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Home My WebLink About2017-09-29 Eric Johnson Email Re BFD Chief Ltr & Extension of Services Julie Hultman From: Eric Johnson Sent: Friday, September 29, 2017 3:03 PM To: Daniel Parks; Hoey, Phil Cc: Scott Richards (Scott@planningco.com) Subject: HyVee - Extension of Services - Capacity Attachments: Letter to BFD- Chief Eisingner- Extension of Services - 9-26-17.pdf 9/29/17 Gentlemen, As we discussed, firm knowledge of fire and emergency services capacity would need to be further vetted—should an application for annexation and/or development proceed with Oak Park Heights. At this stage—I have reached out to our provider for a preliminary review as outlined in our local fire services agreement,AND based on the concept plans submitted—the City does not have firm commitment from the Bayport Fire Department that your proposed site and plan could be provided emergency services—such as fire and first responder as current forces are at CAPACITY. Recall,the City purchases its services from our neighboring City -- Bayport -and is a four community partnership—made up of an ALL VOLUNTEER FORCE. Should you decide to further this process and seek annexation,further studies will be necessary(third party) and would largely be at the Developer's expense. Perhaps such as STUDY would provide some assurance to our Contracting Fire Department that it could be handled; or perhaps there are other financial commitments that could be made to secure these services from another community —we do not know these probabilities,costs or their legal underpinnings. I did however want you to know this promptly as you continue your analysis that it too is something that needs to addressed. Kind Regards Eric From:Allen Eisinger Sent:Thursday,September 28, 2017 6:06 AM To: Eric Johnson <eajohnson@cityofoakparkheights.com> 1 Cc: Adam Bell Subject: RE: Letter to BFD-Chief Eisinger- Extension of Services-9-26-17.pdf Eric, thank you for letting us know of the proposed extension of services. As I have mentioned Bayport Fire Department is the busiest all Volunteer Fire Department in the State of Minnesota with no fulltime or part-time staff(2016 call volume 1,280) How the extension of services would affect the Bayport Fire Department response/service agreement is a difficulty question to answer, as the Department may be approaching the maximum amount of call response in an all-volunteer model and would this additional service extension push the membership to its limit on a volunteer model? I would like to see a third party look at how the extension of service affected the Fire Department. How Bayport Fire compares to neighboring Departments that have between 1- 11 full time staff. Lower St. Croix Valley has 1 full time Chief and responds to 400 or so call per year. Lake Elmo has 1 full time Chief and 5 part-time staff and responds to 400 calls per year. In 2000 Bayport responded to 432 calls with a staff of 23 or so and in 2016 we responded to 1,280 call with a staff of 23. I am very proud of the members of the Bayport Fire Department to be able to accommodate the large increase in call volume, when neighboring departments have had to switch to full time and part-time staff we have remained with the all-volunteer staff. Would extension of services create a situation that Bayport firefighter no longer have the bandwidth to handle the call in a volunteer model needs further assessment by a company with experience in forecasting/planning of city services. Let me know if you have any questions. Sincerely, Allen 2 flP14. City of Oak Park Heights 14168 Oak Park Blvd. N•Box 2007•Oak Park Heights,MN 55082•Phone(651)439-4439•Fax(651)439-0574 9/25/17 TO: Mr.Allen Eisinger, Fire Chief- Bayport Fire Department Via email only: aeisinqerci.bayport.mn.us RE: Possible Annexation Area—Fire Services Agreement Dear Chief Eisinger: The City has been approached by property owners lying west of the City—see the attached early very early-concept map-to consider an annexation of+/-30 acres of lands for what appears to be commercial development—conceptually including a possible Hy-Vee, a gas station and other retail centers. Naturally, fire protection and related services are needed for all areas and Annexations were addressed in the 2015 Fire Services Agreement. Pursuant to that Fire Services Agreement—Section 8(i): "...fire services shall be extended to such annexed area, unless the Bayport Fire Chief determines that the Fire Department to be incapable of reasonably extending fire services."This means, in essence, that the BFD will be responsible for all typical calls to this area once annexed. However, if your office believes that your Department cannot reasonably provide this coverage,our City would request that your office please provide that position in writing along with the general rationale for such determination. While a formal application has not yet been submitted, the City does desire to give you advanced notice as to what might be forthcoming.Once an application may be submitted,we would need to have that clarification in a two to three- week timeframe. The City does understand that any annexation would have impacts on the Fair Share Formula as also outlined in Section 8(i) however these would be formulary decisions—Article 8(i) is attached as well. We look forward to discussing this project more as information becomes known and we thank you for your time. Kind Regards Eric Johnson City Administrator Cc: Adam Bell, Bayport City Administrator Scott Richards, TPC-City Planner 8. Annexation and Detachment. Subject to the requirements of this Section, any party to this Agreement may annex land into its corporate boundaries, and may have all or a portion of its land detached and added to another jurisdiction. (i) Annexation. Upon a party to this Agreement annexing additional property, such that the corporate boundaries of the party are extended beyond the area of service provided for as of the date of this Agreement, fire services shall be extended to such annexed area,unless the Bayport Fire Chief determines the Fire Department to be incapable of reasonably extending fire service. The newly annexed area will be included in the Variable Fair Share Formula allocated to such annexing party as of the date of the annexation as long as fire protection coverage is also extended. Each party shall promptly notify the Fire Department and the other parties to this Agreement of any planned annexations should these be reasonably anticipated. Once a party reaches the Maximum Variable Fair Share Cap at any time during this Agreement,any further annexations that include property receiving fire services will not be subject to the Cap,but will still he included in the Variable Fair Share Formula_ If an annexed area is not provided with fire services for any reason, it shall not be included in the Variable Fair Share Formula allocable to such party. For example, if a proposed annexation increases a party's Variable Fair Share Formula figure to 63%,the Maximum Variable Fair Share Cap shall also increase to 63%. Any further increases in the Variable Fair Share Formula not related to annexation will not be included,due to the Maximum Variable Fair Share Cap. , ". „..„. b' A 1 Mi f/ Zp ' ..,- ,,,f, - Silk • • :,T —„ f1.bKnss.1 t. Li 111*1 I Ilk .il' 11 40 ,. M A! �� '141 i I� I �r� 'CIti t j”' '.it- 1 Ii 1{i 1 I i b ' ! t. 1 y I � �i�S !I�� - 3 r5 it �tI I ` s1 1 {j: tri_ r 61. - G:. - 1