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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 12/03/03WS MINUTES Eugene City Council Work Session McNutt Room-Eugene City Hall December 3, 2003 Noon COUNCILORS PRESENT: Gary Papd, Nancy Nathanson, Scott Meisner, David Kelly, Betty Taylor, Bonny Bettman, George Poling, Jennifer Solomon. Mayor James D. Torrey called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. A. ACTION: An Ordinance Amending the Willakenzie Area Plan Text; Amending Sections 9.2160 and 9.9700 of the Eugene Code, 1971; Adopting a Severability Clause; and Providing an Effective Date Mr. Papd, seconded by Ms. Nathanson, moved that the council adopt Council Bill 4854, an ordinance amending the Willakenzie Area Plan text. The motion passed, 5:1; Ms. Taylor voting no, and Ms. Bettman and Ms. Solomon not yet having arrived. Ms. Solomon and Ms. Bettman arrived. At the request of Mayor Torrey, Council President Pap6 chaired the meeting. B. WORK SESSION: Fire and Emergency Medical Services Standards of Response Coverage Report City Manager Dennis Taylor introduced the item. He reminded the council of its recent receipt of the Standards' of Response Coverage report. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Chief Tom Tallon joined the council to present a summary of the report's findings and recommendations in a PowerPoint presentation entitled Eugene Fire and Emergency Medical Service Standards' of Cover. He defined the "standards of cover" as being measures of the level of quality and service that the department provided to cover the risk in the community. Chief Tallon briefly noted the information analyzed for the purpose of the report and the data provided regarding demand and time performance. He called attention to the information provided in the Operations Section of the report, and provided an example of how the department staged an initial attack on a high-rise fire. Chief Tallon overviewed the sections regarding the distribution and concentration of resources. He showed the council maps illustrating how coverage of the community would change by moving Engine 9 to Station MINUTES--Eugene City Council December 3, 2003 Page 1 Work Session 11 and by restaffing Station 9. Chief Tallon provided demographic information that indicated call volume had increased over 400 percent since 1981, while the population increased 14 percent; he attributed that to the City's assumption of EMS (emergency medical service) transport service. The number of firefighters increased by only two percent and actually decreased in terms of fire fighters per 1,000 persons due to community growth. He emphasized that the department was busy but the community was safe because the department was covering the risk that existed. Chief Tallon reviewed the recommendations in the report: · Restaff Station 9 · Continue to staff ambulances according to demand · Retain current number of firefighters (plus Engine 9) · Continue analysis of EMS transport system and firefighter staffing · Continue to evaluate Eugene 10/Medic 10 Company · Continue to measure department's deployment goals and performance against the "1710" standard · Plan for the infrastructure to support response in underserved areas Chief Tallon reviewed the next steps the department would take in implementing the recommendations of the report, which were to update the report on a four-year cycle, and secure accreditation from the Commission for Fire Accreditation. Chief Tallon invited questions. Mr. Meisner commended the presentation. He asked if different geographic areas of the City varied in intensity and frequency in terms of Emergency Medical Service (EMS) calls. Chief Tallon said yes, noting there were more calls for service in the core of the city because the population was denser and there was more industry than in the less dense outer areas. He noted the move of Station 1 would improve call availability in downtown and the area south of the fairgrounds. He confirmed, in response to a follow-up question from Mr. Meisner, that the data had an impact on how stations were sited. For example, many nursing homes and senior care facilities were concentrated in Santa Clara and near Valley River, and that was a concern to the department. Chief Tallon said that over 90 percent of calls received were responded to within five minutes, so stations were located in the right area, but the department was so busy that staff might not be in the station when the next call for service arrived. Mr. Meisner asked how often the City reviewed Fire Med rates, and if rates could be raised to pay for the entire provision of service, not merely the cost of a specific ambulance trip. Chief Tallon indicated he would provide that information regarding that topic during an upcoming presentation to the Budget Committee, as well as in writing. Mr. Meisner wanted to ensure that the broader costs of providing the service were covered. Ms. Bettman expressed appreciation and admiration for the City's professional staff and said she wanted to ensure that the City had sufficient resources to provide citizens with the quality of protection they had come MINUTES--Eugene City Council December 3, 2003 Page 2 Work Session to expect. Ms. Bettman noted the proposed privatization of the firefighting crew at the airport and asked for more information. Chief Tallon clarified that the proposal was still in negotiation. He said the department had indicated that whoever secured the contract must train with the department and operate on the same radio frequency. In the case of an incident, the fire department would send as many resources to the incident as necessary. Ms. Bettman asked if the City's cost in meeting an emergency at the airport would be recoverable. She questioned if there was actually a savings from privatization because one or two events would eliminate the savings. Chief Tallon acknowledged Ms. Bettman's concern. Ms. Bettman asked if the manager would recommend that the City restaff Station 9 in the next budget. City Manager Taylor did not think he would be able to make that recommendation in fiscal year 2005 due to budgetary constraints related to the status of the Emergency Medical Services Fund and how the City was going to pay for paramedic costs. Ms. Bettman thought it crucial to restaffthe station soon, and looked to those councilors whose wards were impacted during the next budget review to champion the issue. Chief Tallon anticipated staff would seek funding to restaff Station 9 in 2006. Responding to a question from Ms. Bettman, Chief Tallon clarified that Lane County had responsibility for water rescues; Eugene had no dive component in its budget, which had essentially been body recovery. He said that the Eugene water rescue team rescued numerous people on the river each year. He estimated that the department received 50 calls in summer 2003 to assist people stranded on the river. Ms. Bettman asked how much money could be saved if the County provided the service, suggesting the savings could be directed toward restaffing Station 9. Chief Tallon explained the personnel in question were cross-trained firefighters at Station 1 rather than a separate crew that performed water rescues. Ms. Bettman asked where the water rescue function would be located when Station 1 moved. Chief Tallon said it would still be at Station 1, which would continue to be the closest station to the river. Mr. Kelly also commended the department and expressed pride in those who served in it. He noted declines in firefighters per capita over the past 20 years and the increase in response time. He was pleased with the restaffing recommendation for Station 9. He suggested the council needed to pay attention to the increased risk in that area. He recalled discussion of funding the costs of the station with a serial levy but he did not believe that was the way to fund ongoing government services. Mr. Kelly said that all the recommendations in the report would cost real money, and for that reason he believed the council would need to consider the topic of revenue restructuring or tax reform. The City could not continue to fund services while continuing to face the ramifications of property tax limitations measures and increasing health care and other personnel costs. He hoped that would be a central topic of discussion at the council's February retreat. Mr. Poling thanked the chief, deputy chiefs, and all members of the department. He said that it did a wonderful job doing more with less. He commended the department's willingness to consider improvements to its processes and to work with other agencies. He preferred to see the restaffing of Station 9 with the engine company occur earlier than was proposed. Mr. Poling recalled that he had initially opposed the reassignment of the engine company at Station 9 but had accepted it after discussing the issue with Chief Tallon. The chief's reasoning and concerns about coverage in Santa Clara had been valid. He thought the chief continued to be on the right path and called on the council to support the chief and the department. Chief Tallon thanked Mr. Poling for his remarks about the department. Mr. Pap~ determined from Chief Tallon that the department's response time included 60 seconds for turnout and four minutes for the first unit to arrive at the scene of an incident. MINUTES--Eugene City Council December 3, 2003 Page 3 Work Session Mr. Pap~ shared the concern expressed by others about Station 9. He wanted the Budget Committee to have the option of seeing the station restaffed in the next fiscal year, and indicated his intent to offer a motion to the body directing the manager to take action to that effect. Mr. Pap~ determined from Chief Tallon that the department's working relationship with the Santa Clara Fire Department was going well. Chief Tallon described how the mutual response relationship worked at the current time. Mr. Pap~ asked if the City received money from the district for its assistance. Chief Tallon said that each agency received $100 from the other agency when they responded to a call for assistance, or $12,000 annually. Mr. Pap~ wanted staff to present the council with a strategy for accomplishing each of the recommenda- tions. Chief Tallon indicated that was the purpose of accreditation Ms. Nathanson said there were many kinds of emergency that the City provided, and that had implications for the locations of stations, the types and locations of equipment, and those hired. Those factors had land use implications as well. Ms. Nathanson suggested that the council keep in mind that the City's emergency response was based on the principle of helping people no matter where they lived in the community. It was in the entire community's interest to make sure its emergency response coverage was adequate and excellent. Speaking to the financial stability of the Emergency Medical Services Fund, Ms. Nathanson suggested Eugene was a victim of decisions made by the federal government and Lane County. She said that some of the changes Chief Tallon had to make were in response to decisions made by those governments. Ms. Nathanson acknowledged that change was difficult for both the public and employees. She was happy to see that the department was committed to an ongoing review and improvement of its operations. Ms. Taylor said that growth was not paying its costs as evidenced by the financial gap facing the depart- ment. She also supported the restaffing of Station 9. She questioned whether the City had any priorities that were higher than the engine company. She asked staff to consider that issue and give the council suggestions. Ms. Taylor asked if the ~hard boundary" between Eugene and Springfield could be eliminated. Chief Tallon said that there was no hard boundary. If there was a critical emergency, the closest unit responded. Chief Tallon said that the department was attempting to manage an important and scarce resource for nonemer- gency calls to ensure people receive appropriate service and the City can deploy its capacity most effectively. He said that he would not stabilize the EMS Fund at the expense of the community's safety. Ms. Taylor asked what happened if an ambulance from Springfield happened to be in Eugene and was the nearest unit to an emergency. Chief Tallon said that the department was still analyzing that; not every call was a life-threatening emergency, and Eugene's communications system allowed the dispatchers to triage calls. Ms. Taylor, seconded by Ms. Bettman, moved to extend time for the item by ten minutes. The motion passed, 5:3; Mr. Meisner, Ms. Nathanson, and Ms. Solomon voting no. MINUTES--Eugene City Council December 3, 2003 Page 4 Work Session Ms. Taylor asked if the union members of the department were involved in decision-making in the department. Chief Tallon said that the union decided not to be involved in the report. The union reviewed the report and had not indicated any major disagreements with the report. Ms. Bettman asked if the paramedics were trained to do tracheotomies. Chief Tallon said yes. Ms. Bettman suggested a situation in which a child was choking and asked if an ambulance would arrive in time to prevent brain death. That was the standard she used to judge whether there was adequate response time, and she could not find an answer to that question in the materials before the council. Ms. Bettman said she had reservations about the report. It appeared to her that the City moved forward with phases 1 and 2 of redeployment to save money, but the report indicated that no money had been saved and the level of service deteriorated. She said that the council should make it a goal that the 1710 Standard be achieved, as that was the only policy direction the council could give that would get the City where it ought to be. Mr. Kelly shared Ms. Bettman's concerns and requested summary financial data at the Budget Committee meeting in February 2004. He cited the costs and savings from the shift to Medic 90s as an example. Mr. Kelly asked what the benefits and costs of accreditation would be. Chief Tallon said that the cost would be several thousand dollars. The benefit was that the department would be independently evaluated by outside experts. Mr. Meisner did not perceive the report as suggesting that phases 1 and 2 redeployment were failures. Mr. Meisner was unsure he would support a motion directing staff to bring the Station 9 restaffing issue back to the Budget Committee at this time. He trusted that the department would make the needed recommendation when appropriate to the decision makers. Chief Tallon concurred. Mr. Pap~, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved that the City Manager's fiscal year 2005 budget proposal include appropriate options for an engine com- pany at Station 9 and recommendations for funding it. Mr. Kelly clarified from Mr. Pap~ that he was not proposing to include the cost of restaffing Station 9 in the base fiscal year 2005 budget. Mr. Kelly said he was willing to consider the information about how to accomplish the goal, but he did not want it in the base budget. Mr. Pap~ agreed. Mr. Poling said having the extra engine at Station 9 would increase coverage throughout the community, and he wanted to examine the potential. Assistant City Manager Jim Carlson reminded the council that its work session on such items were held outside the budgeting process, which was a balancing act between all the different things the City did. He recalled that the council attempted to fund the recommendations made in the Hobson Report at one time but was not able to do so. He indicated staff would return with options, but the options would also include reductions because the council could not add $1.5 million to the General Fund without reducing the budget somewhere else or by securing new revenues. MINUTES--Eugene City Council December 3, 2003 Page 5 Work Session The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. MINUTES--Eugene City Council December 3, 2003 Page 6 Work Session 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 of Oregon counties he had frequently found resistance to merging educational service districts even when there were efficiencies to be gained. He urged the council to keep unintended consequences in mind. For example, if the three local school districts were merged, their compensation would be tied to the district that paid the highest salaries, eliminating all the savings that would have otherwise been realized. Speaking to Mr. Kelly's earlier remarks about the new for tax reform, Mayor Torrey said that either Oregon must get new revenues or prioritize the services it could afford to deliver and be honest with the citizens about what government could do. Mr. Kelly, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to extend time for the item by five minutes. The motion passed. Mr. Kelly indicated his support for Option 1, to table the issue for the time being. He felt he had sufficient information at this point and was very concerned about the potential of compression. Until some way could be found around compression, he could not support such a district. He also expressed concern about the peer-to-peer relationship that would exist between the council and a district's board, as the council would continue to hear about any service problems that arose and would be expected to solve them but would lack the power to do so. Mr. Kelly wanted to see continued exploration of opportunities for collaboration between the local fire and emergency medical services agencies, but pointed out that did not require the formation of a special district. Ms. Bettman said Mr. Kelly's points were well-taken but she wanted to see information about other approaches, such as a single-purpose EMS district. Ms. Bettman, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved adoption of Option 3. Mr. Meisner expressed support for the motion. He pointed out to Mr. Kelly that he had not raised similar objections when the council contemplated the formation of a library district, which also would have included an independent, elected library board, and the City would have been handing over property to the new district. Mr. Meisner did not interpret the motion as dictating an outcome, that is, formation of a district. Ms. Bettman concurred. Ms. Taylor also wanted more information and to hear from more of the public as well. Ms. Nathanson indicated she did not expect a report within the next two to three months, but sometime in the next calendar year. Mr. Carlson recommended that the council provide more input to the staff on the types of information it would like to see in a future report. Mr. Pap~ asked councilors to summarize their thoughts and provide them to the City Manager via e-mail. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. MINUTES--Eugene City Council December 3, 2003 Page 8 Work Session D. ACTION: An Ordinance Adopting the 2004 Tracking Instructions Handbook for the Toxics Right-to-Know Program Glen Potter of the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department was present to answer questions. Ms. Nathanson, seconded by Mr. Meisner, moved that the council adopt Council Bill 4823, an ordinance adopting tracking instructions for the Toxics Right-to-Know Program. Mr. Pap6 called for discussion. Mr. Meisner expressed thanks for the City Attorney's responses to the council's questions. He said that he would vote for the ordinance with great reluctance. Because of the Court of Appeals decisions and State law changes, the program was moving further from its original intent, and he was not comfortable with that. Ms. Solomon left the meeting. Mr. Poling said he would also support the motion, but concurred with Mr. Meisner. He said the issue was becoming increasingly convoluted. He thought it was time for the community to revisit the charter amendment. The motion passed unanimously, 7:0 (Ms. Solomon having left the meet- ing). Respectfully submitted, Dennis M. Taylor City Manager (Recorded by Kimberly Young) MINUTES--Eugene City Council December 3, 2003 Page 9 Work Session