HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 01191993 - 2.A 2.A
.t Contra
TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS S
Costa
FROM: PHIL BATCHELOR
C_ ounty
County Administrator f� M
DATE: January 19, 1993
SUBJECT: Management Integration of the Moraga and Orinda Fire Protection
Districts
Specific Request(s) or Recommendation(s) & Background & Justification
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. Approve the Moraga/Orinda Ad Hoc Task Force' s recommendation to support
the continuation of the present interim arrangement for the management
of the two districts based on acting chief officer assignments.
2. Direct the County Administrator and the Task Force to continue
developing detailed operations and funding plans for the eventual
implementation of the administrative integration and shared management
plan consisting of one fire chief, no assistant chiefs, one fire marshal
and three battalion chiefs as recommended by the Task Force in the
December 15, 1992 report of the County Administrator.
3. Direct the Task Force and the County Administrator' s Office to continue
to consider other refinements or alternatives to the recommended
management integration plan.
4. Direct the County Administrator and the Acting Fire Chief to continue
meeting with representatives of the United Professional Firefighter
Union Local 1230 to receive their input and to identify any issues that
may require meet and confer.
5. Acknowledge that the Moraga and Orinda Fire Commissions and the Moraga
Town Council support the recommendations of the Task Force and that the
City Council of Orinda expressed no objections to the management
integration plan.
Continued on Attachment: X YES Signature:
*ZZLc-,,�,, k,
IF
Recommendation of County Administrator
Recommendation of Board Committee
Approve Other
Signature(s) :
Action of Board on: .TanuarV 1.q_ 1993 Approved as Recommended—Other-1—
Commissioner Charles Blue and Moraga Mayor Sue Noe appeared and agreed with the above
recommendations as the first step. Ray Davis, Citizen of Ordina, urged consolidation with the
Contra Costa County Fire Protection District. The Board APPROVED the above_recommendations and
amended recommendation No. 3 by adding: "to be done in conjunction with and under the
supervision of the Fire Coordinating Subcommittee of the Board."
Vote of Supervisors: I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
x Unanimous (Absent ) AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE
Ayes: Noes: ) BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON DATE SHOWN.
Contact: Terry McGraw 646-4855 Attested: Tan„a X;r 19� iqQ1
cc: Ad Hoc Task Force via CAO Phil Batchelor, Clerk of
County Administrator the Board of Supervisors
Orinda & Moraga Fire and County Administrator
Protection Districts 67
.Town of Moraga By: —, DEPUTY
City of Orinda
United Professional
Firefighters Local 1230
i
REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION/BACKGROUND:
On December 15, 1992 the Board of Supervisors considered the report of the
County Administrator which recommended the approval of the Task Force' s
recommendation to support in principle the administrative integration and
shared management plan for the two districts.
The Board requested that the Task Force review its recommendations in
relation to the "West County Management Plan" and a proposal known as "The
Lamorinda Tactical Service Area" option, provided to Supervisor Powers by
Willis Lamm of the Orinda Fire District.
The Task Force plan outlined above in recommendation number 1, as revised by
Chief Cooper, would save approximately $223,000.
Under the West County Plan, the Chief of the Contra Costa County Fire
Protection District (Con Fire) would be the administrative chief of Moraga
and Orinda. This option would involve the elimination of the two fire chief
positions, two fire marshal positions and a half-time dispatcher position.
One fire inspector position would be added. The two assistant chief
positions would be converted to battalion chiefs assigned to a 40-hour per
week daytime schedule in their respective districts. Battalion chief
coverage during evenings and weekend hours would be provided by the existing
two battalion structure of Con Fire. The estimated savings of this option is
approximately $502,000 (revised from $445,426) .
The Task force did not believe this would be a workable arrangement from the
standpoint of the battalion chief coverage during evening and weekend
periods. Adding six additional fire companies from Orinda/Moraga would
overburden the existing two-battalion structure in Con Fire and create a
totally unreasonable span of control ratio of one battalion chief for each
16. 5 companies (including reserve companies) . The Standardized Incident
Command System in use in California recommends a ratio of one Command Officer
to each 5-7 companies. New state law requires this system become mandatory
for use by all fire agencies by 1995.
The "Lamorinda Tactical Service Area" option would result in the elimination
of two fire chief positions, one fire marshal, one and one-half
clerical/dispatcher position and the conversion of the two assistant chief
positions to battalion chiefs. The Chief of Con Fire would be the
administrative chief of Moraga and Orinda.
Operationally, Moraga and Orinda Fire, in conjunction with Con Fire, would
form a third battalion to serve the Lafayette, Moraga and Orinda areas. This
plan assumes that Con Fire has an excess battalion chief and fire inspector
that could be assigned to Lamorinda. This is not the case.
The estimated savings of this option is $378,129 per year. However,
realistically, the cost of a battalion chief and the fire inspector at
approximately $203 ,000 must be offset against the proposed savings. This
would reduce the savings to $175,129.
Some members of the Task Force questioned the validity of the estimated cost
savings of the two alternative plans because there was nothing factored in
for administration by Con Fire. The feeling was that this represents a
hidden cost in that the management services provided to West County Fire and
proposed for Moraga/Orinda without charge diminishes the ability of Con Fire
personnel to manage their district.
A non-financial objection to the two alternative options would be the
concerns of the community about Moraga and Orinda being managed by Con Fire.
It is likely that this would create similar community opposition as was the
case in the consolidation proposals.
Although it is recommended that the Task Force option be approved, the Task
Force and the County Administrator' s Office will continue to explore other
potential management integration enhancements.
The Acting Moraga/Orinda Fire Chief and representatives of the County
Administrator' s Office made presentations to the Moraga and Orinda Fire
Commissions and the Councils of the Town of Moraga and the City of Orinda.
With the exception of the Orinda City Council, all of the agencies approved
the concepts of the Task Force recommendations. The Orinda City Council did
not take a position on the matter, but did not express opposition.
The concept of management integration being proposed for the Orinda and
Moraga Fire Protection Districts would achieve significant savings while
maintaining individual District identity and the strong community support
which historically these Districts have enjoyed. Such support is vital to
developing a viable, ongoing, and permanent funding base which permits a high
level of fire protection services.
J