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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 08/27/2007SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING 27 AUGUST 2007 The South Burlington City Council held a Special Meeting on Monday, 27 August 2007, at 6:00 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset St. Members Present: C. Smith, Chair, S. Dooley, M. Boucher, S. Magowan Also Present: C. Hafter, City Manager; D. Gravelin, Assistant City Manager; J. B. Hinds, Director of Planning & Zoning: Chief D. Brent, Fire Department; M. Vinci, C. Corbin, E. Spooner, W. Moran, and other members of the South Burlington Fire Department 1. Other Business: No issues were raised. 2. Announcements: No announcements were made. 3. Consideration of Resolution to approve application for Municipal Planning Grant; Growth Centers Planning: Ms. Hinds noted that the State has made fund available to help towns with applications for town centers. Before that, however, the city will need a "growth center" designation and will have to substantiate information to demonstrate this. Ms. Hinds then outlined the three things needed: a. expand the City Center economic report b. evaluate the built density of all parcels in South Burlington to demonstrate capacity c. redo resources mapping for the City Center as "growth center" maps. Ms. Hinds also noted that a City Council resolution is needed to apply for the grant. Ms. Hinds explained that Act 250 only looks at clustering within a particular parcel. This has led to multi-family units, which are out of character with a neighborhood. There is also a problem with connected streets. A "growth center" designation would get the city beyond these hang-ups. Ms. Dooley asked the rationale for connecting neighborhoods. Ms. Hinds said it provides more efficient emergency service response time, shorter school bus routes, and rec. path connections. The down side is a possible increase in traffic in a neighborhood. Ms. Hinds noted that the Regional Planning Commission has to provide a letter of support. Mr. Boucher asked if there is any obligation if the city gets the grant. Ms. Hinds said there is not. Mr. Boucher moved to approve the Resolution for the planning grant application as presented. Ms. Dooley seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 1. Consideration of Contract Amendment with VHB for City Center consultant work: Ms. Hinds said the amendment reflects additional work required by the Army Corps. She noted that the original $1,000,000 was just for Market St. When the $5,000,000 came through, the contract was amended. This amendment includes 2 pieces approved at the last Council meeting: a. preliminary land use planning b. traffic study & signal design c. utility and right-of-way documentation d. traffic model re-run The total amount is $174,542.47. Ms. Hinds noted the City still does not have to contribute any funding. The city?s 20% kicks in during the final design phase. Ms. Hinds added that she hoped to learn a great deal at a 5 of September meeting with VTrans regarding traffic issues. Mr. Boucher said he would like to see where the city has expended money on various projects. Mr. Hafter said he can provide this. Mr. Magowan moved to approve the second amendment to the contract with VHB as presented. Mr. Boucher seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 1. Consideration of approval of grant application for Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency (SAFER) Homeland Security Grant: Chief Brent said the Senate had approved these grants on 31 July with a 30-day window for applications. Approval by the local governing board is required, and the Chief thanked the Council for this special meeting to consider this. Chief Brent noted that the City made an agreement with the Union that they would jointly look at staffing when grants became available. The Chief then presented slides showing how the Fire Department operates today. There are 3 administrative staff, 21 members of the "career staff" (3 shifts of 24 hours on and 48 hours off). Only one person per shift can be off at any one time. Station #1 has an engine and Ambulance #1. Station #2 has a Lieutenant and Firefighter and Engine #2. At Station #1, Ambulance #2, Engine #3 and Truck31 are unstaffed. At Station #2, Engine #4 is unstaffed. The Chief then reviewed the population growth of the city since the Fire Department began in 1970. During that time, population has risen from 10,032 to 17,243 (2006). The Department had over 2400 runs in 2006. Chief Brent noted that growth in the Fire Dept. has not been at the same level as growth in the Police Department. The Chief also noted the amount of commercial growth in the city since 1970 and the huge growth in multi-family structures. He reviewed projected future development based on what is already in the works. He stressed that high population and high traffic volumes result in more runs for the Fire Dept. Currently, on a typical day, the number of personnel staffing Engine #1 is the same as it was in 1970. Chief Brent then reviewed standards for Fire Dept. capability as set by the National Fire Protection Agency and OSHA. OSHA requires at least 2 personnel be present before an interior attack can be made on a fire. A standby team of 2 personnel must also be present. They should be able to respond within an 8-minute time frame. The Chief noted that South Burlington "first-in" people arrive within 8 minutes; however, the next wave of support is difficult to achieve within that time frame. A member of the Fire Department noted that a fire doubles in size every minute while they are still waiting to assemble an adequate number of people. Mr. Hafter added that if an ambulance is on another call, the Fire Dept. is short of people. A Firefighter noted that at one house fire, 2 people showed up because the other vehicles were on a medical rescue. Chief Brent added that as numbers increase, this will happen more and more often. He stressed that improper staffing immediately affects every aspect of the fire attack. The Chief noted that adequate staffing would limit the number of "cross-district" responses and allow engines to remain in service in their district. The Chief also stressed that inadequate staffing is one of the most frequent causes of firefighter deaths and injuries. In recent years, the Fire Department has gotten $900,000 in grants for equipment, but they have gotten none for personnel. The Chief noted that one out of every 8 calls is a "simultaneous" call. This limits the ability to respond to the second call. The South Burlington Fire Department is the second busiest in Vermont. Burlington got 5721 calls in 2006 and their daily staffing is 24/20. South Burlington, which got 2433 calls, has a daily staffing of 7/6. The protected value of Burlington property is $5,193,111,086. The protected value of South Burlington property is $4,157,528,348. The SAFER grant would provide money to help fire departments increase the number of trained frontline personnel. It is a 5-year "buy-down" program. Chief Brent noted that the Bush administration proposed zero funding of the SAFER program for 2008. Chief Brent reviewed the 7 tasks to be performed simultaneously at every structure fire: a. command b. fire suppression c. search/rescue d. ventilation e. water supply f. rapid intervention g. safety The Chief then showed pictorially how an increase of 6 firefighters (2 per shift) would staff a fire incident and would allow for search/rescue personnel. Three per shift would add a second hose line for protection. The Chief reviewed federal/local cost sharing including outfitting for gear/uniforms for scenarios of adding 3, 6 or 9 firefighters. He also reviewed projected overtime savings because they wouldn?t be calling personnel back from off-duty so often. The Chief also reviewed tax implications for the average condo or single family home: For 6 firefighters in year 1 condo: $6.24 single family: $9.48 5 30.50 46.45 For 9 firefighters in year 1 condo: $10.40 single family: $15.80 5 47.00 71.42 Firefighter Corbin noted that this study was a very joint collaboration effort with the Department and the City. He stressed that the Fire Department is now "bare bones" at a fire in the first few minutes. Mr. Hafter said one way to fund this is to build it into the budget. Another would be to go to the voters is a special ballot item. In the latter instance, they would use the same model for the ballot item as with the highway item a few years ago. Mr. Magowan felt he would go for a ballot item for 9 firefighters in order to get the training in place quickly. Mr. Hafter said from a management point of view he felt the city needs 9 firefighters but he recommended going for 6 and then the additional 3 when the grant is available again. Chief Brent cited the huge efficiency dividends from training the Department recent 8 new replacement people all at one time. He also noted that the closer they get to meeting recommendations for personnel, the higher point score they get for the grant. He felt 9 was the best answer. Firefighters said they would be there to get the message to the public. Members were not comfortable with 9 based on budget considerations and the cumulative effect of this and other needs (e.g., police station, City Hall repairs, etc.). Chief Brent noted that the new Farrell St. neighborhood generated 95 calls in 2005, 96 in 2006, and is already at 96 in August of 2007. Bob O?Brien, a South Burlington resident who is also a Burlington Firefighter, said he would be happy to spend money to fund this. He added that even with 9 additional firefighters, the Department would still be grossly understaffed. Mr. Magowan said he appreciated the concern for the cumulative affect, but he felt there is a critical need in the Fire Department. He said the City Council has been remiss about this because of Act 60. He felt the City has spent money very responsibly, but it has under spent. He added that at some point, somebody will die, and that is not what anyone wants. He felt the City should begin communicating with the public at the Fire Department Open House. Mr. Magowan moved to direct Chief Brent and the City Manager to make an application to SAFER for 9 additional firefighter/EMT?s. Mr. Boucher seconded. After some discussion, the motion maker and seconder accepted a friendly amendment to reduce the number to 6 additional firefighter/EMT?s. In the vote that followed on the amended motion, the motion was approved unanimously. Chief Brent invited the Council and all residents to the Department Open House on 9 September. As there was no further business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned at 8:25 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.