HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-06-06 Joint CC Rural FireMeridian City Council June 6, 2017.
A meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 4:59 p.m., Tuesday, June
6, 2017, by President Keith Bird.
Members Present: Keith Bird, Joe Borton, Genesis Milam, Luke Cavener, Anne Little
Roberts and Ty Palmer.
Item 1: Roll-call Attendance:
Roll call.
X__ Anne Little Roberts X _ _Joe Borton
X__ Ty Palmer X__ Keith Bird
__X__ Genesis Milam __X__ Lucas Cavener
__X Mayor Tammy de Weerd
___X___Terry Leighton ___X___Marvin Ward
___X___Clair Bowman ___O___John Fitzgerald
Item 2: Adoption of the Agenda Adopted
Bird: Okay. Let's call this special joint City Council and Meridian Rural Fire District
meeting to order. It is now 4:59. We will start with roll call attendance and with your
permission, Mr. Leighton, we will have our City Clerk call it for everybody.
Bird: Adoption of the agenda is Item No. 2. Mr. Borton.
Borton: Mr. President, I move that we adopt the agenda as published.
Little Roberts: Second.
Bird: We have got a motion to adopt the agenda as published and a second. All in
favor say aye. Any opposed? The ayes have it.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
Item 3: Discussion on the Planning of Meridian Fire Station #6
Bird: Item No. 3 is a discussion on planning of Fire -- Meridian Fire District -- or
Meridian Fire Station No. 6. And do you want to take it over, Mark?
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Niemeyer: Mr. President, Members of the Council, Mr. Chairman, Members of the
Board, thank you for meeting today. It's been a long time since we have had a joint
meeting between the district and the -- and the city leadership, so I think you for being
here today. This is an information sharing opportunity to discuss the future of Fire
Station No. 6. I have prepared a memo that we will go over to help in the information
sharing and question gathering that you may have. Ag ain, we are not necessarily
looking for a decision tonight, we are looking for questions, information as we move
forward with Station No. 6. So, going to the memo, this correspondence is to
communicate the need for Fire Station No. 6 and to provide factua l information for the
city and the rural district commissioners to consider for discussions around the funding
for Fire Station No. 6. The district has offered as part of our discussion tonight
potentially to pay for one year's of salary and operating costs for the fire station in an
attempt to try and keep it on track for an opening in October of 2018, which we will talk
about why that's significant as we move forward. So, a little bit of history. I know we
have new commissioners, new council members. I think this history is important on how
previously fire stations have been built and what that process has been. Certainly we
have some folks with us that have been a part of I think all five fire stations, both on the
city side and the commission side that can offer insight as well that maybe I don't even
have as far as our history goes. So, historically, as we have built new fire stations, the
fire protection district has funded the building of those stations. As the city grew we
typically, then, put new fire stations out more in the rural areas and as the city continued
to grow we continued to do the same. The last fire station we had built was Fire Station
No. 5 located on Linder Road. The district did fund that project and during that time the
city had begun collecting impact fees. We had gone through an impact fee hearing and
ordinance and so impact fees were starting to be collected. The district had the funds to
front to build Fire Station 5. There was kind of an unwritten agreement that the city
would -- would attempt to pay back the district using impact fees for the building of that.
The total cost of that station that opened in 2008 was 1.4 million and to date the city has
repaid 600,000 of that impact fee to go towards the cost of that f ire station. As we look
at our current situation we currently have one fire station south of I -84, that's Station No.
4 located on Eagle Road. South Meridian -- everything south of I-84 encompasses
about 23 square miles of our overall response area . We have a response area of about
62 square miles. Twenty-three of that is covered in south Meridian. Station 4 was
opened in February of 2006. Since its opening in 2006 the population of the city has
increased about 49 percent, roughly 32,000 people. We were not able to get numbers
of population increase in the district area, but we have anecdotally seen an increase in
the population within our -- our rural district area as well. So, we don't have specific
data. We tried to get it from COMPASS on what has been the population increase just
in south Meridian alone. So, south of I-84. We will still work to get those numbers if
requested. As we look at growth in south Meridian -- when I came in as the chief in
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2009, I inherited a capital improvement plan. We have since continued to update it. But
Station 6 was always on the radar for roughly a 2018 opening. That's when all the
projections said the growth and the call volume and the population increase would
probably warrant a second station south of I-84. So, that has been in the plan for quite
some time. In the most recent version of the CFP, the Consolidated Financial Plan, in
which Finance led that charge and the Mayor was involved, bringing in all of the
departments, CIPs and putting them into one. This project got pushed back to 2019
from the 2018 that was planned for several years. In the proposed district of Fire
Station No. 6 -- and I have got a map here that we will review to identify the area that
we are talking about -- our department has seen an increase in call demand in that
area, both within the city limits of that district, as well as the rural district portion of that
area. We are anticipating that those calls would have been about 371 calls in 2016 to
that area specific to Fire Station No. 6 and in the district we would be looking at. As a
comparison, the average response time for those 371 calls was eight minutes and 12
seconds, as compared to the overall department average for your entire response
district of six minutes and four seconds. So, you can see where it's taking us
considerably longer to get to those calls in that area. The department, based on current
data that we are seeing in 2017, is anticipating a call volume of about 569 calls in that
service area of proposed Station No. 6. For a history as far as staffing the new fire
station, for those that haven't been involved in staff ing new fire stations, to
accommodate that the firefighters need to be hired one year in advance of the station
opening to accommodate the required recruit academy and FTO, which is a field
training officer, task book completion. These two combined account for about a seven
to eight month process. That's four months of recruit academy and another -- roughly
three to four months of field training time and the task book completion. In addition to
that, when we open a new station there is promotional testing that needs to take place
to have enough captains and engineers to, then, staff that new station. So, there is --
there is two parts there. One is hiring the new firefighters, the other is the promotional
process that we have to go through to ensure that we have enough eligible candidates
to promote -- to fill the vacancies of the new station. So, just a recap. To open a new
fire station it requires three captains, three engineers, and between three to four
firefighters when you open up a new fire station. The cost of a new station -- current
CIP we anticipated the cost -- this was done four years ago -- at 2.2 million dollars. This
station is going to be designed very similar to Fire Station No. 1 , which we consider a
multi-apparatus station that can house not only a fire engine, but a potential water
tender or a brush rig or a battalion chief. We have that on the north side of I -84. We do
not have that currently on the south side of I-84, so that is a cost that was anticipated
four years ago. We have looked at construction inflation costs. I know every
department in the city has been looking at this as well. That's anywhere between 15
and 20 percent since this was developed. That's depending on the source that you look
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at, but that's the consensus of the construction inflation. So, we anticipate the cost of a
building to be between 2.5 and 2.6 million dollars. These costs are completely covered
by impact fees. They are impact fee eligible. Our current impact fee balance as of the
end of fiscal year '16 -- I want to make sure I have that correct -- was 3.59 million
dollars. Finance is projecting our ending balance in 2017 to be 4.1 million dollars. So,
as far as having the funds available in the impact fee fund to fund the fire station, we do
have the funds there. Cost of a new fire engine. Again, in the CIP it was anticipated a
cost of 520,000. That was four years ago. The cost t oday is about 530,000 for the fire
engine alone. This is a new engine and so it does need to be outfitted with equipment,
hose, tools, saws, ladders. That bring the cost to about 700,000 total for a brand new
fire engine that needs to be outfitted. You will notice the difference there when we go to
replace a fire engine the cost is 530, there is no additional cost, because we hare taking
the old equipment off the retired engine and putting it on the new one. Again, the
money is there in the impact fee fund and fire engines are eligible for impact fees. As
far as our current response situation, as previously mentioned , we do have only one
station south of I-84 covering 23 square miles. The growth over the last four years -- we
are increasing -- experiencing an increased call volume and increased response time
basically due to a lack of available resources south of I-84 to get to those calls. In
addition to the 371 calls we identified that were in the area of Fire Station 6 , we are
estimating there would have been an additional 200 calls for multiple apparatus
response. In other words, when a structure fire comes in let's say at Ten Mile and
Franklin, that station would have responded to that structure fire, but because we don't
have it place the other stations outlaying in the city do. As you can imagine, that puts a
pretty significant strain on any calls we have where multiple apparatus are required to
go. So, if we have that structure fire in south Meridian, we have one engine from south
Meridian going, we have two others from north Meridian going, we have a truck from
north Meridian going. So, we have a lot of apparatus crossing over the freeway to get
to those calls for service that require multiple apparatus. Current growth in south
Meridian. I did try to get information for all of you applicable to the current projects that
have been approved for development in south Meridian. We were not able to get that in
time. Anecdotally we can say there has been significant growth in south Meridian. We
have seen an increase in apartment complexes south of I-84. We are seeing a
significant increase in commercial development south of I-84, some of our big box
stores, et cetera, not to mention the residential development that has been added into
south Meridian. We are still trying to ascertain that list, so that you have that
information on what are the current projects that aren't even breaking ground yet, but
have been approved for development south of I-84. Other factors to consider with the
district proposal. This one is fairly significant as far as a factor from the fire department.
On April 14th of this year I did convene a working group to discuss a looming crisis that
I believe is a crisis for the fire department in FY-18. That working group included the
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Mayor, Councilman Cavener as our liaison, Todd from Finance, Crystal from HR, along
with my staff. And that looming crisis says we are anticipating between three to six
retirements in FY-18. As you know, retirements will create vacancies. When we have
vacancies and nobody to fill those, overtime goes up and overtime is certainly the hot
topic. It has been in the seven years I have been here as the chief. We were trying to
come up with a solution in anticipation of those retirements that would minimize that
overtime risk and that vacancy risk. The potential of hiring 12 firefighters now in
advance of the Station 6 opening and getting them on the line would mitigate that risk.
It would mitigate the vacancies. If we don't do something with that, those three to six
vacancies will create overtime, because we have nobody to fill those holes . In addition,
we have talked at length over the last seven years about how does hiring extra staff
effect overtime. I know the Mayor just sent me an e-mail today. She's at a conference
and was talking with the fire -- or the mayor from Warwick, New Hampshire, I think it is.
They have a zero overtime budget, but they also have 209 staff members and ten
stations. So, they have hired enough staff to reduce their overtime and eliminate it.
That's certainly not fiscally available to us I don't believe as a city. But that question of
how does extra staffing affect overtime -- a year's worth of 12 extra firefighters would
help answer that question, because we could evaluate it and we would have those extra
staff to be able to have that better discussion. We have also talked in the past about
ways in which the fire department moving forward in the future can look at various ways
to respond to emergencies, as opposed to the one traditional way we always have . If
you recall back in January of 2016 I presented to you, Council, the idea of ARVs,
alternative response vehicles. These are two man vehicles that help minimize the load
on our existing stations and can help potentially slow down the need for future fire
stations, because you have the resources to handle the calls. We gave that
presentation in -- later in that same year, in the fall of 2016. ESCI, Emergency Services
Consulting, did our master plan and one of their recommendations was to evaluate and
potentially implement ARVs. This concept is something that many fire departments
across the nation and in the west are utilizing. As call volume increases they are
utilizing these two person vehicles to handle and mitigate some of the emergency calls
that today we have to send a fire engine to. The ARV discussion really started when
Council asked how can we minimize the wear and tear on fire engines and so we
evaluated that and came up with a solution . That is still out there. We do not have the
staff currently to even trial that. This would allow us the staff to actually trial that if we
so wanted to do it, to see if it's applicable for our future. As far as timing goes on a
decision, the only critical aspect for us and whether we are going to hire or not hire is
the August 21st start date for the recruit academy. So, we are currently in the process
of testing for new recruit firefighters. We have one vacancy right now. Now, that was a
result of the previous academy. We had one firefighter who did not make it through. As
you know our academies happen once a year and so we had to wait until this point to
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get that vacancy filled. We potentially have a second vacancy. We have a fire
inspector position opening. We have a captain that has put in for it and is going through
the process. That may open up another vacancy that we will get somebody in the
recruit academy. So, that is really our timing. The next critical step in that testing
process is the last week of June, in which we are doing oral board interviews with the
candidates that are potentially going to go into the academy. We typically interview
three candidates for every one vacancy, so that we have enough candidates to select
the right people to go into that recruit academy. So, really, from that standpoint,
knowing how many vacancies we are trying to fill, will dictate how many people we bring
in for those -- those oral board interviews. With that I would offer to have you turn to the
first map in the handout. This is simply a layout of our current stations, with a
placeholder for Station No. 6. This has been a discussion that we have been having
between the district and the Parks Department and the Mayor. The district currently has
land on Overland Road, almost directly across from Camping World. You have
probably seen the sign out there . We have since done a lot of evaluation of our data
and looking forward and we believe in the fire department operational we need to be
putting fire stations on the half miles, not the miles. Every one of our existing stations
are on one mile roadways. Ten Mile, Eagle Road, Franklin Road. What we have seen
as growth occurs and those roadways get more busy, getting out of our stations to
respond to calls is getting far more difficult. I have made it a point to drive these roads
at 5:00 o'clock. I have driven Locust Grove. I have driven Linder Road. I have driven
Franklin Road. And it has become a nightmare as you all know, because you travel
through the city with traffic and congestion. Putting our future fire stations on half miles
with access to the one miles at a signaled intersection makes the most sense and so
the Overland property -- when we purchased it we felt it was the right location. As we
look at the potential growth now on Overland Road and the commercial development
and the traffic that is going to be on Overland Road with the residential development,
that is probably not the ideal location . We have had some preliminary discussions with
the Parks Department on the Bear Creek location. That's a win-win in our opinion and
in the Parks Department opinion to -- where we can co-locate fire stations with parks it
makes a lot of sense. Nampa has done that very successfully and the feedback has
been very good. Having fire stations located in parks is a worthy of discussion even in
future projects where it does make sense to partner with parks for future fire stations.
So, that is a map of -- of our current locations. The next map is simply a map showing
our availability as far as response time goes with the current stations we have . You can
see where ever we do have stations our response times are much better. In the area of
Station 6, which is, essentially, Overland to Meridian, that entire corner, as far as getting
there with our current existing stations and apparatus is very difficult to meet any kind of
reasonable response time expectation. So, with that, the last page I have for you -- and
Finance certainly has some numbers and we have Finance here to -- to also ask any --
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answer any questions regarding finances. What does it take to hire 12 firefighters? As
you know, we have a contract that has wages built into that contract that have been
agreed upon between the union and the city. We have a recruit wage, which is the first
period where they are in the recruit academy. We have a probationary wage, which
covers the next 12 months after the recruit academy. Then we have a Firefighter 1, 2
and 3 wage and those are each succession years after completion of the probationary
period. Now, for purposes of this analysis, the wages of 653,820 was based on a
Firefighter 1 wage of 54,485 dollars annually. So, first year cost is slightly lower than
that. But I wanted to make sure that it was articulated what the potential cost was. I
know Todd and Jenny have done a lot of work looking at even longer term what is the
cost of putting on the fire station. So, with that, as far as the memo goes, I would
certainly stand for any questions or entertain just discussion between the city and the
district on this issue.
Bird: Any questions?
Leighton: What's our final cost?
Niemeyer: So, final cost, if you look -- total enhancement request in the city form is 1.25
million dollars. Ninety-nine thousand of that is a one-time expense on operating. And,
then, you can see the ongoing operating expense specific to the 12 firefighters. This
goes to turnout gear, clothing, things that are very specific to the individual. The
ongoing is 42,020 dollars.
Leighton: We pay for the land and half of the --
Niemeyer: That's probably a discussion for a district meeting.
Bowman: Ninety-nine thousand of that would be up front. What do you anticipate the
rest of it would be over a 12 month period simply added to the existing statements we
get from the City of Meridian?
Niemeyer: Yes.
Cavener: I will go. We are kind of informal today. So, chief, when I look at your two
maps that you have provided, is the future location -- that is in Bear Creek now, that's
identified on its current identified location. Can you maybe speak to that for the rest of
the Council that haven't been involved in the discussion? You touched on it briefly
about relocating to -- to Bear Creek, but I think it's important that this group understands
that. And the second piece that is I'd like you to also touch on, obviously, besides an
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enhancement form for the gear, as far as the ongoing cost -- and maybe this is a
question for Finance or for you. I assume we are going to be provided with a secondary
enhancement form that's going to show the salary impact moving forward? I think that's
-- I think that's -- one year is great, but we pick up that lion's share forever and I think we
have got to be sure that we are, you know, in agreeance that that's the plan moving
forward. So, without having that information it makes this conversation I think more
challenging.
Niemeyer: So, Council and Commissioners, I will hit the first question first. How is
that? As far as the location of Fire Station No. 6. So, how that came about as far as the
Bear Creek discussion, we realized and recognized through our planning efforts the
challenge with those one mile arterials and so we begin looking at what other
possibilities are in that general area that would serve this are and as we drove down
Stoddard we saw the school and, then, we saw Bear Creek Park and so it spurred a
discussion with the Parks Department would you ever consider co-locating and
partnering in the future for future fire stations in parks and they seemed very intrigued
by that. And so we developed a presentation. I went to the Parks Commission,
presented that to the commission, to get their thoughts and ideas. Steve and I tag
teamed on that. And they were very encouraged by it. They thought it was a great idea
to locate -- co-locate fire stations and parks together, because the community
involvement that we have and the community involvement that our firefighters have.
So, that was really how that started as far as the potential to look at Bear Creek. The
next step in that would be to have community meetings and all the other things that we
do whenever we develop anything. To do that we need to have kind of a general
elevation and floor plans that people can look at that and say is this something that we
want in our area and in our park or near our park and so that would be the next step in
that -- that evolution as far as Bear Creek Park specifically goes. We have had
conversations with Parks about other locations that they have in their future map that
makes sense for us from the response time standpoint, where it makes sense for both
of us. So, that's how the Bear Creek Park discussion and interaction with the Parks
Department started. Certainly we started with the Mayor and said is that something you
want us to pursue, because if she said no, then, there is not a lot of point of doing it.
She liked the idea. She had talked to Mayor Henry about the co-location of a fire station
and a park over in Nampa and there is a lot of good reaction from that and a lot of good
feedback from the community in that. Did that answer that question?
Leighton: Part of that also is ACHD for ingress and egress?
Niemeyer: Yeah. So, that was the other thing with that cu rrent piece of property is as
we look to prepare for development of our current parcel on Overland Road, there was
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going to be some ingress-egress access issues with the current piece of property.
Because they transitioned Overland Road to now five lanes, essentially, crossing over
traffic was going to be an issue. Putting a signal in front of the station that we do on
most of our stations so close to the Linder Road future signal was going to be an issue.
So, we began evaluating then where can we move to that gives us better access to the
roadways.
Cavener: Question then. Has -- has this piece of land already been acquired and are
we utilizing existing park ground? Is that the plan? Okay. So, taking a certain piece of
park green space and repurposing that for a fire station?
Niemeyer: Yeah. I will answer that. In meeting with Steve and Mike Barton in Parks, if
you look right on Stoddard there is a parking lot on the south side on Stoddard. There
is a large grassy area that's not being utilized in the middle, if you will, and, then, you
have got the Public Works pumphouse and some other -- basketball courts, et cetera.
So, there is potentially two locations that we could put a fire station, either, A, on the
corner or, B, in the middle and that's where the elevation -- we are going to have them
design it in both locations, so that the parks folks can see it, the Parks Commission can
see it. We presented that entirely to the Parks Commission and they were favorable .
Really, what we are working with Parks on is line of sight. We are working with law
enforcement as well. Line of sight into the park to make sure there is good security
access, good security clearance and visualization. So, those are the two locations
within Bear Creek Park that we are looking at and considering. Again, we still need to
get public feedback from the folks that live in that area. We know that folks like having a
fire station in their neighborhood. We have gotten that from all of our other fire stations,
the feedback we have received. But we want to make sure that we are doing something
that the neighbors agree with and that they are okay with.
Borton: Chief, is Victory -- Victory Middle School Picture is right across the street? Is
there a unique concern knowing that emergencies happen at all times when having a
fire station across from a school where there might be kids gathered?
Niemeyer: Councilman Borton asked me a question. We have engaged the school
district with this concept of having a fire station near a school like that. They actually
like the idea. We frequently get automatic alarms and some medical emergencies at
schools, so certainly being close to where the emergencies happen are a good thing.
There is not necessarily a concern as far as foot traffic of the children being in and
around the fire station. We have that at several of our other fire stations already where
we have children foot traffic in the morning. Our firefighters are very well aware of that
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and take due caution when they come out of the station, et cetera. But as far as having
a fire station located near a school, the school district likes that idea.
Borton: Okay.
Milam: Chief, I don't know if this question is for you or maybe more for Todd . But
looking at these figures for the first year, it looks maybe like they might be figures for the
second year. There is overtime figured in there and it seems as though the first year we
should be showing an overtime savings, according to your packet. But have the
numbers been done to show what kind of overtime savings we could expect the first
year?
Niemeyer: So, I could probably speak with Todd on this issue. Trying to predict
overtime is becoming almost impossible. You make assumptions based on the data,
but the variables that come into play as far as people that are injured , people that are off
on work comp, people that are off on bereavement, on maternity, all of those factors
that you can't predict when you try and predict a budget, make overtime a very variable
intensive process to try and develop. The assumption would be if you hire more staff
and you have them as extras your overtime would go down . I have learned not to make
any assumptions on overtime and so, really, working with Todd trying to rely on the best
data that we can provide you, the best information we can provide you, knowing that the
variables come into play that we simply cannot predict. When you see overtime added
to the budget, when we build a fire station it inherently will have overtime built into it.
That's just a fact that we know. The numbers that we put in are numbers that we
discussed and came up with to try and give you a best estimate , knowing that there is
variables that, again, we can't predict and there is no way that we can say this is exactly
going to be the cost of overtime. So, as far as having the extra firefighters prior to the
station being open, the assumption is overtime goes down, because you have more
people that can cover the vacancies. That would be the test of does extra staffing really
reduce overtime. As far as the station being built and adding staff to a station , we know
there is going to be overtime inherent to it. Love to give you a better number, but I've
learned that that's a tricky business. Todd, you want to add anything? Yeah. Before
the station is open I think it would be a chance for us to actually test the theory, because
we have never been -- quite honestly, in the seven years I have been here we have not
been fully staffed once. So, even analyzing the staff that we do have and the positions
we do have and the effect on overtime it has, we have never been fully staffed. I take
that back. I was fully staffed for about three months and, then, a gentleman left to
become a training chief at Eagle fire and we were back to not being fully staffed. So,
that analysis of what does fully staffed mean to the overtime budget, I have no history to
tell you what it has been, because we have never been fully staffed. As far as -- I want
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to follow up on Councilman Cavener's second question about the ongoing cost and I
think that's when I will turn it over to Todd.
Lavoie: I appreciate it. Councilman Cavener, to answer your question, I handed out a
piece of paper to everybody that represents the analysis that we did in the Finance
Department in conjunction with Mark and his team. I just want to focus the attention to
the very bottom left-hand corner. The question was what is the long-term commitment
to the city after the first year or so. That's what in the bottom left-hand corner we are
showing. We anticipate about 1.35 million in ongoing personnel costs. So, that they will
be about the second to third year. So, that I think answers the question that Mr.
Cavener had what -- is the long-term goal or cost and we also want to point out that the
long-term operating cost for running a station is the number right below at 173. So, if
you just use a rough number of 1.5 million , Mr. Cavener, I believe that is your
commitment to the citizens in the city from a funding mechanism after -- if we move
forward with the rural contribution, that is the commitment that you are going to make to
the citizens for a funding mechanism.
Bird: Any other questions?
Cavener: I have one.
Bird: Okay.
Cavener: Todd, can you share with us why the 1.35 is about 300,000 dollars higher
than Stations 2, 3, 4 and 5?
Lavoie: Mr. Cavener, I appreciate the question. Two, three, four and five have a
personnel count of nine. We are moving forward with a personal count of 12 to verify.
So, there is your gap.
Bird: Any other questions? Any questions from the rural?
Leighton: None from me.
Bird: Well -- thanks, Mark, for giving us this information and stuff, but it's something that
I certainly want to look over and I'm not ready to make a decision tonight by a long shot.
I don't know about the other council. I can't speak for them. But I appreciate the offer
from the rural, but it's -- it's a very large, long-time investment for the -- for the city, too.
I mean you're talking about at least two million a year if you open up a new station and
while I -- you know, we probably put five in the wrong place. We should have probably
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June 6, 2017
Page 12 of 12
put six instead of five, but we didn't. Our hindsight wasn't quite that good, but if there
aren't any other questions or anything, I would entertain a motion to adjourn, unless you
guys want to enact on something.
Borton: So moved.
Milam: Second.
Bird: I have a motion to adjourn and a second. All in favor say aye. Any opposed?
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
Ward: I move we adjourn.
Bowman: Second that.
Leighton: It's been moved and seconded to adjourn for the rural. All those in favor
signify by saying aye.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
MEETING ADJOURNED AT 5:34 P.M.
(AUDIO RECORDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS)
{
MAYOR TAlil DE WEERD
ATTEST:
C. JAYiCOLES.ICITY CLERK
6 /ry7/c-)2l-/
DATE APPROVED
A
r\
.� C'ity of
E IDIAN
IDAHO
SEAL �/
Date: June 6, 2017
To: Mayor, City Council, Rural Fire District Commissioners
From: Mark Niemeyer, Fire Chief
Re: Station 6
This correspondence is to communicate the need for Fire Station #6, and to provide factual information
for the City Council and Rural Fire District Commissioners to consider for discussions around the funding
for Fire Station #6. The District is offering to fund one year of salary/benefits and operating cost for 12
firefighters, if planning can stay as previously scheduled for an October 2018 opening of fire station #6.
History:
Historically, the Meridian Rural Fire Protection District has funded the building of fire stations. The last
fire station built was Fire Station #5 located on Linder Road. The District funded that project, under an
un -written agreement with the City that impact fees would be used to "re -pay" the District for the
project. The cost of that project, opened in June of 2008, was $1,406,000.00. To date the City has "re -
payed" $600,000.
Currently the Fire Department has one fire station south of 1-84, and area that encompasses
approximately 23 square miles of response area. Station #4, located on Eagle Road south of Overland
was opened in February of 2006. Since it's opening, the population of the City has increased 49%
(32,735). The department does not have data to reflect the population increase in South Meridian
specifically in this same time frame. In previous CIP's (Capital Improvement Plan) dating back to the
previous fire chief, fire station #6 was projected for a 2018 opening based on projected data. In the most
recent version of the CFP (Consolidated Financial Plan) developed by Mayor Tammy this project was
pushed back to a 2019 opening.
In the proposed district of Station #6 (See attached map) the fire department has seen increased call
demand for service. In 2016, calls in this area equaled 371. The average response time for these 371
calls was 8:12, as compared to the average for the whole response district of 6:04. The department,
based on current data, is anticipating a call volume of 569 for 2017 within this proposed district.
Staffing for a new fire station:
To accommodate staffing for a new fire station, firefighters need to be hired one year in advance of the
station opening to accommodate the required recruit academy and FTO (Field Training Officer) task
book completion. These two combined account for a 7-8 month process (4 months recruit academy and
3-4 month task book completion). In addition to this, promotional testing needs to occur to ensure the
Office of the Fire Chief
Meridian Fire Department • 33 E. Broadway, Meridian, ID 83642
Phone 208-888-1234 . Fax 208-895-0390 ® www.meridiancity.org
proper availability of Captains and Engineers needed to staff a new station. Currently the Department
has one employee on the Captains eligibility list, and two employees on the Engineer eligibility list. To
open a new fire station requires three Captains, three Engineers, and 3-4 Firefighters.
Cost of a new fire station:
In the current CIP (developed 4 years ago) the anticipated cost for fire station #6 was $2,200,000 (design
and construction only- land purchased by District). Since that time construction inflation has increased
15-20% (depending on source), which leads to a current anticipated cost of between $2.53 million -
$2.64 million. This cost is covered by current impact fees, which has a current balance of $3,597,216
(projected ending 2017 balance = $4,137,216).
Cost of a new fire engine:
In the current CIP (developed 4 years ago) the anticipated cost for a fire engine was $520,000 (engine
only- no equipment). The cost to purchase a new fire engine, plus needed equipment is currently
$700,000. This includes the vehicle (approximately $530,000) plus needed equipment (hoses, tools,
saws, ladders, computers, etc.). This cost is covered by current impact fees, which has a current balance
of $3,597,216 (projected ending 2017 balance = $4,137,216).
Anticipated total cost for Station and Engine = $3.34 million
Current response situation:
As previously mentioned above, the fire department currently has one fire station south of 1-84 and is
located near the eastern most portion of our response district. Over the past 4 years of growth in South
Meridian, the department is experiencing increasing call volume along with increasing response times
due to a lack of available resources. In addition to the 371 calls for service in 2016 within this proposed
district, we estimate an additional 200 calls would have been included as part of a multiple apparatus
response for significant incidents (fires, significant car wrecks, etc.) throughout the response area.
These calls can put a significant strain on our response system as the majority of units responding to this
area are coming from north of 1-84.
Current growth in South Meridian:
The department did request, but was not provided in time for this report, information pertaining to
currently approved projects in South Meridian as part of an overall growth discussion.
Office of the Fire Chief
Meridian Fire Department • 33 E. Broadway, Meridian, ID 83642
Phone 208-888-1234 * Fax 208-895-0390 • www.meridiancity.org
Other factors to consider with District proposal:
1. On April 14th of this year, the Fire Chief convened a working group to discuss a looming crisis for
FY18. The department is anticipating between 4-6 retirements, which will create 4-6 vacancies.
History proves that vacancies (unfilled) create significant staffing overtime to the department.
Hiring 12 firefighters for FY18 in anticipation of station #6 would fill this void when these
retirements occur, and would significantly lessen the overtime burden of these retirements.
2. Through many working groups and task force meetings focused on department overtime, a
lingering question that has not been answered is what affect does extra staffing have (when
fully staffed) on overtime. Hiring 12 firefighters (and upon completion of the academy and FTO
period) would afford the Department and City to evaluate staffing levels as compared to staffing
overtime.
3. In the past there has been discussions about continuing to evaluate various ways to respond and
still meet the mission of serving the public. In January of 2016 the Department presented to City
Council the concept of ARV's (Alternative Response Vehicles) that could be incorporated into
the response system. These units could handle a variety of call types, and augment the response
system which in turn could help slow the need for additional fire stations in the future. This
concept (ARV) was also a recommendation by ESCI (Emergency Services Consulting
International) during the Master Plan completed in the fall of 2016. Hiring 12 firefighters would
allow the Department to trial this concept (upon completion of the academy and FTO period)
ahead of the opening of fire station #6.
Timing:
The department is currently in the recruit firefighter testing process in preparation for an August 21st
start date for the next recruit academy. The department currently has one vacancy (due to a recruit
firefighter who did not complete the last academy) with a possibility of two depending on the outcome
of a current fire inspector vacancy testing process). The next critical step in that testing process will be
oral board interviews conducted that last week in June. In order to prepare for this step, the department
needs to know how many vacancies we are interviewing for as we bring in three candidates for every
one vacancy. Hiring 12 firefighters would ensure the department ample to time to maintain full staffing
should a recruit not complete this year's academy.
Office of the Fire Chief
Meridian Fire Department • 33 E. Broadway, Meridian, ID 83642
Phone 208-888-1234 0 Fax 208-895-0390 • www.meridiancity.org
k�Kr: Utn,,R�i
It is my hope that the department has provided enough information for a thorough and educated
discussion regarding fire station #6.
Sincerely,
Mark Niemeyer
Fire Chief, Meridian Fire Department
Office of the Fire Chief
Meridian Fire Department • 33 E. Broadway, Meridian, ID 83642
Phone 208-888-1234 • Fax 208-895-0390 • www.meridiancity.org
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