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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 09-13-2011 APPROVED 10/4/2011 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Joint Meeting Meeting/Work Session September 13, 2011 7:00 p.m. The Orange County Board of Commissioners held a joint meeting/work session on Tuesday, September 13, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. at the DSS Offices, Hillsborough Commons in Hillsborough, N.C. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Bernadette Pelissier and Commissioners Valerie Foushee, Alice M. Gordon, Barry Jacobs, Pam Hemminger, Earl McKee, and Steve Yuhasz COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: John Roberts and Annette Moore COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Frank Clifton, Assistant County Managers (interim) Michael Talbert and Gwen Harvey, and Clerk to the Board Donna S. Baker (All other staff inembers will be identified appropriately below) VOLUNTEER FIRE CHIEFS PRESENT: VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPTS. — CHAIRS, Brad Allison, Fire Chief, Caldwell FD BOARD OF DIRECTORS Bryan Baker, Fire Chief, Eno FD Mac Miller, Caldwell BOD President Dan Jones, Fire Chief, Town of Chapel Hill Bill Waddell, Orange Grove, BOD Jeff Borland, Fire Chief, Cedar Grove FD President Jerry Lloyd, Fire Chief, White Cross FD Chad Woods, Cedar Grove BOD President Jeff Cabe, Fire Chief, Orange Rural FD Wayne Paschall, Eno BOD President John Stroud, Fire Chief, North Chatham, Brian Vaughn, North Chatham BOD FD President Kevin Brooks, Fire Chief, Efland FD Jeff Roberts, Orange Rural BOD President Matthew Mauzy, Chief, South Orange Jacques Morin, SORS BOD President Rescue Squad (SORS) Tony Blake, White Cross BOD President Mike Tapp, Fire Chief, New Hope FD Howard Pratt, New Hope BOD President Tommy Holmes, Fire Chief, Orange Grove FD FIRE CHIEFS/BOD CHAIRS ABSENT: Bob Lewis, Fire Chief, City of Mebane FD Ronnie McAdams, Efland BOD President Travis Crabtree, Fire Chief, Town of Carrboro 1_ Welcome Chair Pelissier said that this is the first of this kind of ineeting with all of the fire districts and Emergency Services. She indicated that Commissioner Gordon would be late but would be here. Chair Pelissier asked to remove the last item on the agenda to a later time in the fall because of the timeframe of the first item. A motion was made by Chair Pelissier, seconded by Commissioner McKee to defer the last item on the agenda due to the timeframe of the first item. VOTE: Ayes, 5; Nays, 0 (Commissioner Hemminger and Commissioner Gordon had not arrived yet). Introductions were made by all. 2. Discussion with County Fire/Rescue Departments and Oranqe County Emerqency Services Department to Explore Service Delivery Improvements • Brief Staff Overview Interim Assistant County Manager Michael Talbert said that this process started in 2010 with an Assembly of Governments meeting when there was a presentation by Emergency Services that outlined a variety of issues. Most of these are growing pains because Emergency Services is only about seven years old. The purpose of this meeting is to have a discussion about the service delivery model and how improvements might be made. Orange County commissioned a study from a consulting group in June 2010, and volunteers were a big part of this study. The report is an assessment of the current fire, rescue, and emergency services delivery system. The report did not make any recommendations or assignment. The packet includes the reports and letters from the Board of County Commissioners' Chair asking for comments from everyone, responses from Emergency Services, responses from the Chief's Association, the minutes from May 10th, a response to the Chief's Association, and a memo from county staff about possible communication support for the fire departments. He went over the progress that has been made. Included in the 2011-12 budget are four new telecommunicator positions, six EMTs, and two ambulance replacements. A paramedic training project was established in coordination with Durham Technical Community College, which should improve the quality of people that Orange County can hire over time and help with retention. The computer-aided dispatch system (CAD) needs some help, the data collection system needs help, and new telecommunication towers are needed for coverage. The request on May 10th was to receive comments and suggestions from Fire and Rescue and Emergency Services, discuss the study, and give direction to staff on the next steps for service delivery. Chair Pelissier said that fire and rescue and emergency services are vital services to the County, and while there are paid staffs, there are many volunteers. She said that the Board values the volunteers and they want to keep the volunteers as a vital asset to these services. She said that in June she sent a letter asking the attendees to provide comments. She said that she sees this meeting as a first step in looking at how to adapt to the changing environment of the County. This will require increased collaboration. She suggested that each group limit comments to five minutes so that each fire district has an opportunity to speak. • Opportunity for Comments by Each Organization's Representatives Eno Fire Chief Bryan Baker said that he is also the Chair of the Fire Chiefs Council. He said that he sent a letter to the Commissioners (in the agenda packet) on behalf of the Council. One of the main concerns is the fire district lines. With Eno, it has assisted Caldwell Fire Department with some of their issues. He said that there will probably be a lot more of that. He said that Eno Fire provides two paid staff M-F, 8-6 p.m. The volunteers provide coverage at night. He said that the communication issue is one he wants to address tonight. He said that the VIPER system has failed them on a regular basis and more towers are needed in their area. They average about 600 calls a year and they are split with fire and emergency calls. He said that he has noticed a difference in the EMS response times with the addition of an extra Medic with the County. Orange Rural Fire Chief Jeff Cabe said that with coordination of Emergency Services and Fire Departments, there are strained relations and there are also issues with relationships with the County. He said that the call processes are good, but there are antiquated paper fire card systems and that is why there are delays. His department covers Hillsborough, so there is an enormous amount of rescue calls. He said that there is not a problem with the field, but with the Emergency Services management and the budgets. He urged the County Commissioners to look at digital radio systems and see what other fire departments are saying about them. These systems are not reliable. He said that Orange County is willing to fund only so much and that is all. He said that Orange Rural has found ways to save citizens by joining in with other departments. He said that something has happened nowadays and he does not have time to worry about frequent meetings and constantly being questioned. Tony Blake, White Cross Board of Directors (BOD) President said that he reviewed some issues that the County could address. White Cross Fire Chief Jerry Lloyd said that a firefighter was hired for the district, but the main reason that he was hired was to assist him and the board president to do the paperwork required in order to lower the fire insurance rating for homeowners (ISO). This took three or four years. He also raised concerns about the VIPER system. The County needs new towers. Bill Waddell, Chair of BOD of Orange Grove Fire Department, said that the question of insurance rates is a concern of the residents in his fire district. They want to help their citizens get lower fire insurance rates. He said that the fire rates have never been an issue with their response, and they are just trying to just save their residents some money. He said that there was a discussion about this, but the subject changed to insurance districts. The insurance districts idea is new and would allow Commissioners to draw service lines through the County as they deem appropriate. He said that it was a surprise to them as fire departments when they came to a County meeting and this was discussed with no agenda. He said that Orange Grove has decided to build two new substations, which will address the residents outside the six-mile district. The plan is to do this within the next 12 months. Regarding the ES study, he said that at one of the meetings he had asked about the possibility of having an issue with the data in the study and the County's reaction was that this would never happen. He said that there is data in the report that is non-factual, inaccurate, incorrect, and incomplete. He said that the correct information was given to the consultants repeatedly, but it never showed up in the study. He suggested that the report should not be used at all. South Orange Rescue Service (SORS) Chief Matthew Mauzy said that their needs and concerns are sometimes different, but a lot of their needs are consistent, such as radio systems (VIPER). He said that the original promises of this system were street level. He said that the majority of their calls are EMS related and most of those are scheduled stand-bys (football games, etc.) He said that he wanted to support some of the other comments such as friction between the agencies and the county departments. He said that on the street level they have good relationships. He said that the fire departments and Emergency Services have good, solid relationships. He did not want this perception to be misconstrued. New Hope Fire Department Chief Mike Tapp said that he agreed with other speakers' comments. Their fire department was formed in 1972 and over the years this fire district is now more urban as opposed to rural years ago. The communities are more transient, which made it more difficult to recruit volunteers. As a result, the department has added paid staff—two at all times in 24-hour shifts. He said that the ISO rating is scheduled for March 2012 and the paid staff spends some time everyday working on ISO improvement. He said that with the study, there are some strained relationships, and these are not between emergency response departments. He said that with the VIPER radio system, the New Hope area does not have any radio towers and he is concerned that folks will get injured with this system in the long run. He said that if the County is going to do something productive that it should consider funding for the infrastructure for their radio systems. He made reference to the insurance ratings and said that the entire district is within an insurance district. He said that New Hope is willing to help anyone with this process. He made reference to call processing delays and said that Orange County is still using paper cards to dispatch a fire call. He said that if there were computerized dispatch equipment that would help a great deal. Efland Fire Chief Kevin Brooks agreed with all of the comments. He said that Efland is one of three all-volunteer fire departments. He said that Efland trains extensively with its volunteers. He said that the fire study overall has inconsistencies and errors. He does not understand why Mebane and North Chatham were not included. He said that the study does put the fire departments in a good light. He said that Efland works well with other departments. He was part of the steering committee for the study group with the consultants and this was pointed out as an issue, but it is not. Tony Blake made reference to the insurance districts and said that there is a push back on the fire departments, but the push back should be on the insurance companies. He said that instead of reacting to this issue, they may need to just push back from a County perspective. Caldwell Fire Chief Brad Allison spoke about the VIPER system and said that he had a scare over the holidays because of the system not working properly. Regarding the insurance issue, he said that it can be done because Caldwell did it with Eno Fire Department. Regarding the fire study, he made reference to page 34 and said that there was incorrect and inaccurate information about Caldwell and other departments. He said that he has never seen strained relationships between the fire chiefs and the board of directors. Mac Miller— President of BOD of Caldwell Fire Department said that the word he is focused on is cooperation. He said that it is not an issue between the fire departments. The County is fortunate to have the volunteer/paid fire departments it has. He said that there is good cooperation between fire departments. Cedar Grove Fire Chief Jeff Borland said that they have had minimal radio problems with the radios because there is a tower in the area. There are only 18 residents outside of the six- mile fire district radius and the other departments have offered to assist them. North Chatham Fire Department Chief John Stroud said that his department serves the southern Triangle area. The insurance rating is 6. He said that they work mostly with Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and White Cross and they have great working relationships with these departments. Chapel Hill Fire Chief Dan Jones said that Chapel Hill is a municipal service and they are funded through the Town of Chapel Hill's general fund. They have five stations, 97 paid staff, seven response units, an insurance rating of three, and they run about 5,000 calls a year. Of that, about 45% is EMS. The areas in which they have a vested interest are 911 and EMS. He expressed appreciation for the addressing of this with additional personnel in the past two budget years. There are continued resource needs for equipment and technology. He said that they are waiting on Orange County 911 to catch up with them in the technology area. Mutual aid is another issue, because though they are the largest department, they depend on these other fire departments for equipment and personnel. Chapel Hill has some very urban, big city problems but a small fire department. There are mutual aid agreements with New Hope, Carrboro, Orange Rural, and North Chatham in order to meet the demands of the University. He made reference to the report and said that the VIPER radio system in Orange County is different than the one he was using years ago in Florida. He said that the entities in the County did not do enough homework with the VIPER system. The State sold the County on this system, which was designed for highway patrol. He said that there are many problems with this system. He cannot penetrate brick, steel, or glass. He said that it really is a bad situation. He said that the report alluded to the lack of strategic planning, but the County has never looked at standards of coverage. He thinks that it is incumbent upon everyone in the County to address these standards. He said that the issue of economic development brings up another set of issues. If commercial development is wanted, fire protection becomes a major issue because it is an issue of sustainability. Commissioner Gordon arrived at Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.. Dan Jones said that there needs to be a discussion with a smaller group about the report and what is useful and what is not. He asked the Board of County Commissioners to look at an Emergency Services management model that is based on collaboration, problem-solving, and goal-setting. In order to do that, everyone has to be at the table. He said that citizens do not care what color the fire truck is or what it says on the door, or who the Fire Chief is, but that they get there quick and their problem gets solved. He said that they all need to commit to a strategic planning process, because the lack of one is affecting everyone. Emergency Services Director Frank Montes de Oca said that he agrees with a lot of the points that have been made. He made reference to the CAD system and said that it is a 12-15 year old system. The technology has far surpassed the capabilities and there is an electronic method of dispatching, but it only goes so far. He said that the price tag attached with a suitable CAD system is $2.5-3 million. This does not include the towers. He said that the system was designed without the Sheriff's Department input. He said that the channels are saturated now but any upgrades cost monies. They were able to hire more EMTs this past summer but they need more. They also need more units to keep up with the workloads. He said that their response times are not where they need to be. It has to be a collaborative service. He said that the VIPER system does not work well and it is a 30-year old technology. Follow-up Comments/Questions by Board of Commissioners Commissioner McKee said that there are a lot of people tonight in attendance that are not able to speak, but they can speak at regular meetings twice a month. Commissioner Yuhasz asked Bill Waddell about the list of inaccuracies in the report. He asked if these had been compiled. Bill Waddell said that he did not have the list with him, but he could get it to the Board. Commissioner Yuhasz said that he sees that this report indicated that things are working well, and they are not lacking in cooperation but in coordination. He said that the strategic planning item is the most critical item missing from the report. It is critical that the people at this table have a voice as they move forward. He said that he does not know how they are to get through this process. Commissioner Gordon said that she is interested in this topic and she will listen to the recording of this meeting, because she was unavoidably delayed. Health and safety is a major concern. She said that, in addition to all the other issues, the country appears to be experiencing more major natural events and she is concerned about these natural catastrophes. She said that she is served by a rural fire department. Commissioner Jacobs thanked all that were in attendance tonight. He said that it is clear that the members of the fire and rescue community feel comfortable working together and that is one of the basic strengths of the system. He said that the discussion of VIPER is really out of the purview of Orange County. He suggested that after identifying the problems with this radio system that Emergency Services, County staff, and representatives from the fire community come up with a strategic plan to address this problem. Commissioner Jacobs said that when he was on the Planning Board, they went over every community to make sure they had adequate fire protection. He does not know what has happened in the interim, but something has changed. Commissioner Jacobs said that they need to develop better communication about the response times. He said that averages do not work to define service areas and they need better data. He said that there is a lack of strategic planning and this is what needs to happen as a community. There has to be a plan before money is spent on infrastructure. Commissioner Foushee thanked them all for their participation and the tone of the meeting. She asked for anyone that had found inaccuracies in the report to send them to the staff. She agreed with the need for a strategic plan. If the communication problem can be fixed, then the other issues will come along. She said that part of the strategic planning has to include what can be done with the system that is now in place and how to secure the funds to upgrade the system. The funds will not come quickly, but everyone has to be a part of the solution. She said that she hoped there would be another meeting to have a steering committee to develop a strategic plan and the goals. The report, although it is flawed, does have information that is usable. Commissioner Hemminger said that it was refreshing to hear all of these comments and this report is our report, and they can fix the data in the report. She said that everyone needs to be a part of the solution. Chair Pelissier said that her colleagues made excellent points and she agreed with them. She made reference to the report and said that a lot of the concerns addressed by the fire departments tonight were in the report. She said that strained relations are people problems but this could be because of their process, or lack thereof, with communications. She said that there might need to be a task force or steering committee to help them move forward. Eno Fire Chief Bryan Baker said that the fire chiefs agreed that there is a need for a strategic planning process. He said as a fire chiefs council, they are working on a strategic plan so they can adapt to their environment. Chapel Hill Fire Chief Dan Jones said that last week the Fire Chiefs voted unanimously to engage the School of Government in the strategic planning process. Orange Rural Fire Chief Jeff Cabe said that this plan is not an additional cost to the citizens or the Board of County Commissioners. He addressed the Chair's concerns about how calls are run. He said that he has been in the fire service for over 20 years and when EMS went to a new program several years ago, the fire departments were asked to help, so they started doing EMS. The fire departments also started doing rescue. He said that it is expensive and busy. He made reference to the failures and said that the digital system is the one that causes problems. At no point during his 20 years have any of the fire departments failed. He said that the department does not even have a place to train people. He said that the goal is to take care of the people. Eno Fire Chief Bryan Baker said that they will meet next week to lay out the timeline for the remainder of the strategic plan. Chair Pelissier asked him to share this information with the Board of County Commissioners. Chapel Hill Fire Chief Dan Jones said that the timeline that was discussed was to have this plan ready by next budget year, but they have not worked this goal out yet with the School of Government. Commissioner McKee said that citizens want to see a response vehicle as quick as possible, but also that the County do it as economically as possible. He said that the issue of insurance for homeowners outside of the six-mile area is a huge concern. He is getting a feeling that the departments are very willing to work together to implement the same sort of agreement that Caldwell and Eno implemented. He asked staff if there is a timeframe to implement this with the rest of the departments if they are willing. Frank Montes de Oca said that it would take about 120-160 days. There are about 150 homes that are outside the six-mile insurance area. Michael Talbert said that fire protection districts and insurance districts are one in the same in Orange County with some exceptions. Everything within the district that is within six miles of the nearest station is considered to have a rating of 9 or better. Anything over six miles has a rating of 10. Anything over six road miles has a rating of 10, which the insurance companies have just started to clamp down on. A typical home of$200,000 in value, built in 1990 of frame construction that is less than six miles from a fire department has insurance of $835 per year. If the home is more than six miles away, it goes up 75%. Frank Clifton said that the County is getting calls from residents who received their tax bills and the rating has gone up. The easiest way is to address it in the short-term and then figure out what to do long-term. Annette Moore said that this issue is also about taxes. If these 1,200 homes were moved into another district, they may be levied a tax in a district that is not serving them. This is an issue that is of concern to her. Chair Pelissier said that there needs to be a more in-depth discussion about this topic. Commissioner McKee encouraged staff to work toward solving this insurance problem. Chief Jeff Cabe asked why the Board of County Commissioners had approved extending the East Orange Fire Insurance district boundary for Caldwell and Eno Fire Departments but would not do that for the other fire departments. Frank Clifton said that many properties are involved and everyone must agree before moving the homes into another district can be done. He said that the County needs to work with the property owners to find the most efficient way to address this issue. John Roberts said that there are solutions to these insurance problems, but they will be incremental. Chair Pelissier said that she heard that the issue would be resolved for 800 of the 1,200 homes with substations in the Orange Grove district. Frank Clifton said that the 800 would be solved by having the house served by an adjacent fire district. This is because of overlapping service areas. Commissioner McKee said that the County needs to stress the concept of mutual aid to the citizens. The response is multi-stationed. Tony Blake said that what is done politically will not affect the response times. This is a strictly political and financial issue from the insurance industry. South Orange Rescue Squad Chief Matthew Mauzy summarized his concerns about the ES study. He said that the concern is with the accuracy of the data. If there is not accurate data, it is hard for the Board of Commissioners to make educated decisions. He said that SORS is not a fire department and they have evolved and adapted over the years. He described the programs provided by SORS. Commissioner Jacobs acknowledged Hillsborough Town Commissioner Evelyn Lloyd, who works very closely with fire issues. Commissioner Gordon asked if the other two departments, Mebane and North Chatham, plus Orange County Emergency Services, could join in with the strategic planning process. Jeff Cabe said that none of the fire chiefs would have a problem with this. 3. Closinq Comments/Next Steps Frank Clifton said that the follow up steps include getting a key group of people together on the insurance issue. The second issue is to involve the County in the strategic planning process. Michael Talbert and Frank Montes de Oca will also be involved with this. Also, the needs for the departments need to be prioritized. He said that everyone will have to adjust to the fact that taxes will have to be raised to get funding for these needs. There will not be enough growth to pay for everything. He suggested coming back with a report in 60 days. Chair Pelissier asked about the issue of collaboration with the Planning Department regarding fire protection and economic development, especially in the Buckhorn EDD. Frank Clifton said that the whole economic development district plan revolves around expending water and sewer services throughout the Buckhorn area. WORK SESSION- DEFERRED Overview/Presentation by and Potential Contract with UNC School of Government for IT Strategic Plan Consulting The meeting was adjourned at Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.. Bernadette Pelissier, Chair Donna Baker, CMC Clerk to the Board