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C. WORK SESSION: Possible Formation of Fire and Emergency Medical Service District Mr. Carlson said that a majority of councilors requested the work session but staff was unsure what the issue was, and had provided some information on special districts in the meeting packet. Mr. Papd said he requested the work session not as a comment on the service delivered by the department, but because he believed it behooved the council to look at new ways of doing things. His interest was piqued by the success of the Tualatin Fire District, and he wanted to know if there were downsides of such districts. He could find no downsides in his inquiries. Mr. Papd suggested a fire district would resolve the issues that Eugene had in Santa Clara. Ms. Bettman said that she wanted more information, so she was most interested in Option 3 of the five options suggested by staff, which called for further study of the issue. She believed that the downside of forming such a district would be compression under Ballot Measure 5. She suggested one approach might be for Eugene to maintain its own fire service and form a district to provide emergency medical services. She wanted to see any money freed up by forming a special district dedicated to filling staffing gaps in the department and to reducing taxes. She thought the cultural differences cited by staff were easily resolved. Ms. Nathanson concurred with Ms. Bettman regarding Option 3. She said that the district concept was of interest because of service issues and long-term costs. The council heard about severe budget problems in the department's budget and some of the challenges it experienced, and when she considered how to provide services for Eugene, she considered whether that was best accomplished through the municipality or through a regional approach where there could be collaboration in training and equipment purchases. She questioned whether Eugene citizens would stand to gain in terms of cost and service. Mr. Meisner indicated tentative support for Option 3. He did not know if the contemplated district should be confined to Eugene-Springfield alone or to a broader area. He suggested that the council disregard the issue of cultural differences, as the main consideration should be effective and efficient service delivery. He observed that Springfield was already considering special districts, and suggested the City reach out to it and other nearby communities, such as the Mohawk area. Mr. Meisner hoped the City proceeded with further study and began a conversation with other jurisdictions and districts, noting that many of them had representatives present, which indicated their interest in the topic. Option 3 would allow the conversation to begin. Ms. Taylor also preferred Option 3. She did not think the issue of cultural differences would be as significant in fire services as it was in other services, such as police. She did not think the agencies had differing goals. Mr. Poling found Ms. Bettman's suggestion for an EMS district alone to be interesting, and wanted more exploration of that. He agreed with other councilors that more information was needed, and for that reason supported Option 3. He suggested that the City might want to monitor the process embarked upon by Springfield. He shared Ms. Bettman's concerns about the potential of compression and agreed the council needed to keep that in mind. Mayor Torrey agreed with Mr. Poling's suggestion that the City track the progress made by Springfield. He pointed out there were several other services that could be delivered through special districts, but in his tour MINUTES--Eugene City Council December 3, 2003 Page 7 Work Session