Agenda - Council - 08/13/2013 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Ramsey, Nowthen, St. Francis, Oak Grove, and Bethel, Minnesota Feasibility Study for Shared or Cooperative Fire and Emergency Services Governing bodies should pursue the process of joining two or more fire departments only after concluding that unification is cost-effective and is likely to provide better and/or more efficient service to the public. Each agency's legal counsel should research the particular statutory steps necessary to implement a particular unification strategy. The different processes are not commonly difficult to accomplish, but because the transfer of public assets and liabilities may be involved, the procedure itself can be relatively precise. It is important, therefore, that the agencies have the benefit of competent legal advice throughout the process. The decision to choose one unification strategy over another is a matter of local policy. Mast often, officials choose a preferred course for analytical reasons; however, in certain cases politics or law may rule. Most states actively support cooperation between governments as a matter of policy in the interest of furthering the economy and efficiencies of local government. Generally, functional and operational strategies are always available as options, whereas the legal unification of fire departments is dependent an circumstance. As discussed in further detail in the body of this report, statutory allowances to accommodate various forms of merger and consolidation are limited in Minnesota Law and, to achieve some forms of unification, legislative action is necessary to provide the authority to do so. To accomplish a true legal unification, one group of Minnesota communities had to petition the legislature for a special law that created the state's first independent fire district with taxing authority. They were successful in doing so, as is explained in the General Partnering Strategies section of this report. While the last section of the report evaluates and presents the potential for combining the study departments into one or more new and larger agencies, ESCI understands that cooperative efforts and shared services can take on a much different look. As mentioned previously, there are various methods by which to cooperate between departments and improve the overall efficiency of the organizations within a given region. Various functional shared services options that two or more departments may participate in to gain efficiencies of scale were evaluated and include: • Enhanced Mutual and Automatic Aid Agreements • Development of Uniform Pre -Incident Planning Processes • Implementation of Regional Incident Command and Operational Supervision • Combining Administrative and Support Services • Developing a Shared Health and Safety Program page 6 iQrne rpm), Services Consufnng