Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 11-17-2011 APPROVED 1/24/2012 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS WORK SESSION November 17, 2011 7:OOpm The Orange County Board of Commissioners for a Work Session on Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Center, in Chapel Hill, 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 ATTORNEY PRESENT: John Roberts COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Frank Clifton, Interim Assistant County Manager Michael Talbert and Clerk to the Board Donna S. Baker (All other staff inembers will be identified appropriately below) Chair Pelissier said that this material was prepared in response to the previous work session regarding Emergency Services. Emergency Services Coverage, Capacity and System Improvements 1. Review of the VIPER (Voice Interoperabilitv Plan for Emerpencv Responders) Oriqinal Desiqn and Implementation and Strateqies to Improve Coveraqe and Capacitv Frank Clifton said that this is a follow-up to a work session with fire chiefs in September. He said that every one of these elements is important Michael Talbert said that he, Emergency Services Director Frank Montes de Oca, and Planning Director Craig Benedict will be assisting with the presentation tonight. There was also Emergency Services staff present to help- Craig Blackwood, 911 Communications Center Manager Dinah Jeffries, EMS Operations Manager Kim Woodward, Emergency Management Coordinator Darshan Patel, and technical support staff Kevin Medlin. Michael Talbert said that Orange County Emergency Services as it is currently structured has only been in business for six to seven years. He said that the Board will be getting the final report at some time in the near future. Michael Talbert went through the VIPER system. This is a statewide system that is shared with other entities. This is an 800 mHz system. Alamance County will soon be coming on the system and is looking at building a tower in the Mebane area. This will have impacts on Orange County's system and will provide more resources. He made reference to page 11 of 43 and the list of tower sites. The system has been built to the State's specifications and has been built out as suggested. The problem with the build out is that it does not provide perfect coverage throughout the County. Orange County needs at least two or three more towers to get coverage. Another issue with VIPER is capacity. This relates to the number of channels per tower and the number of people needing to talk at one time. There is also an issue of reception� inside of buildings. This can be hazardous for firefighters. The towers will have ta be evaluated for this capacity issue. This is a less expensive option than towers. Rough estima�tes �re about $30,000 per channel. The financial impact will be substantial over a period of time and the County would need a technical consultant. Updating the VIPER system completely would cost about $3.5-5 million. The staff is asking the Board to allow the Manager to move forward with hiring a technical consultant— perhaps the same one that did the study in 2004- that could determine how to improve the system, how many towers are needed, where they need to be located, how many additional channels are needed, and how many local computers are needed. This should be accomplished in abouf 2-3 months. The cost of the consultant should not exceed $50,000. There is money currently available in the E911 Telephone Fund that could be used for this. Commissioner Jacobs asked if Orange County officials met with state officials about the VIPER system recently. Frank Montes de Oca said not that he is aware of. He knows that there was a conversation with the surrounding county micro-managers. There was a state representative there. Commissioner Jacobs said that after the last meeting regarding this, he called Congressman Price's office because he has always been good about getting the County grant money. Congressman Price's office got back to him today and a meeting was been set up with Deputy Secretary of Crime Control and Public Safety, the head of the VIPER system for the state, a representative of the Governor's Office, and a representative of the Highway PatroL The State is offering to do the study for Orange County for free. Unfortunately, there is no money that Congressman Price's office can access. Frank Montes de Oca said that Mike Hodges from the state is the manager for the VIPER system. The original plan called for about 240 original towers from the coast to the mountains. The state is about 40 short. Commissioner McKee asked Dan Jones, Chief of Chapel Hill Fire Department, about the repeaters to get reception and how that works. Dan Jones said that the mobile repeaters provided no improvement in building penetration, but they did get improvements in geographic coverage. The problem is with the technology because 800 mHz digital will not penetrate buildings. This is a nationwide problem. However, 800 mHz analog will penetrate buildings. Motorola is bringing some factory engineers to recreate the test that was done with their engineers watching to see if they have any advice. Commissioner Gordon asked if it was a good idea to continue with this technology given this problem. Dan Jones said that he does not have an answer for that yet unless someone can tell him the technical differences between analog and digital. The current radios can be changed over to analog and that would be costly, but would be cheaper than purchasing more radios. Commissioner Hemminger said that she attended the last Fire Chief's meeting and the group agreed to work around the situation of communication and she asked about this. Dan Jones said that, as a temporary measure, the fire chief's talked about going to a talk around channel, which is not repeated, when firemen are in a building. The 911 telecommunicators cannot hear this channel and none of it would be recorded. It would be a temporary solution to keep from losing fire fighters or police officers. Commissioner Hemminger asked the people using the VIPER system about where the dead spots are. Frank Montes de Oca said that they do know a lot of these areas, but sometimes it is not a geographical issue and it could be affected by weather, buildings, etc. Dan Jones said that none of them have the expertise or the testing equipment to place the towers in the correct spots to solve the dead spots. Commissioner Hemminger asked about a priority list for which towers would be the most needed. Commissioner Foushee said that she also wants to know if the County should stay with the current technology. She said that the anecdotal information shou�`d be given to consultants because it lessens the scope of the work. She asked if there has been or if there should be some consultation with the Highway Patrol. Frank Montes de Oca said that the Highway Patrol is the owner of the sysfem, so they would have to be part of the study. Commissioner Foushee said that she wants to know what happens in the interim because of the safety issues and the lack of the ability to communicate. Michael Talbert said that there is no quick fix for this system. Commissioner Foushee said that she is not asking for a quick fix, but strategies that could help right now: � Frank Montes de Oca said that the strategy is to have a working group of users looking at the operational use of the current technology and maximizing it. Chair Pelissier echoed Commissioner Foushee's comments. She suggested having an update after all of the parties get together so that the public can know that steps are being taken to ensure safety. Commissioner McKee asked if there have been any cost studies of going back to the I analog system and Frank Montes de Oca said not yet, but this should be a part of the I conversation. I Frank Clifton said that this is a problem that Motorola needs to address. Commissioner Hemminger said that she would like the Board to direct something to happen with this work group so that there is a plan in place. Craig Benedict made a presentation with maps showing the current towers and the potential future towers. The existing towers are both public and private. He made reference to the map in the packet from the 2004 study. This shows the towers within Durham County, Alamance County, and on the border. This map shows the need for additional towers in the area. Frank Clifton said that the physical tower is not the majority cost item, but the back-up generators and the actual communications aspect is the greater proportion of the cost. This is why a technical consultant is needed. Commissioner McKee asked about the limitations on the height of the repeaters right , now. Craig Benedict said that there are different processes. For towers below 150 feet it is one process and over 150 feet there is another process. If the tower is owned completely by Orange County, there is a new policy that the County Commissioners passed earlier in the year that determines the process. Commissioner McKee said that the County might have to consider allowing higher towers to get the needed coverage. Chair Pelissier said that it looks like there will be a study that can be funded by the State. In the meantime, Michael Talbert can work with user groups to see what can be done as a temporary measure to address the issues. Frank Montes de Oca said that they have already started talking to VIPER managers in surrounding counties. Commissioner Foushee asked staff to draw an outline of what the work group should look like and bring it back to the Board before making a determination. This will be brought back at a regular meeting,in December. Commissioner McKee seconded this. The Board agreed by consensus. Commissioner Gordon underscored that the users need to 4e involved in the work group. 2. E911 Communications Center Improvement Plan Frank Montes de Oca made a PowerPoint presentation. ORANGE COUNTY EMERGENCY SERV/CES Report to the Board of County Commissioners Requesting Resources Needed to Improve Service Delivery EMERGENCY SERVICES - Four Branches—4.4% Total County Budget - E911 Communications - Emergency Management - Emergency Medical Services - Life Safety Management E911 Communications • Serves all communities and towns as primary access point • Dispatch all law enforcement, EMS and fire • Manages countywide public safety radio network • Manages Division of Criminal Information requests for all law enforcement agencies E911 Communications Staffing and Equipment Staffing: - 1 Center Manager - 2 Support Techs - 24 Telecommunicators - 4 Shift Supervisors Equipment - Radios and Consoles - Software (CAD) - Servers and Recorders - Telephone System(s) E911 Communications Resource Needs Staffing: - 8 Telecommunicators - 1 Trainer - 1 Radio System Tech Equipment: - Console Replacements - Server Hardware - CAD Upgrades - 911 Telephone Switch - NextGen Upgrades Emergency Management • Community Resilience • Disaster and Continuity Planning • Community Emergency Response Coordination • Community Alert Notification • Disaster Training/Exercises • Department Logistics Support Emergency Management Staffing and Equipment Staffing: - 1 Program Coordinator ' - 2 Technical Services - 1 Logistician - Interns Equipment: - Logistics Support Vehicles - CAMET - Support Equipment - Warehouse - Staff Vehicle Emergency Management Resource Needs Staffing: - 1 EM Planner Equipment: - Communications Unit - Command Unit �I Emergency Medical Services � • Serves all communities and towns — Response — Treatment — Transport • Coordinates Special Events/Mass Gatherings • Manages EMS System for NCOEMS • Coordinates Public Outreach • Manages MCIs � Emergency Medical Services Staffing and Equipment Staffing: - 1 EMS Ops Manager - 1 Staff Support Officer - 1 Training Officer - 4 Shift Supervisors - 33 Paramedics - 30 EMTs Equipment: - 7 MD Ambulances - 6 LD Ambulances - 3 Staff Vehicles - 1 MIRV - 1 ATV - 14 Medtronic M/Ds Emergency Medical Services Resource Needs Staffing: - Paramedics - EMTs - 4 Shift Supervisors Equipment: 20 Medtronic M/Ds - 24 Toughbooks - Replacements Ambulances - 2 Remounted Ambulances - 1 MCl/Rehab Vehicle Below the Bar - 2009 Paramedic response goal — 12 minutes - 2011 Paramedic response time — 18 minutes Impacts to the Community The actual number of 911 cal/s in FY 2009, FY 2010, and Fy 2011 that a community merfiber required an ambulance and one was not available: FY2009 —235 FY2010—220 FY2011 - 136 Projected Cost • $250K in additional telecommunications personnel in FY 2012-13 • $4.8M for E911 equipment • $2.4A�I for EMS equipment 3. Discussion with the Board of Countv Commissioners Re�ardinq Plans to Improve the Emerqencv Medical Services Deliverv Svstem Commissioner McKee made reference to the equipment needs over the next few years and asked why the 200 portable radios would not be purchased on a staggered basis. Frank Montes de Oca said that this is a worst case scenario. He will look at this and see if there is another way. The best case scenario would be to stagger them. Commissioner McKee asked how many radios the ambulances currently employ. Frank Montes de Oca said 130 radios. Chair Pelissier said that the staffing needs seem to be increasing over the next number of years and she would like to know the industry standards for staffing. Dinah Jeffries said that they do use the APCO standards, which is the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials, and it is a national standard in the 911 industry. She said that she would send the County Commissioners the report. She said that it is very unsafe for telecommunicators to be handling multiple calls. Frank Clifton said that these positions are high turnover jobs. He said that the recommendation is for the County Commissioners to approve in concept and it will depend on budget constraints. Commissioner Gordon asked if this was going to come back as an agenda item so that the volunteer fire departments could comment. She would like to hear what the public has to say on this plan outside of the budget process. Commissioner McKee said that it would be better if the fire trucks could put in GPS systems. Dinah Jefferies said that this is an easy process to implement, but she had not been requested to do that. Commissioner McKee asked that this be implemented, if possible. Commissioner Hemminger asked clarifying questions, which were answered by staff. Commissioner McKee asked about the preliminary conversation of co-locating an ambulance at Orange Rural Fire Department. He said that he had heard that there had been no follow-up from the County. Frank Clifton said that this discussion took place during the budget process last year ,� and it has taken awhile to get this site started. This can go forward, but there is no ambulance to put there now. Commissioner McKee said that this is an ideal place for a northern base. He is concerned that the County has not been more aggressive in following up with this. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the average response times and said thathe continues to find these numbers misleading because the response times in the northern part of the County skew the actual average. He thinks that it would be useful to explain that the goal is m,ore accurate numbers. Frank Montes de Oca said that he will go back and try to get better numbers that illustrate particular areas. Commissioner Foushee supported the comments ri�ade by Commissioner Jacobs and Commissioner McKee. Commissioner Foushee made reference to the Medical Director and asked how much input they have. Kim Woodward said that the Medical Director is involved in all aspects. This person is included in hiring positions and training decisions as well as delivery of services. The Medical Director also works closely with Durham Technical Community College and that paramedic program. Chair Pelissier said that in the fire and rescue study, there was the assessment that Orange County could not assess service demand with the current data systems. She asked how this could be remedied. Frank Montes de Oca said that this is part of the hardware of the 911 center. Commissioner McKee made reference to the mobile command unit and asked who operates it and dispatches it. � Frank Montes de Oca said that any department that requests it can use it, but it is an old unit and has not been maintained. Commissioner McKee said that he asked this because there was an incident recently of a lost child, and his understanding is that the command was set up at one of the buildings at the park. He asked why the Emergency Management department was not used. Darshan Patel said that the question was asked if the command unit was needed and it was answered that it was under control in the building and the command unit was not needed. All that was requested were radios and personnel. The child was found. Commissioner Yuhasz said that they have gone through three items that are expensive and he asked for an estimate of the total of these three items and for what period of time. Michael Tafbert said that item #5 is the summary. Chair Pelissier said that the County Commissioners are going to wait for staff to come back with proposals for consultants and the County Commissioners are interested in seeing how to collocate stations. Commissioner Gordon said that it appears that all of the stations need work. Michael Talbert said that strategically they need to know where the best locations are to locate a station. The ones the County currently has may not be the best. Commissioner Gordon asked how much land was near the New Hope Elementary school and Michael Talbert said that he would get that information for the Board. 5. Summarv of Financial Implications to Provide Emerqencv Services Coveraqe, Capacitv and Svstem Improvements Michael Talbert said that this relates to the E911 Center and Emergency Medical Services in regards to the annual budget. Most of these items come out of the Operating Budget: Long-term operating expenses three years out could approach $3 million. With the various towers and radios, the capital expense could approach $8 million. Michael Talbert reminded the County Commissioners that Orange County is just catching up and it will ultimately be the Board of County Commissioners' decision what they choose to fund. 4. Review of Fire Department Issues Relating to Fire Protection Districts, Fire Insurance Districts and Fire Tax Districts as Related to Propertv Insurance Ratinqs Michael Talbert said that there are three topics 1) Current fire contracts and the need to update the contracts from 1992. 2) A strategic plan from the Fire Districts, which should be ready for the budget season. 3) Fire protection in relation to insurance and fire protection districts. Michael Talbert reviewed the following information: Fire Protection In 2009, Eno Fire and Emergency Services, Inc. opened fire station #2 on St. Mary's Road just south of Pleasant Green Road. The North Carolina Department of Insurance, Office of the State Fire Marshal, Ratings and Inspections Division, inspected and' approv�d the station, apparatus and equipment. This approval allowed the Department of Insurance to_extend the East Orange Insurance District, which is now adjacent to the Caldwell Fire Insurance District. Certain properties in the southeast section of the Caldwell Fire District are over six (6) road ; miles from the Caldwell Fire Station located on Guess Road. As a result, those properties were ' not in an insurance district, rated as Class 10. Staff worked with representatives from the Caldwell Fire Department and the Department of Insurance to identify those affected areas. ` Staff also worked with Information Technologies' Geographic Information Systems (GIS) personnel to identify those parcels in the Caldwell Fire District that are not in the Caldwell Fire Insurance District and moved those parcels into the East Orange Insurance District, which is a Class 9 District, thereby allowing those property owners to be inside a rated insurance district. GIS staff produced a revised map of the East Orange Insurance District, showing those parcels being added into the East Orange Fire Insurance District. The revised map was approved by staff from the North Carolina Department of Insurance, Office of the State Fire Marshal, Ratings and Inspections Division. On April 19, 2011 the Board of the County Commissioners approved the fire insurance changes and the approved maps were forwarded to the Office of the State Fire Marshal. The Office of the State Fire Marshal approved the changes which became effective November 1, 2011. There are approximately 1,156 properties in Orange County located outside of six road miles from the closest fire station in their fire district and therefore have a fire insurance rating of 10. Approximately 900 of these property owners could be helped by the realignment of existing fire insurance districts. The process of moving a property from one fire insurance district to another to help the property owner secure a better fire insurance rating can be accomplished, but the result has raised issues of equal protection and property tax fairness for home owners. The realignment of fire insurance districts between Caldwell and East Orange was accomplished without any reallocation of Fire District Tax revenues. This may create legal issues as discussed by the attached County Attorney's memorandum dated September 1, 2011. On September 13, 2011 the Board was presented options for changing fire districts to improve insurance ratings for the 1,156 properties located outside of six road miles from the closest fire station located in their fire insurance district. The County Attorney's memorandum dated September 1, 2011 provides a legal opinion for fire protection tax districts, and the available options are listed below: 1. Realign Fire Insurance District boundaries without changing Fire Tax Districts. 2. Change existing Fire Protection Districts, which would also change the Fire Tax Districts. 3. Establish one or more Fire Service Districts to replace or overlay existing Fire Protection Districts which could also change Fire Tax Districts. Fire Department Contracts The realignment of the Caldwell Fire Insurance District and the East Orange Fire Insurance District has raised the question of the status of Fire Department contracts in Orange County. Most Fire Department contracts were last updated in 1992. Attached is the contract between the Caldwell Fire Department and Orange County dated May 18, 1992. With a few exceptions, most atl fire contracts are identical to the attached contract for Caldwell Fire Department. The contract provides for basic fire protection and includes a provision for the Fire Department to provide budget and financial information to the County in exchange for levying a property tax rate in the district for the exclusive use of the Fire Department. All contracts renew automatically each fiscal year on the 1St day of July and continue in effect until terminated by either party, upon 365 days written notice to the other party. There are several important issues not addressed in the 1992 contract that would be included in a new contract with Orange County today, including but not limited to the following: • A detail description of fire protection services to be provided and standards expected by Orange County • The am�unt of Liability and Workers Compensation Insurance required • Requirements for an Annual Audit • The current contract states that "The Fire Department may provide a first responder program" but it is not required by the contract. i At this time the Fire Department contracts need to be reviewed by the County Attorney and revised to meet the current expectations of Orange County. Fire Department Strategic Plan The Fire Departments are moving forward with a strategic plan for fire protection in Orange County. The Fire Departments hope to have the Strategic Plan complete and present it to the Board of Commissioners in time for the FY 2012-13 annual budget. The County was not invited to be a part of this planning process. " FINANCIAL IMPACT: The discussion of this item has no financial impact on the County. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board provide direction to staff as to changes in the status of Fire Protection, Insurance & Tax Districts and new Fire Protection contracts to be drafted by the County Attorney. Once the Volunteer Fire Departments complete their Strategic Planning process, it may be prudent to revisit these issues in a comprehensive manner. ' Michael Talbert said that there is a group of homeowners that live just south of Chapel Hill in Hunts Reserve and Reserve Phase tl. There are about 112 property owners. This was developed as part of the Town of Chapel Hill ETJ. The developers were required to put in water and hydrants. These particular homeowners could be serviced by the Town of Chapel Hill. There is a possibility of contracting with two service providers within the same district. There is tremendous flexibility in how to handle these issues. He said that Carrboro would be glad to help, but it wants the tax revenue that goes with the service and to be compensated. Commissioner Hemminger asked if it would be possible to form a working group with input from the County and fire districts just to deal with the contract issue. Michael Talbert said that staff could come back with a suggested structure. Commissioner Hemminger asked clarifying questions about changing fire districts, which were answered by staff. Commissioner Yuhasz asked how insurance districts are determined. Michael Talbert said that an insurance district is synonymous with the fire district, for the most part. When the homeowner or the property is located more than six road miles from the station, they are considered to have a rating of 10 or be uninsured. The insurance district only goes six miles out. Commissioner McKee said that the six-mile limit is totally arbitrary that someone chose. Commissioner Gordon said that she does not want equity issues within Eno and Caldwell and she said that one way to resolve this is to have fire district contracts. Commissioner Gordon asked the Chapel Hill Fire Chief Dan Jones about his point of view on contracting. Dan Jones said that areas could be sp lit into two contract areas —one rural and one municipal —and this is how rural areas can be dealt with. Discussion ensued about how this would work: Frank Clifton said that staff can bring this back to the Board of County Commissioners for official action in order to speed this process up. Commissioner Hemminger asked if the Board agreed to follow through with a work group and possible contracts. The Board agreed by consensus. Commissioner Jacobs said that the first order of business for the work group should be the 1,000+ homes that have seen their insurance rates go up considerably. Commissioner Gordon reiterated the importance of addressing the equity issues. Michael Talbert said that there are other options that the work group can look at and the staff will bring back the best available option. Commissioner Yuhasz suggested looking at fire service districts in some selected areas where a different tax rate could be provided within the same fire protection district. A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Yuhasz to adjourn the meeting at 10:00 PM. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Bernadette Pelissier, Chair Donna S. Baker, CMC Clerk to the Board �