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HomeMy WebLinkAboutVII(A) Approval and Authorization for the Mayor and City Clerk to Execute the Interlocal Agreement for Fire Dispatch Services between Orange County, Florida and the City of Ocoee City Manager Jim Gleason Agenda 02-17 -2004 Item VII A Commissioners Danny Howell, District 1 Scott Anderson, District 2 Rusty Johnson, District 3 Nancy J. Parker, District 4 Mayor S. Scott Vandergrift STAFF REPORT TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Commissioners FROM: Pete McNeil, Assistant Fire Chief DATE: February 9,2004 RE: Interlocal Agreement for Fire Dispatch Services between Orange County, Florida and the City Of Ocoee ISSUE The Ocoee Fire Rescue Department is requesting approval from the Ocoee City Commission for the Mayor and the City Clerk to execute the attached Interlocal Agreement for Fire Dispatch Services between Orange County, Florida and the City ofOcoee. This agreement has been reviewed and approved by our City Attorney to be presented to the Commission. BACKGROUNDIDISCUSSION This issue was presented to and discussed before the Commission during the January 20, 2004 regular commission meeting. At that time permission was granted unanimously to pursue the attached agreement. The following is a repeat of the background/discussion information from the January 20,2004 meeting's staffreport: Prior to 1998, the Orange County Fire Rescue Department provided fire and EMS dispatch services to the Ocoee Fire Rescue Department free of charge in exchange for utilizing Ocoee fire apparatus as needed in their jurisdiction. This system was found not to be beneficial for the City ofOcoee due to the over-utilization ofOcoee units in the county. In 1998 the Ocoee Police Department Communications Division assumed the duty of Ocoee fire and EMS dispatch. This was done without the appropriate addition of both personnel and training. Fire and EMS dispatch is uniquely different than police dispatch. The procedures, verbiage and frequency of calls are far different than that of police dispatch. The Ocoee Communications Division has made sincere attempts to meet our dispatch needs. However, to date, our needs are not being met. Even the addition of the approved two new communications personnel will not provide us with a dedicated fire dispatcher. The fire console operator continues to be utilized as the communications center call-taker and unintentional dispatch confusion is common. This is why Ocoee fire management and Ocoee I.A.F.F. Local 3623 would like approval to pursue a dispatch services contract with Orange County Fire Rescue. Dispatch services should not be confused with joint response. Orange County will only dispatch Ocoee units in the manner that we have programmed into the system. This will help prevent the potential over-utilization of our units as in the past. In addition, Orange County has recently added two fire stations to our western part of the county as well as Winter Garden adding one station. That will also help with the previous issue. However, it is our intent to also pursue an equitable fIre response agreement with both Orange County and Winter Garden to improve our efficiency and meet the response requirements ofNFP A 1710. Orange County proposes to provide Ocoee with the following services and benefits: . OCFRD would provide high quality fire and EMS dispatch. All of their personnel are trained exclusively for fire and EMS operations, are all certified in Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) and attend frequent training. . The City of Ocoee would gain the benefit of using expensive OCFRD systems and technology at a very low cost. These include access to their Computer Aided Dispatch System (CAD), Mobile Data Terminal System (MDT), Automatic Vehicle Location (A VL) system and Fire Station Alerting System (FSA). OCFRD funds the entire cost of the technology infrastructure, while the City ofOcoee only has to purchase the equipment for our individual vehicles and stations. . The City of Ocoee would enjoy faster responses from surrounding agencies, including fire and EMS resources from the City of Winter Garden and Orange County. Currently, there is an approximately two minute delay when Ocoee, Winter Garden or Orange County units are needed to respond into the other agency's area. . The City of Ocoee would not be billed for any dispatch services in the current fiscal year. The formula for cost sharing is always billed a year after the services are rendered. IfOCFRD assumes fire dispatch during this fiscal year, (FY 03-04), the first invoice would be sent in October of 2004 (FY 04-05) for a prorated amount. . The formula for fire dispatch is based on splitting the cost of dispatching between all participating cities. This means that the cities ofEatonville (now covered by Orange County), Maitland, Winter Garden and Ocoee all share in the payment plan. This results in a lower cost to each city for a very high quality service. . Any accepted contract will include an opt out clause that would allow the City of Ocoee to terminate the agreement with, or without, cause by giving Orange County eight months notice during the month January in each year. The following initial one-time and annual recurring costs are approximate and are based on fully equipping all fire apparatus and vehicles with MDTs and A VL. In addition the cost of a high- speed data connection line to the Orange County server is also included. According to Information Systems, this connection will also benefit other City ofOcoee departments that could utilize the connectivity with Orange County. Therefore, those associated costs could potentially be shared among participating departments. It should be noted that approximately $72,000 could be made available to help cover the start up costs from the unused FY 03-04 salaries ofthe two additional communications officers. (Some of these funds are now being used to cover the overtime deficit in Communications.) These positions will not be filled if we make the move to county dispatch. In addition the Communications Division has already exhausted their entire FY 03-04 overtime budget. As of today, they have paid $27,062 in overtime, which per Communications Manager Kathy Simanski, is directly related to dispatching for the Fire Department. Also, there is approximately a $3,000 per year EMS dispatch training expense currently incurred. The total of these known costs is $102,062. The approximate initial one-time start-up cost is $96,650. $36,600 (per Agreement, not to exceed $37,000) ofthis amount is for the alerting systems for the fire stations, which will be purchased, installed and maintained by Orange County. That amount will be deferred to FY 04- The estimated total annual cost for dispatch services including recurring costs is currently $113,825. However, based on a tentative start date of April 5,2004, the amount for the fIrst year will be prorated at approximately 50% and payable in October 2004 (FY 04-05). We will not incur a full year fee until October 2005 (FY 05-06). There are other advantages to the City ofOcoee that are relevant to this issue. If the over- burdening responsibility of dispatching for the Fire Department is removed from the City of Ocoee, the Communications Officers will be able to put 100% oftheir efforts towards police communications. This theoretically will increase the efficiency ofthe police communications. Thereby, increasing the safety of our Police Officers. Also, the stress level for the Communications Officers should be lowered by allowing them to focus on one type of dispatch. That may decrease the turnover rate and amount of unscheduled absences with-in the division. RECOMMENDATION The staff of the Ocoee Fire Rescue Department recommends approval from the Ocoee City Commission for the Mayor and the City Clerk to execute the lnterlocal Agreement for Fire Dispatch Services between Orange County, Florida and the City of Ocoee. INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT FOR FIRE DISPATCH SERVICES between ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA and CITY OF OCOEE THIS AGREEMENT is made and entered into, by and between ORANGE COUNTY, a charter county and political subdivision of the State of Florida ("County") and the CITY OF OCOEE, a municipal corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Florida ("City"). WIT N E SSE T H: WHEREAS, both the County and City provide fIre and rescue services from fIxed facilities which are geographically located to provide rapid response in case of emergency; and WHEREAS, the County currently operates and maintains an emergency communications facility capable of receiving and dispatching fIre and rescue units within City; and WHEREAS, the parties hereto recognize that it is desirable to enter into this Agreement to provide emergency communications services for the benefit of both agencies, more particularly described herein; and WHEREAS, this Agreement is for the benefit of the general public and is authorized by and entered into pursuant to law. NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual promises, terms and conditions contained herein and other good and valuable consideration, it is agreed by and between the County and City as follows: Section 1. Purpose and Intent of the Agreement. The purpose and intent of this Agreement is to outline the delivery of fire and rescue dispatch services through a coordinated system. More specifically, this Agreement outlines specific services and costs related to the provision of emergency communications between the County and City. Section 2. Standard Services. The County agrees to provide the following services to City: a. Answer 911 calls transferred from the City or third party for fire and Emergency Medical Service (EMS). b. Provide Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) pre-arrival medical instructions to callers needing aid, as well as categorizing EMS calls into nationally recognized severity levels. c. Receive and process incoming ten-digit telephone calls for emergency service, including notifications for automatic fire alarms and joint response, automatic aid, and mutual aid. d. Provide dispatch alerting to City fire department utilizing County fire station alerting system and Orange County 800 Mhz radio system. e. Provide differential response patterns for the City, allowing the City to dictate the number and type of emergency units that should be deployed on each type of emergency call in their City. f. Utilize the Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) system and Automatic Vehicle Location (A VL) infrastructure. g. Provide automatic notification to chief offIcers of the City fire department using Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system paging program. h. Prepare statistical reports on service delivery and performance for City units. i. Provide Monthly Data export of all activity involving City fIre units. j. Provide copies of records and audiotapes as needed or requested. k. Appoint a designated liaison to work with the City on dispatch issues. I. Supervise all 911 functions, call taker and dispatcher assignments. m. Provide comprehensive quality assurance function of all aspects of the dispatch system. n. Attend regular meetings with the City to share information and provide feedback on dispatch services. Section 3. Supplemental/Optional Services. The City may elect, at any time during this Agreement,'to purchase those supplemental services from the County that are listed in Attachment "A". Services purchased under Attachment "A" are considered "services" and the County shall purchase and retain custody of all actual equipment and devices used to provide the service. Upon termination of this Agreement, the City shall not be entitled to any of the equipment or devices purchased by the County, unless otherwise negotiated and documented in the associated Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU). County and City agree that County will purchase and install "First In" Fire Station Alerting hardware from WestNet Corporation in each of the City's three fire stations at a cost not to exceed $ 37,000. City shall review and approve equipment specifications prior to purchase by County. County will provide City with an itemized invoice listing the equipment purchase price and installation cost. City agrees to repay the County the full cost of the Fire Station Alerting system. The full cost for Fire Station Alerting infrastructure will be included in the invoice for dispatch services sent to the City on October 1,2004. Section 4. Services Not Covered or Provided. City agrees that the following services and fees are the responsibility of the City, except for any supplemental services purchased pursuant to Section 3 of this Agreement. a. Purchase of Fire Station Alerting equipment in each City fire station. b. Payment for dedicated dispatch circuit linking County dispatch center to each City fire station, for the purpose of installing a station alert printer, if desired. c. Payment for pagers to be carried by City fire and rescue personnel, which are coded to receive automatic alerts from the County CAD system. d. Purchase of MDT and A VL in-vehicle equipment, leased airtime, software license and maintenance costs for City units. e. Purchase of mobile and portable radios for use by City units. Section 5. Term of Agreement and Termination. This is a four-year Agreement for the provision of dispatch service, commencing with a prorated fiscal year beginning AprilS, 2004 and terminating with the completion of the fiscal year ending September 30, 2007. Either entity may elect to terminate this Agreement, with or without cause, by giving written notice to the other party using the timeframes identified below: To Terminate Agreement in Fiscal Year beginning: October 1,2005 October 1,2006 Termination Notice Must be Sent No Later Than: January 31, 2005 January 31, 2006 Section 6. Compensation. For Fiscal Year One of this Agreement (4/5/04 - 9/30/07), the City shall pay the County a sum not to exceed $47,430 as compensation for the Standard Services listed in Section 2 of this Agreement. The cost allocation for the remaining years of this Agreement shall be determined using the formula listed in Section 7. Any additional services purchased under Section 3 of this Agreement will be added to the cost allocated to City. The County shall invoice the City on October 1st of each year for all dispatch services and optional services rendered during the prior fiscal year. City shall make payment within thirty (30) days of receipt of invoice or be subject to interest provided for under the Florida Prompt Payment Act. Section 7. Standard Services Cost Formula. The following formula shall be used to calculate the costs for services identified in Section 2 of this Agreement for Fiscal Years Two, Three, and Four. The formula for cost allocation shall be as follows: Each January, the County shall total the number of calls for service occurring in the prior calendar year for all cities receiving fire dispatch services from the County through an interlocal agreement (hereinafter defmed as "Participating Cities"). A "call for service" is defined as an emergency or non-emergency request for fire or EMS response within the municipal limits of a city, which results in at least one fire, rescue, or EMS unit arriving on the scene of the incident. The County shall calculate the percentage of municipal cal1s for all Participating Cities and apply that percentage to the cost for dispatcher salaries. For example, if City "A" had forty percent of the calls for service among al1 Participating Cities, then City "A" would pay forty percent of the dispatcher salaries. The dispatch system base cost shall be set in this Agreement to represent the entry level salary and fringe benefits for eight (8) dispatcher positions. Each dispatcher position is al10cated a cost of $45,000 in Year I of this Agreement. This incremental employee cost shal1 increase by three percent each Fiscal Year throughout the life of this Agreement This formula would be recalculated to acknowledge the addition of other Participating Cities. Eight dispatcher positions shal1 be considered adequate staffing until the combined calls for service level in al1 Participating Cities exceeds 20,000 alarms. In this event, four additional dispatcher positions wil1 be added for each increment of ten thousand cal1s for service being handled by the County on behalf of the Participating Cities. All employees hired under this Agreement are employees of the County and it is not the intent of this Agreement to differentiate between employees assigned'to perform County functions versus City functions. Costs for service are determined in January of each year to coincide with the City's budget planning process. The actual invoice for dispatch service will be sent eight months later, on October I of the fol1owing fiscal year in which service was rendered. Attachment "B" shows an example of how costs are allocated using this formula. Fiscal Year One cost allocations for this Agreement are set at a cost not to exceed $ 47,430. These costs will be lowered if additional Participating Cities sign dispatch service agreements. Section 8. User Advisory Committee. A User Advisory Committee shall be formed, which will include a designated representative from County, Participating Cities, and those other entities that receive dispatch services from the County. This committee shall make recommendations regarding policy and operational procedures, as well as recommending standards of service and performance goals. The User Advisory Committee shall meet at least quarterly, or upon the request of any member. Section 9. Contlict Resolution. The County intends to work closely with City to resolve any dispatch issues or service performance conflicts, which may arise out of this Agreement. Formal conflict resolution shall use the following procedure: Step 3. City's designated liaison shall discuss the issue with the County's Fire Communications designee, who shall provide a written response within three (3) business days. If City is not satisfied with the response, the City may appeal the decision, within five (5) business days of receipt of the response, to the County's Deputy Chief of Fire Communications who shall provide a written response within three (3) business days. If City is not satisfied with the decision of the Deputy Chief of Fire Communications, City may appeal within five (5) business days of receipt of the response, to the County Fire Chief who shall provide a written response in five (5) business days. The decision of the County Fire Chief shall be considered final. Step 1. Step 2. Failure to adhere to the time period for appeal shall constitute waiver of any right to appeal. Section 10. Implementation Plan. Staff from County Fire Rescue and City Fire Rescue will negotiate and implement specific operational procedures and policies unique to City's operations. Section 11. Amendments and Waivers. This Agreement may not be amended, modified, altered, or changed in any respect whatsoever, except by an amendment in writing duly executed by the parties hereto. No failure by the parties to insist upon the strict performan~e of any covenant, duty, agreement or condition of this Agreement or to exercise any right or remedy upon a breach thereof shall constitute a waiver of any such breach or a future breach of any other covenant, agreement, term or condition. Anyone the parties hereto, by notice, may waive any of its rights or any conditions to its obligations hereunder, or any duty, obligation, covenant or breach of any other party hereto. No waiver shall affect or alter this Agreement but every covenant, agreement, term and condition of this Agreement shall continue in full force and effect with respect to any other then existing or subsequent duty, obligation, covenant or breach thereof. Section 12. Notices. Any notice which may be pennitted or required hereunder shall be in writing and shall be deemed to have been duly given as of the date and time the same are personally delivered, transmitted electronically (i.e. facsimile device) or within three (3) days after depositing with the Uniteq States Postal Service, postage prepaid by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, or within one (1) day after depositing with Federal Express or other overnight delivery service from which a receipt may be obtained, and addressed as follows: Orange County: County Administrator 201 South Rosalind A venue Post Office Box 38 Orlando, Florida 32802 Telephone: 407-836-7370 Facsimile: 407-836-7395 Copy to: Chief Carl Plaugher Fire Rescue Department 6590 Amory Court P.O. Box 5879 Winter Park, Florida 32793 Telephone: 407-836-9112 Facsimile: 407-836-9128 City: Ocoee City Manager 150 N. Lakeshore Dr. Ocoee, FL 34761 Telephone: 407-905-3100 Facsimile: 407-656-5725 Copy to: Ron Strosnider Ocoee Fire Chief 125 N. Bluford Avenue Ocoee, FL 34761 Telephone: 407-905-3140 Facsimile: 407-656-1222 Section 13. Disclaimer of Third Party Beneficiaries. This Agreement is solely for the benefit of the parties hereto. No right, remedy, cause of action or claim shall accrue by reason hereof to or for the benefit of any third party who is not one of the parties executing this Agreement. Section 14. Assignment of Interest. This Agreement may not be assigned, in whole or in part, by any of the parties hereto without the express written consent of the other party. Section 15. Severability. This Agreement is intended to be perfonned in accordance with and only to the extent pennitted by all applicable laws, ordinances, rules and regulations. If any provision of this Agreement or the application thereof to any person or circumstance shall, for any reason and to any extent, be invalid or unenforceable, the remainder of this Agreement and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby but rather shall be enforced to the greatest extent pennitted by law. Section 16. Entire Agreement. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement of the parties hereto, and no representations, inducements, promises or agreements, oral or otherwise, between the parties not embodied herein shall be of any force or effect. This Agreement supercedes and cancels all previous written and oral agreements and communications relating to the subject matter of this Agreement. Section 17. Recordation. The parties agree that this Agreement shall not be recorded in the official records of Orange County, Florida, or the public records of any other county in the State of Florida. Section 18. Individual Liability. All covenants, stipulations, obligations and agreements of the parties hereto contained herein shall be deemed to be those of such party to the full extent authorized by the Constitution and the laws of the State of Florida. No covenant, stipulation, obligation or agreement contained herein shall be deemed that of any member, agent or employee of such party in his or her individual capacity, and no member, agent or employee of any party shall be personally liable hereunder or subject to any personal liability or accountability by reason hereof. Section 19. Captions and Headings. Captions and headings at the beginning of articles and paragraphs are for convenience only and do not add to nor subtract from the meaning of each article and paragraph. Section 20. Construction of Agreement. \ This Agreement is the result of mutual negotiations between the parties hereto and all parties have contributed substantially and materially to the preparations hereof. Accordingly, this Agreement shall not be construed more strictly against either party. Section 21. Attorneys' Fees. In the event of any dispute hereunder or of any action to interpret or enforce this Agreement, any provision hereof or any matter arising here from, each party shall be responsible for their own attorneys' fees and costs. Section 22. Effective Date. This Agreement shall be deemed effective on April 5, 2004. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed and delivered this instrument on the date indicated below. COUNTY: ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA By: Board of County Commissioners By: RICHARD T. CROTTY, Chairman Attest: Martha O. Haynie, County Comptroller As Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners By: Deputy Clerk Date: ,2004 CITY: CITY OF OCOEE By: S. Scott Vandergrift, Mayor ATTEST: By: Jean Grafton, City Clerk (SEAL) FORUSEANDREL~NCEONLYBY THE CITY OF OCOEE, FLORIDA; APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY this day of ,2004 APPROVED BY THE OCOEE CITY COMMISSION AT A MEETING HELD ON ,2004 UNDER AGENDA ITEM NO. FOLEY & LARDNER By: City Attorney Attachment "A" The following supplemental/optional services are provided by the County and may be purchased by City. These additional costs will be added to the cost of services identified in Section 2 and will be billed to the City in October of each year, for tpe preceding fiscal year. 1. Mobile Data Terminal software license 2. Mobile Data Terminal maintenance/replacement 3. Mobile Data Terminal airtime 4. Fire Station Alert printing 5. Fire Station Alert system infrastructure 6. Fire Station Alert pagers Cost for these services shall be the negotiated by County and City staff and shall reflect the actual or prorated cost of the equipment or service being provided plus an administrative fee to cover the cost of coordinating the service. The County will provide an itemized service agreement and invoice to the City to fully document the services requested and the negotiated cost. Attachment "B" This attachment is for the purpose of providing an example of how the cost allocation formula listed in Section 7 of this Agreement is calculated. The example below demonstrates how costs were assigned in Fiscal Year One of this Agreement. In January of2003, all calls for service that occurred in calendar year 2002 were totaled for each City. The County then determined what percentage of calls each City handled compared to all cities receiving County dispatch service. The $ 360,000 cost for eight dispatcher salaries is initially reduced by $ 54,000 to reflect a fixed dispatch service payment made by the City of Eaton vi lIe. Subtracting the Eatonville payment leaves a balance of$ 306,000 to be assigned to the participating cities. That dollar value is then allocated back to each City using their assigned percentage. Eight dispatcher positions are needed based on national standards for fire service communications. Calls For Service & Cost Allocation Calendar Year 2002 Call Volumes with Arrival Times Ocoee, Winter Garden, Maitland City Calls for Service Ocoee 1,867 Maitland 2,001 Winter Garden 2,153 TOTAL 6,021 0/0 of Calls 310/0 33% 36% 100% Salary Allocation $ 94,860 $ 100,980 $110,160 $ 306,000 Dispatcher Salary + Fringe is set at $45,000 for Year 1 of the Agreement. (Includes: base salary, EMT incentive pay, Shift Differential, FICA, Florida State Retirement system contribution, and County Health Insurance). $ 45,000 x 8 dispatcher positions equals $ 360,000. These dispatcher salary costs will be increased by 3% each year, starting in Year 2 of the Agreement, to account for anticipated inflation and employees service cost increases: Fiscal Year 1 Dispatcher Cost Fiscal Year 2 Dispatcher Cost Fiscal Year 3 Dispatcher Cost Fiscal Year 4 Dispatcher Cost $ 360,000 $ 370,800 $ 381,924 $393,381