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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 02/27/02 Work Session MINUTES Eugene City Council Work Session McNutt Room--Eugene City Hall February 27, 2002 Noon COUNCILORS PRESENT: Betty Taylor, David Kelly, Nancy Nathanson, Scott Meisner, Gary Rayor, Gary Pap~, Bonny Bettman, Par Farr. CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION Mayor James D. Torrey called the meeting to order. A.Work Session: Fire Operations Local Option Levy City Manager Jim Johnson introduced the item. He did not recommend the council proceed to the ballot with a serial levy for fire operations. He did not believe there was an unacceptable level of risk involved in the staffing patterns that were being recommended by Fire Chief Tom Tallon. He pointed out that the council had not done a thorough job of discussing the issue of funding fire operations with such a levy, or of educating and involving the citizens in the process. Mr. Johnson suggested that if the council wanted to have such a serial levy, it should set up a process that included a citizen advisory committee. That committee could review the issues involved and return with recommendations. Mr. Johnson said such a levy was inconsistent with the direction of the Budget Committee regarding no service additions in fiscal years 2004-05. In addition, such a levy was inconsistent with the council's financial goals and policies regarding fair, stable, and adequate resources, and many councilors' desire to lessen the City's dependence on the property tax. Mr. Johnson concluded that the financial policies also state that to the maximum extent possible, serial levies would only be used for time-limited operating purposes. Chief Tom Tallon said that City staff had worked on the fire bond issue for several years, with the goal of replacing the City's infrastructure. He said that firefighters were housed in a facility that was both unsafe and inadequate. He said that issue of the bond was the council's area of responsibility and he supported its actions. He said the issue of managing the City's resources was the Fire Department's responsibility. He said the department's command staff represented 97 years of experience, and he believed its planning was well-thought-out. It used national and local standards to develop a strategy that he acknowledged was not optimal, but he promised to work diligently while the department was in that configuration to get the City back to a position where it could adequately staff its stations. He said that while the strategy being contemplated was forced on the City by the decision of the board of the Santa Clara Fire District not to enter into contract with it, the strategy was safe and did not put the community at undue risk, being well within the national and local standards that had been set. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 27, 2002 Page 1 Work Session Chief Tallon called the council's attention to the completed Emergency Medical Services Study, and said it was excellent work that accurately reflected the current situation and contained recommendations for the future. Chief Tallon discussed the National Fire Protection Association Provision 1710 on safety standards for firefighters, saying it was a national document that staff referred to in helping it set standards. He said that the department also used the Oregon Deployment Standard to help it evaluate the risk that existed, the coverage being provided, and what coverage would be needed in the future. He said that it would take the department a year to complete the evaluation process of community need before command staff could make long-term recommendations to the council. In the meantime, it used the standards cited to make decisions about resource deployment. Chief Tallon said that the City had also hired a consultant, Jack Snook of the Emergency Service and Education Company, to evaluate its fire department independent of City staff. The consultant would evaluate both the Eugene and Springfield departments to determine if they were doing an adequate job, if they should stay independent, if should they combine some functions for better efficiencies, and if the community should consider providing fire services through a special district rather than through the municipality. Chief Tallon briefly reviewed the contents of a packet distributed to the council prior to the meeting, which included four memorandums: 1) a memorandum dated February 27, 2002, from Chief Tallon to the mayor and council, entitled Fire Station Response Time Information; 2) a memorandum dated February 27, 2002, from Management Analyst Josie Van Scholten to Chief Tallon entitled Call Volume and Fire Activity in Santa Clara and Valley River/Station 2; 3) a memorandum dated February 27, 2002, from Deputy Chief Randy Groves to Chief Tallon entitled Response Time and Distance Study: Valley River Area; 4) a memorandum dated February 27, 2002, from Planning Chief Ruth Obadal to Chief Tallon entitled Maps of Fire Station Coverage Areas; and 5) a memorandum dated February 27, 2002, from Planning Chief Ruth Obadal to Chief Tallon entitled National Response Time Guidelines. Chief Tallon called attention to maps requested by the council that projected the four-minute response coverage for different station configurations. He also called attention to a map that illustrated the coverage areas for the different fire stations, and said that it indicated the Station 9's first-in response area was the smallest of all stations, and the reassignment of the fire engine would create a lesser service level gap that now exists in portions of Eugene's south hills. Chief Tallon reiterated that the command staff had responded to the decision of the Santa Clara Fire Board not to work with the department on a contractual basis by putting together a plan to provide good protection and fire coverage to every City resident. Mayor Torrey called for a first round of council comments/questions. Mr. Fart indicated that the chief had already responded to one question he had, that of the response time. He said he appreciated the testimony that Gary Nauta of the Eugene Firefighters had provided the council on February 25, and thought it important to listen to that testimony and investigate any requests the firefighters made. However, he was satisfied with the command staff recommendation opposing a serial levy. Mr. Kelly thanked fire command staff for the information provided, and thanked the firefighters union for the information it provided. He said that he had been disappointed in the tone he had MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 27, 2002 Page 2 Work Session heard on February 25; he said that it was not a situation of "us versus them" but of the need to provide the best fire service possible. He agreed with Chief Tallon it was not the council's purview to determine operational issues, but it was the council's purview to determine the level of fire service it thought should be provided for the City, and fund that level. Mr. Kelly suggested that was the discussion that was occurring. Mr. Kelly asked if it would not be more correct to shade the map showing current conditions to indicate that while service might not be provided by Eugene in Santa Clara, there was service from the Santa Clara Fire Department. Chief Tallon said that the map did not illustrate the service provided by the Santa Clara district. However, he said that the district had put the City on notice through public testimony that it was unable to provide an adequate volunteer response to fire calls and meet response standards. Mr. Kelly thought the map might mislead the public that there was no coverage at all in the area. Chief Tallon said that the City had canceled its contract with Santa Clara, so the area was not be covered unless Eugene sent its resources to a call. Mr. Kelly said Mr. Nauta's February 27 letter to the council implied that the first response to calls in the Valley River area following redeployment would come from the Sheldon station. Given that, the fire fighters argued that the area covered by the Sheldon and Valley River was about 30 percent of the city's land area, so one station would be responding to 30 percent of the land area of the city, and seven stations were serving the remaining 70 percent. He asked if that "seemed like a mismatch." Chief Tallon said that staff provided numbers regarding the actual number of calls the station received, and call volume indicated that relocating Engine 9 to Santa Clara still provided capacity for greater call volume. The department would continue to meet the call volume in that area. He said that the size of the area to be served was something to consider, but the time and distance numbers he provided for Engine 6, Engine 11, and Engine 1 were still adequate and meet national standards to cover the area in question. Mr. Pap8 also expressed appreciation for the information provided by the firefighters union and command staff. He was concerned about the provision of service to the area in question but was also concerned about using a serial levy to fund operations. He said that if the service was important, the City needed to determine to find a way for ongoing funding to support it. He suggested that the Budget Committee be asked to find additional ongoing funding. Mr. Pap8 asked for information about progress on the study the City was doing about the possibility of an area wide fire district. Chief Tallon said that the study would take six months, and the analysis would return to the elected officials for resolution. He confirmed that the result could be a special service district, and that the issue was being studied broadly, including by the City of Springfield, which recently decided not to take that direction for the time being. Mr. Meisner agreed with Mr. Johnson's recommendation, saying that the level of acceptable risk was an issue that needed to be taken into consideration. Mr. Meisner also agreed about the need for community involvement and more substantive council discussion before a serial levy was offered to the voters. He concurred that a serial levy would be inconsistent with the council's goals and the Budget Committee's direction to staff. He had disliked using operating levies for the library, and thought it was even more unacceptable to use such levies for the operations of the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department. Ms. Bettman also thanked staff for the information provided. She noted that during the last budget process she had raised concerns about the department's ability to cover an expanded service area. Ms. Bettman thought the City had been forced by circumstance to expand the MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 27, 2002 Page 3 Work Session service, adding that the situation showed how unreliable projections can be and the need for flexibility in prioritizing expenditures. Her major concern was for the safety of the public and the firefighters. She wanted to ensure the department had the flexibility to provide coverage for unforeseen circumstances, which would require more firefighters. Ms. Bettman realized that a serial levy was not the optimal solution, but said there was not sufficient support on the Budget Committee to reprioritize other spending to address the need for expanded fire service to the northern area of the community. She supported a serial levy. She preferred to go through the budget process but did not think the political will existed on the part of the Budget Committee to fund expanded services, and she thought it would be too late to wait until November 2002 to put a measure on the ballot. Ms. Bettman confirmed with staff that the only fire coverage that would be provided north of the river in Santa Clara under the command staff proposal would be from the Sheldon Station. Ms. Nathanson did not think there had been sufficient discussion of a serial levy. She noted her long-time support for the department but thought it would be violating the council's goals to go forward in such a hurried way with a serial levy. Responding to a question from Ms. Nathanson regarding the reopening of Station 10, Chief Matt Shuler responded that the station was built in the early 1980s, and it was never opened. The City's redeployment plan, developed in the early 1990s, included funding and staffing for a dedicated fire company for that station. The City would not have been able to relocate its other stations without the opening of that station to address the service gaps that would have resulted from the moves. Ms. Nathanson recalled that the situation that was addressed in the past represented a higher public safety risk, but it took some time to gather evidence to convince people of the need that existed to secure the support for a money measure. Chief Tallon concurred, and said that the same educational approach was being taken in terms of the bond. He reiterated that while the interim plan to move Engine 9 was not optimal, it was well within acceptable risk factors for service delivery. Ms. Nathanson asked if a serial levy as proposed by the firefighters would help improve the City's ability to respond to calls within four minutes in other areas of the community. Chief Tallon said no. The City does not deploy its resources outside the location of the stations and develops its call response plan around the station locations. Ms. Taylor asked if there was a danger to firefighter safety from the interim plan. Chief Tallon said no. Ms. Taylor said she did not like to decide anything this quickly, but the issue was thrust upon the City by the Santa Clara Fire District. She wanted to hear more from the union representatives. Mr. Rayor thanked the chief, command staff, and the union representatives for the information they provided, and said it was a lot to absorb in a short time. He said that he assumed the command staff did some prioritizing in developing its recommendation. Mr. Rayor said it was difficult for him not to follow the advice of command staff in this instance. He said he would feel terrible to have a serial levy passed and then not renewed, which would mean layoffs; he would also feel terrible if a conflagration occurred and the City was unable to address it because it had spent the money in a different way. Mr. Rayor said that it was a tough decision, and he MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 27, 2002 Page 4 Work Session commended the command staff for living within the department's budget. He hoped there would be understanding on the part of the union regarding the situation. Mayor Torrey asked if the risk of fire in an older area of town was greater than in a newer area of town. Chief Tallon said yes, because new building products and better building codes had lessened the fire danger. Mayor Torrey determined from Chief Tallon that the area of the community south of the fairgrounds was at greater risk for fire danger than many other parts of the community. Mayor Torrey asked if Springfield would assist the City with fire suppression in the Ferry Street Bridge area. Chief Tallon said yes, the City had a mutual aid agreement with Springfield, and Springfield Chief Dennis Murphy had indicated he would consider moving an engine further to the west if that was needed. Mayor Torrey reminded the council that the Citizen Charter Review Committee had unanimously recommended that the council/manager form of government be retained. The manager had the responsibility to hire qualified people to head departments. He said that the council respected the firefighters but the management of the department needed to remain within the purview of the Fire Chief. Mayor Torrey said that he trusted the judgment of command staff and hoped that the serial levy proposal did not proceed. He emphasized that did not mean he was not concerned about the safety of every single citizen. Chief Tallon thanked the mayor for his remarks. He assured the council that he was deeply concerned about the safety of every firefighter, and his goal was to work with the employees on the challenges facing the department. He agreed with Mr. Kelly that the situation was not an "us versus them" situation. With regard to acceptable levels of risk, Mayor Torrey did not think it acceptable to leave the police officers in the basement of City Hall, or to have those more at-risk housing units south of the fairground at risk from fire. He said that the council will need to work hard to pass a bond relocating Fire Station 1, or it had not done its job. Mr. Kelly asked about the timeline for the consultant's study. Chief Tallon estimated the study would be completed by the end of summer 2002. Mr. Kelly thought Mr. PapS's point about looking to the Budget Committee for future funding was idealistic but not realistic. He also did not think there were the votes on the council to put a serial levy on the ballot, and thought it would be counterproductive to offer such a motion. However, he suggested that rather than moving on, the council consider forming a citizens committee to examine the two different sets of data provided by command staff and the union, and provide feedback to the council. Mr. Kelly, seconded by Ms. Bettman, moved that the City Manager establish a citizens committee with additional representation from both Fire Department management and the firefighters union to study the information the council was provided and report back to the City Council in time to give the council the option of placing a measure on the November 2002 ballot. Ms. Bettman supported the motion. She suggested that the council also consider passing a resolution recommending to the Budget Committee that it fund the Valley River fire station. She did not think the issue was a management issue, but rather a budget issue. Ms. Bettman thought MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 27, 2002 Page 5 Work Session the chief had responded with his best effort to the manager's direction to cut his budget, and it was the council's purview, in its review of the budget, to determine if it wished to support that level of service as opposed to another level of service. She said that the council needed to determine whether it wanted to fund the additional FTEs to serve the expanded service area. Ms. Bettman said the council recently decided to give a tax break to Hynix for jobs, without documentation that the jobs would be provided. In this case, the jobs in question provided direct services to the City of Eugene and she thought they should be given a high priority. Ms. Bettman said it appeared from the data supplied by command staff that there was higher fire danger in the Valley River area than the Santa Clara area. Chief Tallon responded that the City received more than 2,000 fire calls the previous year, and Engine 9 had 269 calls for service, the lowest call volume of any of the ten engines in the community. He said he could not comment on the statistics provided for Santa Clara. Because of new construction in the area, the risk factor was lower, and the call volume was lower. In contrast, the fairgrounds neighborhood, which lacked a four-minute response, had older structures with no notification systems, and the call volume is higher. Mr. Carlson pointed out that there was no emergency medical response equipment in Santa Clara, and the highest call volume was in EMS services; the City proposed to keep a medic unit at Fire Station 9. Chief Tallon expressed concern about what appeared to be mistrust of command staff. Mr. Kelly responded that it was not a "good guys" or "bad guys" situation. The expertise of management staff was not questioned, nor were the interests of the firefighters or their experience in day-to-day fire fighting. He said that the council had two very different sets of data, and he was unprepared to say one was right or wrong. Chief Tallon responded that the City hired its fire chief to manage those resources; the union was not responsible for directing the department's resources. Mr. Meisner, seconded by Mr. Pap~, moved to extend the meeting by ten minutes. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Mr. Meisner was not prepared to support the motion at this time. He said that the City hired managers for specific purposes. While he did not discount the information that the union provided, he was not prepared to superimpose a citizens committee that might end up acting as a bridge between the union and management. That was the responsibility of management. At some point, when the council made a policy decision regarding the level of service or acceptable level of risk, perhaps then the council could invite citizen input on how to implement its decision. Speaking to Ms. Bettman's comments, Mr. Fart said the council did not give anything to Hynix; it merely took less from it. Mr. Fart said he was prepared to wait for the outcome of the consultant's study. Mr. Pap8 said he could only support the formation of a citizen committee if it was not intended to help run the organization. He preferred to form a policy committee to analyze the consultant's report. Ms. Taylor was concerned about forming a committee as she preferred that the council spend more time studying the issue. Regarding the issue of trust, she did not think there was distrust of management staff; she thought rather there was trust of the people who "actually do the fire MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 27, 2002 Page 6 Work Session fighting work," thinking they must have a point. She said she had hoped to have used one-time money to address the staffing of the fire station in the interim. Responding to a concern expressed by Ms. Nathanson that the proposed committee could cross some labor-management boundaries, Mr. Johnson said he did not think there would be a problem. Mr. Rayor opposed the motion, saying that the committee concept was premature and he wanted to allow the chief to manage the department. He preferred to await the consultant's study as opposed to taking a band-aid approach. He noted his support for a bond measure to underwrite a new Fire Station 1 and hoped the measure would pass. If it did not, he would proposed to put it back on the ballot without the training structure. He indicated his respect for Chief Tallon. Mayor Torrey suggested that if it was determined the department needed more input to evaluate outside comment, staff should ask the Budget Committee to fund a professional evaluation. Mr. Kelly asked if the consultant was looking at response time, geographic distribution of stations, and appropriate service levels for the department. Chief Tallon said no; the Oregon Deployment Plan was the risk analysis for any community. He had invited the union and other department members to participate in the year-long study of where stations and staff were located. He said that there was plenty of opportunity for union members to participate in the examination of how services were deployed. Ms. Taylor, seconded by Mr. Meisner, moved to extend the agenda time by five minutes. The motion failed, 6:2, Mr. Meisner and Ms. Taylor voting yes. The main motion failed, 5:3; Ms. Taylor, Mr. Kelly, and Ms. Bettman voting yes. B.Work Session: Information on the "United Front" Federal Priorities for 2002 and a Resolution Supporting a National Intercity Passenger Rail Service Mr. Meisner, chair of the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations, noted the distribution of a draft resolution regarding passenger rail. Mr. Meisner, seconded by Mr. Pap~, moved to adopt the resolution. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0 The council was joined by Intergovernmental Relations Manager Jason Heuser, who overviewed the United Front non-environmental federal funding priorities as they pertained to the City of Eugene. Wetlands Program Manager Scott Duckett overviewed the City's environmental federal funding priorities. Mayor Torrey called for council comments. Mr. Kelly said that he wanted to ensure that there was nothing in the priorities related to the federal courthouse specific to a road in any particular location. Mr. Carlson said that the only road mentioned in the United Front document text was Ferry Street, which was the minimal improvement needed to give access to the courthouse itself. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 27, 2002 Page 7 Work Session Mr. Kelly asked if the Forest Legacy request was for funding for acquisition. Mr. Duckett said yes, the Forest Legacy Program was a new acquisition program. Staff had a short time to submit a grant application, and had submitted a memorandum to the council through the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations to familiarize councilors with the program. The program was intended to underwrite the acquisition of land for protection of forest habitats; the parcels identified for acquisition were on the Ridgeline Trail from Spencer Butte to the Willow Creek headwaters. Ms. Taylor hoped that the Forest Legacy moneys could be used to purchase forest lands near the Amazon headwaters. She asked if the request for funding for the National Guard Armory implied City Council approval of the new armory proposed for location on 30th Avenue. Mr. Meisner clarified that the City did not write the summary for the armory request. He said that the City supported moving the armory from its present site so that property could be used for a juvenile justice center, but had not endorsed a new location. He said that representatives would make the situation clear on the United Front trip to Washington, DC. There being no other councilors requesting to speak, Mayor Torrey acknowledged the meeting as the last that Mr. Johnson would attend as City Manager. He thanked Mr. Johnson for his outstanding service, said he would be missed, and invited him to come back to share his wisdom with the council at anytime. Mr. Kelly said that Mr. Johnson would be missed beyond words. He had learned a good deal from Mr. Johnson and he had been a great help to him, even when they disagreed. He congratulated Mr. Carlson on his appointment as City Manager pro tern. Ms. Bettman also thanked Mr. Johnson and said she hated to see him go. Even when they disagreed, she had always admired him for his professionalism, competence, and experience. His would be tough shoes to fill. She wished him well. Mr. Meisner said that Mr. Johnson would be missed as both manager and friend. He said the fact that Mr. Johnson was manager had made it possible for him to decide to run for a second term. He said he would miss his leadership but thought Mr. Johnson had prepared Mr. Carlson well. He said he would never forget that Mr. Johnson had taken the reins of the City organization at a time when morale was very Iow, and raised it within a few months. Mr. Rayor said Mr. Johnson was the best manager of people and the best overall manager he had ever worked with. He thanked Mr. Johnson for his service. Ms. Taylor said she would look forward to seeing Mr. Johnson again. She said he had been a good listener and took it well when people disagreed with him. Ms. Nathanson said that Mr. Johnson had provided great service to the citizens and community. She considered him a friend and thanked him. Mr. Farr said that when Mr. Johnson took over, he had brought the organization back together very quickly. He thanked him for that. He said that he saved the City more than once during the 47/50 budge reductions. He said that Mr. Johnson would be missed at the council table, but not in the community, where he hoped to see him again. He looked forward to working with Mr. Carlson. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 27, 2002 Page 8 Work Session Mr. Johnson thanked the council for its comments and said he had enjoyed working with the council. It was a unique experience and a privilege. He said he had enjoyed his service. The meeting adjourned at 1:25 p.m. Respectfully submitted, James R. Carlson City Manager pro rem (Recorded by Kimberly Young) MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 27, 2002 Page 9 Work Session