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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 01/22/2004CITY COUNCIL 22 JANUARY 2004 The South Burlington City Council held a special meeting on Thursday, 22 January 2004, at 7:00 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset Street. Members Present: J. Condos, Chair; C. Smith, T. Sheahan, S. Magowan, D. O'Rourke Also Present: C. Hafter, City Manager; D. Gravelin, Assistant City Manager; Chief D. Brent, Fire Department; Officers and other Firefighters of the South Burlington Fire Department; members of the UVM Ambulance Service; members of the South Burlington Ambulance Study Committee Mr. Hafter explained that this meeting is an important benchmark in a long process. He also noted that Chief Brent's presentation is supported by the whole Ambulance Study Committee. Chief Brent began by reviewing his background in view of the topic of this study. He has 31 years of experience in responding to ambulance calls. He has also taught EMT courses and served on EMT boards in Vermont and on 2 EMS regional committees. He is a trustee for the Vermont Ambulance Association. The Chief then introduced members of the Committee and noted they represented areas of city government, emergency services and the general public. The Committee's work focused on a number of areas: the current provider, staffing, level of care, revenue, subscription services, equipment, Department reorganization, and medical direction. Chief Brent said UVM has been a wonderful provider since the mid-70's. They are a student-managed and operated group overseen by the Student Government Organization. In FY '02 they responded to 1348 calls. In FY03, they responded to 1258 (which was down because of a long period when they were out of service). When UVM was out of service, dispatchers would have to figure out the next provider to call. UVM has an approximately 6 minute average response time, with some times ranging as high as 15 or 22 minutes. Burlington's average to respond to calls in South Burlington is 8 minutes (with some times as high as 18 minutes), St. Michael's average is 9 minutes (with some as high as 13), Shelburne's average is 14 minutes (with some as high as 26 minutes) and Essex's average is 11 minutes (with some as high as 18). Chief Brent noted that since the mid-1970's, there has been an increase of only 1 ambulance available in South Burlington, Burlington, Williston (St. Michaels), Winooski (St. Michael's) and Essex. UVM has been experiencing a number of problems including: diminished student participation, major reliance on alumni, continual turnover, unfamiliarity with South Burlington, and changing crews. On 1 April 2004, UVM Rescue will begin billing patients for service. The contract that UVM has with South Burlington says that when UVM begins to bill for services, South Burlington ends its subsidy to UVM. Chief Brent noted that Fire Department is judged by its ability to solve a problem in a timely, efficient manner. The outcome of a situation is based on preparedness, leadership, structure, good reaction time, proper allocation of resources, ability to choose the right solution. The Chief then reviewed Fire Dept. responses over the years. In FY03, the Department had 2353 responses. Most of the calls involved trauma or orthopedic situation followed by cardiac/respiratory. Chief Brent then outlined the reasons it makes sense to change to a new system. These include: the dedicated people in the S. Burlington Department, lower turnover rate, a large percentage of firefighters who live in S. Burlington and have a vested interest in the community, knowledge of the community, continuity and consistency of care, clinical competence, ongoing skills training, quicker response times, ability to provide a full array of public health and safety services. Current staffing in the S. Burlington Fire Dept. includes 3 shifts with 5 personnel per shift. A shift serves 24 hours on duty followed by 48 hours off duty. A shift consists of a Captain, a Lieutenant, and 3 Firefighters. Personnel needs to include a city ambulance service would include 6 new cross-trained firefighters/EMT's and a billing clerk (located in Station 1). There are 3 possible levels of service: Basic (basic care -- all current personnel meet the requirements for this level of service); Intermediate (several Firefighters are trained to this level and 3 more are in training), and Paramedic. A Medical Director provides oversight of the program, critiques incidents, and verifies educational credits. In the proposed system, everyone would rotate through all positions in order to avoid "burnout" and to provide a career ladder for all. Building and space needs: The Chief outlined the following needs in light of the current facility: toilet/shower facilities, exercise room, shift commander office area, kitchen renovation, training/meeting room, billing clerk office, additional dorm space, new office space for the Chief. Ambulance vehicles: Three types of ambulances are available: a truck-type chassis, a van style (used more for transit, not emergency services), and a box-on-van style. The Committee felt the truck-type chassis was most acceptable for South Burlington. The cost of a new ambulance of this type would be $130,000 (not equipped). A used one would cost about $55,000. The plan would be to buy one of each but not to staff the second ambulance. UVM would still be the choice for back-up. UVM supports this idea. Equipment costs would include: 2 defibrillators ($30,000) and other equipment ($20,000) for a total of $50,000. The Department already has radios. The Chief then explained the "paperless" reporting system that would utilize laptops which could be downloaded to billing software. The computer upgrade already done by the Department would dovetail with this system. Three reporting computers would cost $22,500 and network interface would cost $5000. Chief Brent also spoke briefly about a possible "subscription" service. This would cost a resident about $40 a year. If that family had an ambulance call, only the insurance company would be billed; no bill would be sent to the subscriber for the deductible or the balance. The Chief felt this was something to look at down the road. Chief Brent then outlined some revenue assumptions that would total approximately $431,000. With a 70% collection rate, this would bring in about $302,000. Operating costs would include personnel ($364,608), operating costs ($28,200), 5-year equipment note ($73,113), vehicle reserve ($15,000) for a total of $430,921. Capital costs would include: renovations ($511,500), architect/engineer ($20,000), permits/fees ($5000), furniture ($9,000) and phone/data ($4000) for a total of $549,500. Chief Brent noted that the City Manager suggests a 20-year bond. Chief Brent said that in order to make this work there would have to be a re-organization of the management structure. He suggested this be phased in over time. Committee recommendations include: Start up date of 1 August 2004 Applying for ambulance licensure at the intermediate level Hiring 6 new Firefighters/EMT's and 1 clerk Presenting a ballot question in May 2004. Begin implementation of reorganization plan. Support construction and renovation plan. The Chief noted there is an excellent base of potential personnel to choose from. Six members of the "call staff" and 33 outsiders applied for the last department opening. All were very qualified. The implementation plan would include hiring new personnel as of 1 July 2004. Specs for vehicles would be prepared as well as equipment specs. Design and building information would be solicited. Mr. Hafter then reviewed costs of bonding. He noted interest rates are at an all-time low and recommended payments be stretched out as long as possible. He then showed an amortization schedule for a 20-year bond at 5%. The average annual cost for a $100,000 home per year would be $2.76 for the life of the bond. Total operating and capital costs would be just about 1 cent on the tax rate. Two ballot items would be needed, one for annual operating costs. The cost of what the city has been paying UVM would be subtracted from this amount. For next year, the city would take the $40,000 usually put into fire equipment funding and use it for the ambulances. Mr. Hafter stressed that this is the most critical service the city needs to provide to the community. Chief Brent noted that adding an ambulance would help not only South Burlington but the entire area as well. Mr. Hafter noted that if the S. B. ambulance had an out-of-town call, that would be billed. Mr. Magowan said this is "South Burlington growing up." He felt the price was reasonable and he supported the plan 100%. Mr. O'Rourke said he felt it was the Council's responsibility to provide for the safety and wellbeing of the citizens. He noted the increasing age of the city's population and the many care facilities located in the city. Members agreed they wanted to put this item on the May ballot. Mr. Jones, the citizen representative to the committee, said he felt this was a great proposal and he was pleased the Council wants to move forward. Firefighters on the Committee thanked the Council for their support and stressed their eagerness to provide a higher level of service to the community. They all stressed that UVM has provided outstanding service and this new move is a step for growth. As there was no further business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.