Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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September 14, 2009 Joint Elected Officials Meeting City of Springfield City of Eugene Lane County Page 11 of 14 bring back to the ATS. The task force would then bring a recommendation back to the JEO group at a later time. Although the two processes were separate, there were connections, such as the work being done regarding consolidation would help with some of the overhead costs, reducing that from the ambulance transport system. They were interested in hearing the elected officials’ feedback. The consultant’s study was the why, but they now needed to hear the how. Councilor Ortiz thanked staff and audience members for coming tonight. She said what she needed from Chief Groves were the outcomes of the various outreach forums in both communities. It was important to hear from everybody in the community. She felt they had been thorough and included representation and participation from all jurisdictions. Councilor Simmons said he agreed. He was concerned because he didn’t have the facts of what it would cost. He gave the example of equipment repair costs each City incurred. He read that there would be initial savings, but wanted to know about savings in years five, six and so on. He discussed deficiencies in the equipment replacement funds in Springfield and asked about the replacement funds in Eugene and how those replacement costs differed. He said it was wonderful that we had already combined training and response, and we needed to share in that responsibility. He trusted both Chiefs, but would be looking over their shoulders. Board Chair Sorenson asked what percentage of the population served by this unified fire force would be outside of Eugene. Chief Murphy said about 35%. Board Chair Sorenson asked if the taxes paid by those people would change as a result of their inclusion into a district or if taxes paid by residents in Springfield and Eugene would be affected by the merger. Chief Murphy said it would cost less. There would be no effect on service on any other government in Lane County. Springfield and Eugene Fire served 35 jurisdictions in metro central Lane County and throughout the state. Those were user driven fees for contracts and that was self governance by each agency. Chief Groves said it would depend on the level of governance. If this was some level of modeling a Metro Wastewater Management Commission (MWMC), there wouldn’t be any change. If a fire district was formed, it would be a level taxation. Board Chair Sorenson confirmed that the current proposal was just to combine the departments but not changing the tax structure for any of the jurisdictions. Chief Groves said that was correct. Staff was looking for support to go ahead and put together the specifics of what it would look like to bring the two organizations together. Board Chair Sorenson asked if this would involve an amendment to the Metro Plan.