers, truck numbers, etc. has begun. Some of the buildings in Edgewater and New Smyrna have been wired so that data can be entered remotely to the server located in Port Orange. The 10% audit should be soon. Mr. Cade is in a continual process of trying to build relationships with some of the other providers. He gave an overview of recent meetings he has attended. Today he met with the 911 Committee for Volusia County and explained some of the changes and how 911 calls will be handled. That Committee has agreed they will change to the national standard and this will be to ask "where is your emergency" rather than "what is your emergency ". That will cause the caller to focus on the location of the problem. They will then ask what number the caller is calling from and then ask them to tell exactly what is happening. The next step is to complete the customer service guidelines. Those are formal protocols so that every call for service can be handled consistently for all participating cities. That will become a standard of performance that everyone can depend on. That will give a measurable performance standard and can be evaluated. Work is ongoing with the County regarding radios and that is about 75% complete. The hardware has not physically been moved yet. A plan is being worked out now to move that incrementally. Along with telephone changes there have been issues with the Florida Criminal History Information Center to be resolved. Position descriptions and weekly call review process will be done in the next couple of weeks. Mr. Cade said they intend to provide to all the incumbents who wish to join in the consolidate effort a nationally certified training program during August and September. Mr. Cade is also following up with vendors closely to be certain they do not keep us waiting for deliveries. CAD is scheduled to be cut over just after Labor Day. Mr. Hooper asked if we will still Special City Council Meeting Minutes June 27, 2002 Page 3 meet the October 1 schedule. Mr. Cade said if CAD is cut over and the radios installed it is really a matter of just tweaking. Mr. Roberts said New Smyrna did the impact bargaining this morning with the teamsters and it was a very congenial session. It appears that at this point all of their employees will convert over. There may be two or three who remain with the City and contract with the CIA because of their pension arrangements. 5. Explore Other Options, Such as First Response and Others as Presented by City Council Mr. Parker said one of the items that has been discussed among City Managers and Fire Chiefs, and preliminarily with Mayors, is the concept of how to integrate a fire and rescue service between the three cities. Mr. Parker said he has asked his staff to look at how an integrated system would look. Maps are being worked on. Probably the first tier responders will not change significantly, meaning the first units that are the closest within your community. As all cities expand and come closer together those items may change, i.e., our Fire Station 4 may be closest to where the new ranch project is being built. In some cases, a New Smyrna Station may eventually be closer to some of the Stanaki Property in Port Orange. There would be similar instances between Edgewater and New Smyrna Beach. Where there will be some overlaps will be what is called second in units on a fire call whereby it may be closer for a New Smyrna or Port Orange or a New Smyrna and Edgewater to be the second in on a fire call. Mike Ertz, Fire Chief, Port Orange, and Ken Burgman, Administrative Commander, handed out sample color coded maps showing how some of those items could work. They gave an overview of what is proposed responding to individual questions raised by those present. Some of the concerns raised by Council Members included who is in charge on a first due in calf, unified training for all, zones, bonding, protection of different areas, and how equipment can effectively be moved around to cover all areas through use of the CAD system. Chief Ertz said that mutual aid will not change. There will be computers in the fire engines that will tie back into the CAD system. These should be up and operating no later than January. Mr. Roberts discussed bonding that has been approved for a new fire station in New Smyrna. Mayor Schmidt asked the status of a rough draft of a resolution related to first response. Mr. Hooper said the City Managers had put that on hold until this group met. Ms. Roberts said there were several items that need to be clarified but did not take those steps until they saw what Council's feeling was going to be. if they wish it to move forward she will do so. Mr. Roberts said they support Special City Council Meeting Minutes June 27, 2002 Page 4 the first response concept. They believe it will provide an enhanced level of service. They want to talk more about unified training. Mr. Parker pointed out one of the questions that always comes up in these types of discussions is what doe each entity bring to the table and how does it impact each others tax payers. Each of the groups are bringing equity in equipment and personnel to the table. The equipment is similar in what their capacities are. The people that are on the units are trained and trained at the same level, there are the same numbers on the units, same controls, etc. All entities are bringing to the table assets that will benefit the collective body. Regardless of the number of fire stations that each City has the system will be collectively strengthened. Mr. Roberts said that New Smyrna Beach is in the position of being called for first response to more than one jurisdiction but also stand to benefit from that situation because of having systems on both sides of them who can first respond if necessary. The consolidated dispatch will play a strong roll in this situation with regard to being able to identify assets and their location and personnel. Mr. Roberts feels all cities should consider the component of the transportation linkages and pay close attention to this issue so that they will be in a position to be able to move assets back and forth between the jurisdictions. Regarding unified training, the City of New Smyrna Beach will be budgeting for their share of a position in this next budget cycle to develop a training director position. This would be someone who could oversee all of the training needs for all three of the agencies. This individual would be responsible for new training, training in labor issues, sexual harassment, certification, re- certifications, etc. They want to be able to accomplish the fact that employees are all receiving the same type of training so that when they are in a position when given a particular situation in another jurisdiction there is a comparable level of training and experience. Also, they want to be able to expand abilities to train. City Commissioner Hathaway asked to what degree, if any, there might be with regard to breakdown with who is in command on any given call. Mr. Parker said that already occurs when responding under mutual aide. There has already been some joint training done. Fire Chief Ertz gave an overview of what has been done in this area. There is a lot of interaction of this nature now. Mr. Hooper said there is already a great deal of interaction. In talking to the Chiefs they feel they will work better with this system. Councilman Jackson does not feel this will be a problem. Mayor Schmidt asked Chief Barlow to speak regarding the 2 -in 2 -out requirement. Chief Barlow said it is essentially a state law now. Some cities, including Edgewater, have applied for a six -month exemption. The law requires that anytime you have two firefighters enter a structure there have to be two personnel on the outside to stand buy for safety. He gave an overview of how these type calls can be covered. Mr. Roberts said there are some exemptions to the law, i.e., life safety. Mayor Schmidt asked about County staffing for this law. Special City Council Meeting Minutes June 27, 2002 Page 5 Chief Barlow said his experience in working with the County over the years, as resources become available they address these types of issues with staffing. Mayor Hukill what the minimum staffing is for the three cities. Chief Barlow said it varies. Edgewater has two on each apparatus. New Smyrna Beach has some with two and some with three, and Port Orange maintains a minimum of three. Mr. Roberts said they are going to three at all stations. Mayor Hukill led a discussion regarding overtime costs to maintain minimum staffing and the sharing of true costs. Consensus was additional information can be provided on this item and it can be re- evaluated at a later date. Mayor Hukill would like to see it written into the Agreement that this issue can be looked at annually and readjusted, if appropriate. Mr. Hooper said that would be considered when deciding where to locate other stations. Mayor Hukill said staff should be able to map out exactly where calls are coming from. Councilman Green led a discussion regarding roadway locations and the need for planning. Mr. Hooper and Mr. Roberts said that the issue of transportation arteries has already been considered and discussed by City Managers. Mayor Vandergrifft said the issue of a bypass with Volusia County that would have been a natural link between Port Orange and New Smyrna Beach has died. This Agency should make an effort to try to get that issue reconsidered. Councilwoman Martin said she spoke to Mary Ann Connors regarding that issue and she was totally unaware of it. The School Board is concerned that the County Council's opinion seems to be that let the developer develop it since it is all on their land. They are looking at the fact that the developer to use it does not have to use the same quality and would not necessarily have to connect. Discussion followed regarding the need to make certain that all County Council Members had the full information on this issue. Mayor Hukill asked if this Board should do something jointly. Mr. Roberts said their City Commission would not be meeting in July. Ms. Roberts said if the City Council of Port Orange wants to get something done and they were not meeting she would recommend they delegate the authority to the City Manager, etc., to develop the resolution. Mayor Hukill said with regard to the Tri -Data Draft that came out, is there anything that the City Managers can see that would change the direction this Agency is headed, and does it also provides the opportunity to begin looking beyond the cities now involved. Mr. Parker said he has recommended exactly that to the Port Orange City Council. The Study and other items happening in the public safety sector presents opportunities for this group to look at how to form additional partnerships. Mr. Parker recommends that those opportunities be explored and the issue be discussed at the elected and administrative levels. One example is Port Orange interconnection with the New Smyrna Beach Utilities System. Mr. Hooper said there could be a fee established for partners to come in with an ability to amend. Ms. Roberts said terms will have to be decided Special City Council Meeting Minutes June 27, 2002 Page 6 on. Mayor Hukill's concern is the Tri -Data Study references regional dispatch centers, which we already have. It would be appropriate for this Agency to be a model for others. Mr. Roberts agrees this Agency needs to take the lead and sit down and talk with other jurisdictions. Mr. Hooper said the only problem he sees . is if the County goes regional, would we receive some revenue rebates. Mr. Cade said it is good that this Agency was recognized in the Tri -Data Study. The design of this Agency allows for flexibility. ADJOURNMENT: 5:20 P.M. • Mayor Dorothy L.'Hukill Attest: 1 2/1/J K: neth W. Parker, City Manager