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 Joint Powers Agreements (JPAs) are not uncommon in Minnesota and can serve as a valuable tool. State statutes authorize two or more municipal corporations to collaborate in exercising any power common to the municipalities and to provide a joint board representing the participating entities and overseeing administrative and management matters. In the case of fire protection for the Ramsey region, the existing contractual arrangements between Ramsey, Nowthen, and St. Francis could be expanded and reconfigured as JPAs to include the Cities of Oak Grove and Bethel, or a new entity could be created to provide oversight and governance to an entity that services the entire region. The advantage of a JPA in this instance is that each entity maintains autonomy regarding taxation and each retains the ability to withdraw from the agreement in the future. As is currently the practice in the study area, each participating entity would levy a tax in its own way and then contribute to the operations of the JPA as outlined in the enabling documents. No legislative approval is required for this type of agreement and the intergovernmental agreements created would define how the JPA was governed as well as how each participant is represented. While the fact that each entity maintains its autonomy can be considered advantageous, it may also be viewed as a drawback. Remaining as separate entities under a JPA, so that any participant can withdraw, lacks a long-term dedicated commitment to the JPA, making future planning and visioning more challenging. A prime example of this type of collaboration is the South Metro Fire Department (SMFD). SMFD (created in 2005) serves South St. Paul and West St. Paul and is the result of a full consolidation of both cities' fire departments. Another example is the Isanti Fire District that includes the City of Isanti and the townships of Athens, Bradford, Isanti, Oxford, Spender Brook, and Standford. In the region, the townships surrounding the City of Isanti felt as though their level of input and control over fire protection was limited by the existing agreement. In order to more equitably distribute control, the JPA was signed by all parties passing control over to a board of representatives rather than the City of Isanti. In most situations where two or more municipalities or quasi -governmental organizations enter into a shared services agreement through a JPA, the governing board consists of representatives from the participating agencies. Under the assumption that a single representative from each participating jurisdiction serves on the board of a newly created JPA, in this study area, the board would consist of Emergency Services :ur, •. Lung ,pope 85