Laserfiche WebLink
II. Introduction <br />Process began in October 2011 with the cities of Nowthen, St Francis and Ramsey initiating <br />discussions. At first meeting it was decided to open discussions to a more regional group to include <br />Oak Grove and Bethel. Meetings began as monthly until February at which time the frequency was <br />expanded to 2 times per month. <br />Resolutions were passed by each community in October verbalizing goals: <br />• Provide basic city services in an efficient manner <br />• Working cooperatively across community borders <br />• Establish Joint Fire Study Group to look at the feasibility of a Shared Fire Service Group. <br />• Group would formally report back to all communities by April 1, 2012 with a recommendation to <br />the feasibility of the study. <br />Study Group was made up of the following from each community: <br />• Administrator <br />• Elected Official <br />• Fire Chief <br />• Member of respective fire dept. <br />Interviews of 5 established fire districts were made acquiring details how each were formed and <br />governed. Other details included the handling of capital (buildings and equipment), major <br />maintenance to buildings, merging of personnel, makeup of Governance Boards, how large <br />purchases were handled (vehicles, other capital) and who owned such assets, level of services <br />provided, who provides professional services (Finance, HR, etc.) Also researched was the availability <br />of grant opportunities for the feasibility studies through the State Fire Marshal's Office. <br />Group elected Mayor Jerry Tveit of St Francis as the group chair with Ramsey Councilmember Sarah <br />Strommen being elected as Vice Chair. <br />Guest speakers were invited to address the group. Nyle Zikmund of SBM (Spring Lake Park, Blaine, <br />Moundsview) and Scott Crandall of West Metro (New Hope and Crystal) both made detailed <br />presentations of their respective organizations. <br />A combined press release was created and released from all 5 communities. (See attachments) <br />Demographics of each community were generated and shared including: population, land mass, <br />valuation, Fire Dept. details, budget details. <br />Cost Share models were generated and details from each community were provided to run these <br />models using current budget numbers. An effort was made to refine each community's budget <br />numbers so that the cost share models would be comparing each community with like information. <br />2 <br />