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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 08031993 - 2.A Contra TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Costa FROM: PHIL BATCHELOR County County Administrator °rr, a DATE: August 3, 1993 SUBJECT: PRELIMINARY PLAN ON OPTIONS FOR CONSOLIDATION OF FIRE DISTRICTS Specific Request(s) or Recommendation(s) & Background & Justification RECOMMENDATIONS• 1. Acknowledge receipt of attached letters from City of Orinda and Town of Moraga regarding their joint fire service study by The Davis Company. 2. Accept report from County Administrator outlining conceptual options for the consolidation of County fire districts. 3 . Direct County Administrator and Fire Chief to aggressively work to achieve . further efficiencies through functional integration with specific emphasis on Fire Prevention Bureau activities (inspections, permits, etc. ) , training and other support services. 4. Direct County Administrator and Fire Chief to continuing exploring the desirability of consolidation with consideration of the elements which should be included or excluded as may be financially appropriate when final budget information is available and input is received from the various individual communities. 5. Defer final action on fire district reorganization until the complete and final impacts of the State budget and trailer bills are known. Continued on Attachment: X YES Signature:�VE/ 'CA Recommendation of County Administrator Recommendation of Board Committee Approve Other Signature(s) : Action of Board on: Aiiglist 3, 1 AA3 Approved as Recommended-Other--�L­ See attached addendum for approval of the above recommendation, amendments thereto, and the various votes. Vote of Supervisors: I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE Multiple votes. See attached Addendum. AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN Unanimous (Absent ) AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE Ayes: Noes: ) BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON DATE SHOWN. Contact: T. McGraw (646-4855) Attested: Aums . 199 cc: County Administrator Phil Batchelor, Clerk of Auditor-Controller the Board of Supervisors County Counsel and County Administrator County and Indep. Fire Districts United. Professional By: 'l DEPUTY Firefighters Local 1230 Chairs, Boards of Fire Commissioners f REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION/BACKGROUND: On June 15, 1993 the Board of Supervisors received 'the ,preliminary plan for Fire District Expenditure Reductions and Functional Integration. The Board received public comment on the Plan and deferred action until July 13 , 1993 to allow time for the Plan to be circulated to interested parties for review and comment.On July 13, 1993, the Board of Supervisors approved the report from the County Administrator on the status of functional integration and expenditure reductions. The June 15th report on expenditure reductions and functional integration with respect to the merit system districts proposed an organization consisting of five divisions: Emergency Operations, Fire Prevention, Training, Administrative Services and Support Services. The June 15th report also proposed the functional integration of the volunteer Bethel Island and East Diablo Fire Districts to improve daytime staffing in Bethel Island, better utilization of personnel, reduce costs, eliminate duplicated management positions and provide improved chief officer coverage. d Since most of the basic elements and benefits of consolidation and functional integration are the same, we believe that functional integration should be aggressively pursued while consolidation continues to be explored. The July 13th report also suggested that consolidation may become necessary because of the potential impacts of the State budget actions on the County' s interdependent fire district network. After discussing various issues related to consolidation, the Board directed the County Administrator to prepare a preliminary plan on various options for consolidating the County fire districts. The July 13th report suggested consolidation of the five merit system fire districts with the Pinole Fire District into one district and the consolidation of the three east county volunteer (part paid/part volunteer) districts into one volunteer district. The Board discussion on July 13, 1993 led to variations of these suggestions for further consideration. One of these was to consider the feasibility of making the volunteer districts a distinct division within the consolidated paid district and leave the Moraga Fire District as a separate entity, either County governed or independent. These options are discussed below: A. Consolidate Orinda, Contra Costa, Moraga, Pinole, Riverview and West County Fire Districts This option involves the five merit system fully-paid districts and the Pinole Fire District. Although the Pinole District is not a merit system district, it is served by paid firefighters through a contract with the City of Pinole. The District is subject to the same financial concerns caused by the State budget actions. Under, this option, fire district services would continue to be provided to the area by the City of Pinole Fire Department. The savings and operational aspects of this option would be very similar to the functional integration plan proposed in the June 15th report. Savings and improved personnel utilization would result from shared administration and the integration of various functions such as fire prevention and training. B. Consolidate the Volunteer Districts of Bethel Island, East Diablo and, possibly, Oakley The June 15th report recommended the integration/consolidation of the Bethel Island and East Diablo Fire Districts to achieve savings, improve daytime staffing in Bethel Island and better utilize personnel. 2 We recommended caution in combining the volunteer districts with the paid districts because of the concern that the eight stations in the volunteer districts would evolve into paid stations at a net annual cost increase of approximately $7 million. The additional cost would be far more likely to happen if the districts were consolidated rather than functionally integrated. Cost increases of this magnitude would require a new source of local revenue. While we did not recommend inclusion of Oakley in the integration plan, there appears to be some interest among involved parties in East County to include Oakley in any consolidation. Accordingly, the County Administrator's Office and the chiefs of those three districts will determine the cost and operational benefits of consolidating the districts, subject to the financial outcome of the State budget actions. C. Consolidate Orinda, Pinole, Contra Costa, Riverview and West County Under this option, the Moraga Fire District would continue as a separate district and would not be included in the consolidation plan. The District will enjoy many of the benefits of functional integration including less cost, unified training, standardization of equipment and fire prevention expertise as a County-governed district and most likely would not as an independent district. While this arrangement may work operationally, there appear to be significant added costs for Moraga and the other paid districts. If the Moraga Fire District remains separate, the shared administrative cost of the other paid fire districts would be increased by a minimum of approximately $31,000. This is based on the annualized cost of the integrated management for fiscal year 1992-1993. Before the Board of Supervisors combined top management for all paid merit districts, the district was staffed with a Chief, an Assistant Chief and a Fire Marshal. It would cost approximately $353, 000 or a net increase of $322,000 to taxpayers of Moraga over the present administrative costs to go back to this structure. D. Consolidate the five paid districts plus Pinole Consolidate the three east county volunteer districts as a division within the consolidated paid districts This arrangement could result in salary savings depending on the organizational structure of this option. However, as discussed above in Option B, this option could result in cost increases of approximately $7 million as a result of mixing fully-paid, paid on call and volunteer employees into one fire agency. Conclusion It is suggested that this report be widely distributed to all interested parties for review and discussion with the County Administrator' s Office and Chief Allen Little. As the financial issues solidify over the next sixty days, discussions should take place to develop preliminary organizational structures depending on anticipated financial resources. As indicated in the July 13th report, guidelines for the implementation of State budget legislation (SB 1135) have not been formulated. The committee, consisting of the State Controller and.. County Auditors, charged with the responsibility to develop the guidelines will meet again on August 5th. The committee expects to develop draft guidelines by September lst and finalize the guidelines by late September. Therefore, we suggest that final action on consolidation or functional integration be deferred until the Auditor' s Committee publishes its guidelines that will affect the financial resources of all fire districts. 3 COM COSTA COUNTY ora a, 'Gown of Mora mmm 0 u 2100 DONALD DRIVE P.O.BOX 188 —_ - MORAGA, CA 94556 oV... (510)376-2590 e OFFICE OF mbec, COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR July 21, 1993 Honorable Tom Torlakson Board of Supervisors 651 Pine Street Martinez, A 94553 Dear S ery o lakson, The Town of Moraga and City of Orinda. have jointly commissioned the Davis Company of Sacramento to study the organization alternatives for the provision of fire services within our communities. The study emphasizes consolidation of the Moraga and Orinda fire districts, consolidation with Contra Costa Fire, the provision of emergency medical services, and other service improvements. The final report is expected to be received in mid September. We believe the study is a valuable tool for our respective communities and the Board of Supervisors in determining the future of fire district organization within our portion of the County. We also understand that the Auditor Controller will be issuing final financial information concerning fire district revenue from the Special District Augmentation Fund about the middle of August. Preliminary information seems to indicate that this year the Moraga and Orinda Districts will be spared the major loss of SDAF funds which were anticipated prior to State budget passage. Both the independent consultant' s report and the auditor controller report are crucial to the decision making process for future' fire district reorganization. Under today's circumstances, the sense of urgency with which the Board has worked to develop reorganization policies has lessened, giving the Board and the citizenry time to formulate meaningful policies which will provide continued fire and emergency medical services in an effective cost efficient manner. Therefore, we would urge the Board not to take any actions concerning fire district reorganization or consolidation until the study is complete and has been reviewed by the Councils, the Board, and the public. We J ni203 AM03 13VED39- especially urge you not to rush to the voters with an advisory ballot which is not based on the fact of reorganization- or consolidation as described by this independeAb source. We are.. sure...that the Board would want the public and all elected representatives to be fully informed about the possible changes in fire services. Additionally, some questions asked of County staff have yet to be answered, such as the difference in cost saving between "Functional Integration" and "Full Consolidation" of the fire district. We believe that both the independent consultant's report, and the Auditor Controller SDAF information, are crucial to your future decisions. Following the study, our community would be happy to work with the Board -to -develop reorganization proposals which will provide. our community with the necessary emergency protection and assist the Board in providing the most cost efficient fire and emergency medical services. Your continued interest and concern for the preservation of fire and emergency medical services is appreciated. Sincerely, Su n L. Noe Mayor cc: Members, Board of Supervisors County Administrator City of Orinda Morag.a .Fire..Protection District City of Lafayette Michael Davis, Davis Company /- 70 26 orindo way • orindo • california 94563 • 510 • 254-3900 June 30, 1993 L.i 2 199? Tom Torlakson, Chair RECEIVED and Members of the Board of Supervisors 651 Pine Street, lith Floor Martinez, CA 94553 1 1 319 Dear Chairman Torlakson and CLERK� ,�.�•.._ Members of the Board of Supervisors: C i The Board of Supervisors is faced with a difficult decision on the future of fire services in Contra Costa County. The results of the recent ballot measures indicate that residents are unwilling to pay to retain existing service levels, and that a merger with an adjacent fire district(s) is supported. Further, while the 1993-94 state budget impact on fire districts is apparently not as dramatic as it could have been, future budget impacts may severely and adversely impact fire services. We understand the necessity of continuing to explore methods to provide efficient and effective fire services. We would like to be in a position to assist the Board of Supervisors in its evaluation of options, and to be able to support your ultimate decision. As you are aware, the City of Orinda and the Town of Moraga have jointly retained The Davis Company to evaluate the options for alternative fire service delivery. We have received preliminary verbal reports, from Mike Davis, and we are very pleased with the progress of the research and the scope of options under evaluation. The final report will be prepared in August 1993 . With receipt of the report, we expect that our Council and the community will better understand the service delivery options, and the costs associated with those options. The report will also be provided to the Board of Supervisors and Fire District Commissioners and staff. The Board of Supervisors may find the report useful in your deliberations. We would certainly find it useful in our evaluation, and in our ability to support the Board's efforts toward cost efficiency and effective service delivery. The Board of Supervisors will consider placing a measure on the ballot to merge, or consolidate districts. We ask that the Board defer its decision until the fire study being conducted by The Davis Company is received and may be evaluated and considered by the City Council and Board of Supervisors. cc: aAO Printed on Recucled Pope Tom Torlakson, Chair and Members of the Board of Supervisors June 30, 1993 Page Two Please accept this request in the spirit in which it is made, as a genuine interest in working with the Board of Supervisors on this difficult matter. Sincerely, 04Z-XWillia J. Dabel Mayor WJD/TS:nh cc: Town of Moraga 0 ADDENDUM TO 2.A AUGUST 3, 1993 The County Administrator reviewed the his report prepared for this item. Board members discussed the issues in some detail including functional integration, reorganization and consolidation of fire districts, and the need to get more information from the State in terms of what funding will be and how consolidation might change that funding; whether or not it is desirable to have consolidation proposals on the ballot as advisory measures in all the fire districts; whether zones could be established where there are fire flow taxes; and whether placing the issue of consolidation on the ballot might distract from fulfilling the task of functional integration. Chair Torlakson advised that he believes the Board should move ahead with some kind of an advisory ballot measure that would be more inclusive and bring the County closer to a one- county fire district. Motion was made by Supervisor Bishop, seconded by Supervisor Powers, to place the following measure on ballots in all county dependent districts : "SHOULD EXISITNG SEPARATE FIRE SERVICES BE CONSOLIDATED TO THE GREATEST EXTENT POSSIBLE INTO ONE FIRE DEPARTMENT IN ORDER TO SAVE COSTS AND/OR TO PURSUE COST SAVINGS AND/OR IMPROVE EFFICIENCIES. " Supervisor Powers urged that the ballot measure be made countywide, including independent and city districts . Supervisor Bishop commented that her motion did not cover independent and city districts, the motion was for all dependent districts . The Chair called for a vote and the motion passed by the following vote: AYES : Supervisors Powers, Bishop and Torlakson NOES : Supervisors Smith and McPeak Supervisor Powers moved to put the same ballot measure before the voters in E1 Cerrito, Kensington, West County and Richmond. The motion was seconded by Supervisor Torlakson. Supervisor Smith inquired what would be done with the information after it is received inasmuch as the Board does not have jurisdiction in the city and independent districts . Supervisor Smith requested the Board to reconsider putting the measure on the ballots in District II (Orinda, Moraga and the part of Contra Costra Fire Protection District [Consolidated] that is in District II) , taking it off the ballots in District II and putting it on the ballot in West County. Supervisor McPeak advised she would be voting no on the motion because she is concerned that there may be some confusion because people don' t know what the plan of consolidation would be and she does not want a set back in functional integration. Supervisor Bishop declared she was not supporting the motion because the Board had never included in its discussion the independent districts . Supervisor Smith inquired as to the cost of the putting the issues on the ballot, and commented that it he did not believe the question could be put to the voters in a coherent way because there is not enough information for people to know exactly what - 1 - they are voting on, and therefore he would be voting against the motion. The Chair called for a vote on the motion and the vote was as follows : AYES : Supervisors Powers and Torlakson NOES : Supervisors Smith, Bishop and McPeak. The Chair announced that the motion failed. County Counsel requested clairification on whether the first motion was, as the Governing Body of each of the dependent fire districts, to place the proposition on the question of consolidation as a separate district measure on the ballot in each dependent fire district. The Chair confirmed the clarification, and requested staff to quantify the costs to each district of placing the advisory measure on the ballot, and to bring back the information later in the day. The Chair then asked for a motion to approve the recommendations contained in the County Administrator' s Report, and for setting deadlines for accomplishing the cost savings of the functional integration and moving ahead with a proposal for getting consolidation on the LAFCO calendar timetable, pending results from the voters on the November ballot measure. Supervisor Smith expressed his concern that by waiting for the results of the November ballot measure, any action that the Board would be taking on consolidation will be deferred. The Chair declared that there is Board direction to keep moving ahead on functional integration, and a possible course of action would be to direct staff to pursue the details of implementing a consolidation with the various options and save final action until the Board has the votes after the November election and to pursue full speed ahead all functional integration issues and implement them as soon as they can possibly be implemented. Supervisor Smith voiced his interest in moving ahead today with a decsion to start the process in Orinda and "Consolidated" and not wait three months . The Chair declared that the Board had reached a consensus on starting the process of getting the paperwork in order for the LAFCO calendar, but not do it before November, and at that point the election results would be known. Board members discussed Recommendation 4 of the County Administrator' s report, and determined to eliminate "continuing exploring desirability", and change it instead to: "pursue the consolidation, legal steps and application to LAFCO, pending the outcome of. . . . " Supervisor Smith moved to consolidate Recommendations 3 and 4 and to direct the County Administrator and Fire Chief to agressivley pursue all functional integration costs savings, and to pursue consolidation of the fire districts . The motion was seconded by Supervisor Powers . Supervisor McPeak objected to combining Recommendations 3 and 4, cautioning the effect would be not to get the job done on functional integration. She suggested leaving Recommendations 3 and 4 as they are, except adding a time frame, suggesting September 14 as the deadline under Recommendation No . 3 . - 2 - Supervisor Powers moved to change Recommendation No. 4 to: "prepare appropriate actions for consolidating the districts, and return those to the Board by September 14, 1993. " County Counsel advised that the application to LAFCO for reorganization is pretty much the constitution of what will happen and LAFCO has virtually no discretion to vary the Board' s application, and therefore it is very important that the application be carefully drafted and the Board is staisfied with it and that it contain all the conditions for the reorganization, including such things as if there are to be zones created to preserve special tax measures, and how personnel will be handled. The Chair noted that there is consensus on Recommendation No. 3 with September 14 as the deadline, and that with Supervisor Powers ' motion for Recommendation No. 4, the Board would set September 14 for a status report on where the process is going, and set the Tuesday after the November election for a further status report, and give staff the direction to move ahead on the consolidation paperwork and option consideration and boilerplate language and some the merit system kinds of personnel issues . Supervisor Smith requested that Moraga be left out of the motion and be dealt with separately. Supervisor Powers agreed. Supervisor Bishop seconded the motion. The Chair called for a vote on the consensus reached on the recommendations of the County Administrator as listed, with the amendments agreed to on Recommendations 3 and 4 . The vote was unanimous . The Chair declared that this also included eliminating Pargaraph 4 on page 2 under background of the County Administrator' s report. Supervisor Smith moved to request a report back regarding the State funding for the Moraga District, and potential options for organization in Moraga, including functional integration and other possibilities as explored in the staff report. The motion was seconded by Supervisor Powers . The Chair inquired if the motion included requesting the report by September 14 and a more definitive report on the Tuesday after the November election (November 9, 1993) . Supervisor Smith agreed. The vote on the motion was unanimous. The Chair requested staff to communicate the above actions of the Board as quickly as possible to the cities and fire commissions . ++++++++++++++ Following taking up several other items on the agenda, Supervisor Smith requested reconsideration of the ballot issue relating to consolidation. Supervisor Smith advised that he really would prefer not to have consolidation measures on the ballot in Orinda and Moraga for the reasons he had stated earlier, and moved that the Board take the issue off the ballot in Orinda and Morga, and put it on in West County if Supervisor Powers so desires . The motion was seconded by Supervisor Powers . The Board discussed the matter in some detail . Supervisor 3 - Smith commented that Ordina has already voted on consolidation . and the citizens of Moraga have made very clear what they want. Supervisor Bishop questioned the rules for voting for reconsideration. Supervisor Powers advised that he had voted on the majority side, and he would move the above motion. The motion was seconded by Supervisor Smith. Chair Torlakson declared he would like to think about the motion a bit more before voting and suggested that at this time the County Administrator report on any information on costs of placing measures on the November ballot he had received from the Elections Officer. The County Administrator reviewed the cost information received from the Elections Officer. Chair Torlakson then ruled that since the Board had been in session since 9: 00 a.m, and it was now 2 : 00 p.m. , the motion before the Board would be tabled until after a 20 minute to half hour break. ++++++++++++++++++++ Following a short break and consideration of matters scheduled on the agenda at 2 : 00 p.m. , the Board resumed discussion of matters related to the fire districts . Supervisor McPeak was absent from the afternoon session. Supervisor Powers moved to place the ballot measure before the citizens in the Riverview Fire Protection District and the citizens of the Richmond, Kensington, El Cerrito and West County communities . The motion was seconded by Supervisor Smith. Chair Torlakson explained that this is a new version of Supervisor Smith' s motion which was tabled before the break. Supervisor Smith commented that the people of Riverview have made it clear that they definitely want the opportunity to vote on the issues, but that the people in District II really don' t want to vote on the measure, and it appears that the people in West County do want to vote on the measure. He noted that it does not make sense to leave Pinole in because they also have already voted on the issue. Supervisor Bishop advised that she felt it is important for people to determine their destiny and was concerned that the people in "Consolidated" Fire had not had the opportunity to express their views in a ballot and suggested there should be a vote on the motion to reconsider prior to further discussion. Chair Torlakson advised that one issue had been settled by three votes and the Supervisors Smith and Powers are now raising the issue of whether it should be modified in any way by either adding or subtracting districts, and that he was willing to listen to debate. The Chair called for a vote on whether to reconsider the previous motion. The vote on the motion to reconsider was : AYES : Supervisors Powers, Smith and Torlakson NOES : Supervisor Bishop ABSENT: Supervisor McPeak Supervisor Smith spoke on the merits of deleting Orinda from the ballot measure as it was already voted on and passed by a large majority, and eliminating Moraga becuase of the various alternatives and options, and consideration of fact that there is - 4 - no way to frame a ballot argument that gives an adequate range of options to the populace, noting that the people in "Consolidated" have already joined in consolidtion in the not so distant past and made it clear that they value consolidation, and suggested that the Board consider the ballot measure district by district. The Chair noted that there had been two motions for reconsideration, the original one to take Orinda and Moraga out and add West County. Supervisor Smith advised there is no reason for Pinole to have it on the ballot either because Pinole is a contract district with the City of Pinole, and the concept of consolidation is a different matter. Supervisor Bishop disagreed that one could draw the conclusion that because of the past support for consolidation that in the current situation citizens would support consolidation. Supervisor Bishop requested that she be furnished with numbers showing how many people in "Consolidated" live in District III and how many live in District II . Chair Torlakson stated that he could support a motion that would keep "Consolidated" in so the residents would be able to have a chance to vote, and all the other districts that been previously named, all dependent districts, but take out Orinda and Moraga, and the people in the Pinole County District voted in the last advisory ballot measure, and he would entertain the above as a modification to the earlier action. Supervisor Bishop stated that she felt that Moraga should be left in because the Board really needs to know the will of the people. Supervisor Smith again noted that you simply cannot give the right ballot argument that gives adequate options because there are too many options in Moraga; and that the people of Moraga have communicated with him and he is very confident that he knows the opinion of the people of Moraga. Chair Torlakson asked if the modified motion, taking out Orinda, Moraga and Pinole and adding West County, is acceptable. Supervisor Smith agreed that it was acceptable to him. Chair Torlakson then seconded the motion, as just modified; clarifying that the original motion that was passed with the nine dependent districts is to be modified to take out Orinda, Moraga and Pinole and add Richmond, El Cerrito, Kensington and West County. Supervisor Powers, after checking with fire personnel from West County, requested that the West County Fire Protection District be left out because they have already voted. Chair Torlakson again clarified the motion stating that the motion is simply to modify this morning' s motion by taking out Orinda, Moraga and Pinole Districts and adding Richmond, El Cerrito and Kensington. The Chair called for a vote on the modified motion and the vote was as follows : AYES : Supervisors Powers, Smith and Torlakson NOES : Supervisor Bishop ABSENT: Supervisor McPeak 5 - Cin 5�c� wul'h �� kierviAv �• FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT I ire•c:r�,�,,;�>„ „•r>: ALLEN LI DILE R()KK I BAII)RIDGF IVRACE A.ENEA SI(: I ANtiI ROM RVF11 MIS III%AHFIII R1mBAI.•1—I July 29, 1993 EI.WARD SI'FN(—.FR,Ir. Ir)F I OVAR.Ir. Board of Supervisors 651 Pine Street Martinez, CA 94553 Honorable Board Members: In view of the unknown impacts of the State Budget and related legislation upon special fire districts, we request that any action to consolidate the Riverview Fire Protection District with any other fire agency of Contra Costa County be postponed until all pertinent budgetary facts are known. Additionally, as in previous communication from this Commission, we reiterate our request of placing any consolidation plan affecting Riverview Fire Protection District before the voters of our District. Sincerely, x e""�q ELIZABETH A. RIMBAULT, Chairperson Board of Fire Commissioners EAR:lr RECEIVED JUL 3 01993 CLERK BOARD OF SUPERVISORS CONTRA COSTA CO. 1500 WFSI'FOURTI I STREET—AN HOC:H,CALIFORNIA 94509-1099 -- THEN]ONE(510)757-1303—FAX(510)754-8852