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 workload; rather, human activities tend to be the linchpin that connects people to requests for emergency assistance. For example, if residential population actually determined emergency workload, emergencies would peak when population was highest within a geographic area. However, in many communities where the residential population is highest from about midnight to about 6:00 a.m. (bedroom communities), that time is exactly when the demand for emergency response is lowest. It turns out that emergency demand is highest when people are involved in the activities of daily life — traveling, working, shopping, and recreating. Often, the persons involved in such activities do not reside in the same area. Consider: The residential population of partially covered areas can sometimes be estimated by using the GIS13 mapping capability now maintained by most counties. By counting the residential households within the area in question, then applying demographic estimates of persons per household, it may be possible to reach a relatively accurate estimate of population within the area in question. Alternately, residential population can be estimated by using information obtainable from some public utility districts by tallying residential electrical meters within a geographic area and then multiplying by the persons per household. Some areas experience a daily or seasonal influx of people who are not counted as residential population. This transient population can be estimated by referring to traffic counts, jobs data, hotel/motel occupancy rates, and, in some cases, state or national park administrators. Residential population plus transient population is referred to as functional population. Where functional population is significantly different from residential population, service agreements based on population should be adjusted to account for it. Multiple -Variable Allocation Frequently, even though everyone may agree on the benefit of allied fire protection, officials find it difficult to reach an agreement with regard to costs and the allocation of those costs. The differences between community demographics and/or development, along with changes that occur within the system over the long term, can cause the perception of winners and losers. This can be especially gs Graphic Information Systems r •� Emergeney Servi cea ConaWcing page 93