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02 City Council Minutes 8-10-04MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING August 10, 2004 The City Council of the City of Paris met in Special Session at 9:00 a.m., Tuesday, August 10, 2004, at the Love Civic Center, North Hall, 2025 S. Collegiate Drive, Paris, Texas. Mayor Fendley called the meeting to order with the following Council members present: Jim Bell, Jay Guest, Mary Ann Fisher, Don Wilson, and Karen Wilkerson. Also present were Interim City Manager Terry Townsend, City Attorney Larry Schenk and Asst. City Clerk Sherian Dixon. Mayor Fendley called for consideration, discussion and possible action on the proposed 2004-2005 City Budget. Fire Chief Ronnie Grooms came forward and gave the Council a handout of the summary of the Fire Department Budget, which gave explanations for the line items on his budget changes. Chief Grooms said that the proposed reduction of three firefighters would cut services, as well as the quality of those services provided. He suggested that cuts could be found in other areas in order to keep personnel, if possible. Councilman Bell mentioned he was concerned about the loss of control in the overtime budget. He related that other department heads have said they would find cuts in the budget to keep personnel and he would like to see the Fire Chief do that. Councilwoman Fisher said in the budget, that the department was using a lot of overtime already and figured that there would be even more overtime used if these personnel were cut. Chief Grooms said there were some things in the budget that were not in his control but because of the need to keep minimum staffing, they would have to use overtime to do that. He explained that there is no law for minimum City Council Meetrng August 10, 2004 Page 2 staffing, but the NFPA has guidelines and recommendations. He said he has already expended 88% of his overtime budget this year for a total of $247,345.00, year to date. Mayor Fendley asked if sick leave was the driving factor for so much overtime or was it continuing education. Chief Grooms cited sick leave as one of the many factors that affect sick leave. He said there are different variables that drive up overtime, such as sickness, injuries and training. Councilmen Bell mentioned that the Fire Department recently conducted training for drivers and wondered, since some of the men were called in to do that on their days off and some of the men had been drivers for twenty years, wasn't there a better way to do this. He suggested several different ways this could be addressed, such as video training or bringing in the teacher on overtime while the drivers were on duty. Councilman Bell reminded Chief Grooms and the Council that the last Council had told Chief Grooms that he needed to come forward with a plan to reduce overtime and instead, he came forward with an increase. Councilman Bell agreed with Councilwoman Fisher that it wasn't doing any good to take money off of salaries and add it to overtime. Chief Grooms said there was a perceived need by personnel, because of a wreck, for this training. Councilman Bell asked that overtime and personnel cuts be discussed after they went through the Fire Department budget, line item by line item. Chief Grooms said Food for Humans could be taken down from $1000.00 to $300.00. He explained they use this to feed personnel on scene at a large fire and also to buy water and gatorade. Chief Grooms explained that wearing apparel is dependent on the number of employees he has and if the number of personnel is reduced that line item City Council Meetrng August 10, 2004 Page 3 would be reduced accordingly. Chief Grooms said they have been reducing the nonessential use of apparatus and that has reduced the mileage and gas usage. He said they are currently using a little less than $1000.00 on fuel and he felt that line item could be reduced to $12,000.00, but reminded them this was dependent on the price of gas. Chief Grooms said if the City loses the garage, that will increase the amount he spends on maintenance and repairs. He said they helped send Shawn Bishop to school so he could work on their vehicles and that was a tremendous service for the Fire Department. Councilman Wilson asked if any local mechanics could work on the Fire trucks. Chief Grooms indicated there were some local providers that could do some of the mechanic work, but not all of what they need. In Minor Apparatus, Chief Grooms said he reduced computers from $3000.00 to $1500.00. Chief Grooms said when the Council decided against funding the SCBA replacement earlier this year, it put constraints on the department to make allocations for replacements of the SCBA equipment until they could do a full scale change over. He said they were going to apply for a FEMA grant to help with the change over. He said there will be a date when they will have to change to the new equipment completely. Chief Grooms said he would like to leave the Sigtronic Intercom for the E-3s in the budget, if possible. He explained these were headsets that gave the firemen better communication capabilities on the way to a fire. Councilman Wilson suggested taking the $3500.00 for those headsets out of the SCBA line item or the fire hose line item. Chief Grooms said it would be better out of the fire hose account. It was the consensus to delete the Sigtronic Intercom line item. City Council Meetrng August 10, 2004 Page 4 He said they could do without the Fire hose testing pump for $1850.00.On replacement truck radios, Chief Grooms decided it could be cut to $1300.00 at the suggestion of the Council. He also felt they could cut the Res-Q-Jacks stabilizing system. He felt he could reduce replacement hand tools to $1000.00. He suggested he could take out $4700.00 for the Homotro 3040NCT Cutter since they had three smaller cutter and two larger cutters already. That reduced the Minor Apparatus from $87,200.00 to $69,600.00. On Chemical Medical, Fire Chief Grooms said he could reduce that to $4500.00. He suggested reducing Other Supplies to $4500.00. He explained that Travel Expenses are directly connected to Training. He said he could reduce Travel to $5000.00. Chief Grooms felt publications could be reduced to $200.00 since they were getting some duplicates in their magazines. He said they were trying to be more frugal in their use of electricity and felt they could probably reduce the Utilities-Electricity line item to $30,000.00. He also related that they could reduce Associations to $1000.00. On Utilities-Water & Gas, he said he had reviewed that and felt they could reduce that by $4000.00. Fire Chief Grooms explained that they tried to provide continuing training for Fire Department personnel and some of that cannot be done in-house. He said that they either have to be sent off for some of the training or bring teachers in to provide the training. He said it was recommended to him to cut the Fire Marshal's Conference at $1500.00 and he also cut the IFSTA Books at $1250.00. Chief Grooms said the line item for Emergency Vehicle Training was questionable. He explained that was money he was using to get more training for Shawn Bishop in the garage to work on their fire vehicles. He said if they City Council Meetrng August 10, 2004 Page 5 cut the garage, then, possibly, they could use that money to train someone in their department to work on the vehicles. The Council decided to come back and review that item later. During the discussion of training expenses, Councilman Bell asked if the overtime that was used for training could be tracked and, then, put in the training budget. He explained it would be easier to manage overtime, knowing how much was used for training and how much was used to cover someone on sick leave. Mayor Fendley asked how much time was used for sick leave this year. Chief Grooms said he had his training officer do a study of the amount of sick leave used by each individual. He did not have it with him, but said he would get a copy to the Council members. Chief Grooms said they could either back the sick leave out of the overtime budget or start tracking the overtime now. Finance Director Anderson said that not all overtime is for sick leave or training. He mentioned that they call people in on overtime for big fires, vacations and then, there are some who work fifty-six hours (56) in their cycle and anything over fifty-three (53) hours is overtime. Chief Grooms said some overtime was inevitable and was caused by scheduling and this was mandated by law. Councilman Bell said the Council needed to know how much of the Fire Department overtime was due to sick leave, how much was due to scheduling and how much was due to training. He felt they needed to know that to see what was driving the overtime and how it could be managed. Chief Grooms said he would get with Finance Director Anderson and come up with those figures. On Buildings and Grounds, Permanent Property, Chief Grooms said he was cutting the $17,000.00 he had put in the budget to complete Phase 2 of a project they started this year at Station 3 on Bonham Street. He explained that City Council Meetrng August 10, 2004 Page 6 they just completed Phase I by repouring the front drive way, which was in great disrepair. He said they could do Phase 2 some other time. He said Station 3 had more first responder calls than any station in the city. Fire Chief Grooms felt he could remove $1000.00 out of the radio maintenance item. Chief Grooms called the Council's attention to the chart that he had included for maintenance costs on his apparatuses and mentioned that it had risen tremendously over the past five years. He came to an average annual cost of $38,592.00 using the last five years' figures and suggested that the line item be $40,000.00, because they had not budgeted sufficient amounts in the past five years and there had been overruns. Councilman Bell asked which pieces of equipment were causing the overruns this year. Chief Grooms said a ladder truck incurred most of the cost and Engine 3 had a lot of repair work on it. Councilman Bell wanted to know how important that ladder truck was to the City. Chief Grooms said it was very important. He had a list of the buildings more than two stories in the City of Paris. He also mentioned that the ladder truck had its own pumper and can be a reserve pumper truck. Chief Grooms said the ladder truck responded to the Downtown area, the schools, the hospital and any two story structures. On the lease and rental of the copier, Chief Grooms felt that could be reduced to $2500.00. On a question from Councilman Wilson, Finance Director Anderson explained that in his department, when someone used the copier for personal copies, they paid five cents per copy. Councilman Wilson indicated that if one department is paying five cents for personal copies, then all departments should be paying that. Chief Grooms said he could reduce electronic data processing from $2000.00 City Council Meetrng August 10, 2004 Page 7 t0 $1000.00. Chief Grooms explained the discrepancy on the medical expenses from the proposed budget and his handout in medical expenses was because they had received a federal grant, since he produced that budget, to implementing the wellness-fitness program. He said this reduced the line item from $134,00.00 down to $12,103.00. Finance Director Anderson said he needed to know how much of that would be spent this year and how much next year, and there also had to be an offsetting revenue for that in the budget. On a question from Councilman Bell as to when we would have money in hand from that grant, Deputy Chief Steve Walters said the way he understands it, they have to send the invoices into FEMA and FEMA will award the money within three weeks. He said he was told that they award the money over a period of time. He explained that $81,000.00 was for all the physicals and the rest was to buy more exercise equipment to implement the wellness part of the program. Councilman Poston entered the Council room at 10:46 a.m. and took his seat. Councilman Wilson said it was critical to know what year we receive the grant in and he wanted to know how this was going to impact the 2004-05 budget. In Machinery, Tools and Equipment, Chief Grooms requested that a contingency be placed in the budget to do the SCBA transition, through a grant, for $195,000.00. Concerning the thermal imaging cameras, Councilman Wilson asked if they could only buy one this year. Chief Grooms felt that was logical and they could consider buying another one next year. Mayor Fendley asked that it would be easier track the grants if they were City Council Meetrng August 10, 2004 Page 8 separated out. Councilman Wilson said that if there was any way if they had to lay anyone off, could they hire a part-time fireman like a substitute, to come in and fill in for sick leave or possibly a pool of five or six people who are certified. He indicated this would help with the overtime. It was suggested that possibly retired firemen could do this, but it needed to be researched to find out the Civil Service regulations. Mayor Fendley asked, when the three new fire stations were built, was there a facility need study. He also asked if Paris could do without one station and still cover the City. Chief Grooms said there was a study done and it is tied into the ISO rating. He explained that the ISO recommends a 1% mile coverage and at the time, Paris did not have that. He said they covered the City with three stations for years, but the City has started growing and the Fire Department needed to grow to cover the expanded area. He explained that if they did away with a station, it would make their response times longer. On a question from Mayor Fendley about how much that would add to the response times, Chief Grooms said they would have to do some time trials. Councilman Poston asked which station had less calls. Chief Grooms indicated it was Station 4 near Paris High. Councilman Wilson agreed, citing the reason as not as many houses in that area. Chief Grooms said the Fire Stations are not only built for the area as it is now, but also for the future of that area. Councilman Wilson said the growth in population is out on Hwy. 195. Chief Grooms reminded him that the City also annexed property out near Sylvan and the Fire Stations were placed so they could cover all areas and still have a good response time. Councilman Bell asked Chief Grooms to check and see how the City of Texarkana was hiring certified Fire Fighters under Civil Service. Chief Grooms City Council Meetrng August 10, 2004 Page 9 related that the Fire Department tested for only certified Firefighters in the early 1980's and Civil Service lawyers said they were opening themselves up to liability. He said that even Civil Service evolves and that, possibly for their next text, they may be able to do that again. Councilman Wilson asked if the Firemen were in favor of being in Civil Service. Chief Grooms said he felt they did want to be in Civil Service. He felt it makes hiring practices fair. Councilman Wilson said that sometimes the test was very exclusionary and because of that, they weren't always getting the best person for the job. Chief Grooms said they were researching to see what exams are available. Councilman Poston asked Chief Grooms to look at what response time would be if the Bonham or Jefferson Road Fire Stations were shut down. Mayor Fendley said he wanted him to look at the cost savings, also. Chief Grooms said the Fire Department tried to respond to industry within four minutes and to residential within five minutes. He felt closing a station would hamper their ability to respond within those times. Mayor Fendley closed the open session for a break at 11:24 a.m. He reconvened in Open Session at 11:35 a.m. Mayor Fendley called for consideration of the EMS budget. Kent Klinkerman, director of the Paris EMS, directed the Council's attention to the handout on the current fiscal year's financial information. He noted that the projected income for this year was $1,807,000.00 and the proposed budget was $118,000.00 or 6.2% less. Mr. Klinkerman pointed out that some of the overtime was mandatory for out of town trips, to Dallas, Houston, Oklahoma City, etc. and they call personnel in for that. He said there is a potential for income every time one of the trucks City Council Meetrng August 10, 2004 Page 10 is moving. He said there is a direct correlation between the overtime and revenue number. Mr. Klinkerman said they have already used $159,601.00, which is 127% percent of what he had budgeted. He said they tried to guestimate on overtime usage, but with the new hospital system in place, there will be differences. He mentioned that he had increased the line item for Motor Vehicle - Gasoline because gas has gone up. He said they could eliminate batteries because the equipment was so sophisticated that they take the vehicles to the shop and they replace or fix everything. Mr. Klinkerman explained that Durable Equipment was for replacing the different computers in the field, at the stations and at the business office that needed replacing, as well as radio equipment. Mr. Klinkerman mentioned that he raised Chemical - Medical because the cost of fuel has impacted everything they buy. He said that year to date, they had spent $55,831.00, which makes them over budget. He said he orders most of his supplies over the internet to get the best prices. Mayor Fendley asked if he could use the hospital's purchasing group. Mr. Klinkerman explained that with McCuistion, they could, but with St. Joseph, they couldn't. He had not talked with Essence. He explained that they are getting a lot of things factory direct, which is very cheap, but he would check to see if he could get it through the hospital cheaper. Mr. Klinkerman said the line item for photographic could be eliminated. He said he increased Communications - Telephone, which included all the phones at all the stations, the phones at administration, all the cell phones on all the trucks, and connectivity for downloading to the server. Mr. Klinkerman said he was cutting the travel allowance by $2000.00, since no City Council Meetrng August 10, 2004 Page 11 one was going to the TML Conference.He said the Publications could be cut by $500.00. He explained that there was an increase in Associations because the state increased fees for Licensure. On Training and Education, it was suggested that he cut $2,000, because the year to date was only $3800.00. Mr. Klinkerman explained that it was down because of some grant money and it would be a gamble to count on that grant money, again. It was decided to go ahead with the cut. He said he increased the Buildings and Grounds because they have some roof issues at the Station on Lamar. Since he had only spent $120.00 this year on Furniture and Fixtures, which is basically repair and maintenance, it was decided to zero that account out. Mr. Klinkerman increased the Radio Maintenance account because they were already over budget for the year. He increased the Motor Vehicle Maintenance because they had already spent $22,000.00 in ten months. He explained that the ambulances are not sent to the City Garage. He did mention that he felt that had been no Worker's Comp injuries this year and that was due, in part, to the implementation of the Wellness Program. Mr. Klinkerman did mention there was no ambulance in this budget. He said they have seven ambulances that range in age from 1999 to 2004. He said they try to keep an ambulance seven years, but if they keep them long, they spend too much on maintenance. He said they would probably replace one next year, which will make it an eight-year replacement schedule. Councilman Wilson asked how much a non-emergency transfer to Dallas would cost. Mr. Klinkerman said it was a base rate of $220.00 plus $8.00 per loaded mile, meaning most trips would be a least $1000.00 or more depending on equipment needed during the trip. City Council Meetrng August 10, 2004 Page 12 Councilman Wilson asked how much Medicare would pay on that. Mr. Klinkerman reminded them this was mandated by Federal law. He said they would pay about $185.00 on the base rate and then they can balance bill the patient or the secondary insurance and the difference has to be written off. He said they were transitioning from a fee for service, which started in 2002, to a national fee schedule, which is overlaid with a regional fee schedule. He said there is a difference in reimbursement because Lamar is considered a rural county. He said, if they approve, Medicare allows about $6.50 per loaded mile. Mr. Klinkerman said about 46% of the EMS department income comes from Medicare, 9% comes from Medicaid, and 33% comes from private insurance. He explained that because of the allowables by Medicaid, he has positioned the charges above that so that reimbursements will continue to go up every year. Mr. Klinkerman asked that they not do away with the ambulance in the budget yet. He would like to figure the impact it would make to the budget and contract, first, and then bring those figures back to the CounciL It was agreed that he could bring that back to Council. Councilman Bell asked if he was asked to cut any personneL Mr. Klinkerman said he was not. He said his supervisors fill in as needed, while still supervising. He said they also use reserves. For the community outreach, they use a lot of volunteers as well. Mr. Klinkerman said the First Responder Program started in 1998. He mentioned he was a state-certified instructor for that and that Rick Browning is the lead instructor. He said there are 18 First Responder groups and they have trained about 120 people outside of the City limits for this. He said all paid personnel carry pagers and when there is an emergency, ten vehicles and 100-150 people can respond within thirty minutes. Councilman Bell commended him on the cooperative effort and asked Chief Ronnie Grooms of the Fire Department is he would like to comment. City Council Meetrng August 10, 2004 Page 13 Chief Grooms explained that, although all of the Mutual Aid agreements the Fire Department has had, have expired, they will still respond when they have personnel and equipment to respond. Councilman Wilson said we should have a formal agreement with the two Volunteer Fire Departments, who have stations located in the City limits, to back our departments and respond when we need them. Chief Grooms said that one of the problems with Mutual Aid is that you are bound by an agreement, whether you have the personnel and equipment available or not. Councilman Bell said that the EMS and the Fire Department were in the same department in most cities and wondered why they were separate in Paris. Mr. Klinkerman said that was set up in 1979. He said in Austin and Travis County, they researched to find the best patient care and found it was best with a separate EMS. Councilman Bell asked if the Fire Department can utilize volunteers or First Responders. He continued that there needs to be a spirit of cooperation between the City of Paris and the Volunteer Fire Departments. Chief Grooms said he needed to provide the Council with their Standard Operating Procedures as well as the Protocols for how they respond to emergencies. Councilman Bell was worried about the lack of fire hydrants on Hwy. 195 for fire coverage. City Engineer Shawn Napier said there were five or six fire hydrants on Hwy. 195, now. Mayor Fendley said they still need to discuss the budgets in Public Works and also the Health Department budget. It was decided to have budget meetings on Monday, August 16, 2004 from six to 9:00 p.m. and also on Tuesday, August 17, 2004 from six to 9:00 p.m. Mayor Fendley handed out the resignation of Interim City Manager Terry Townsend and indicated that he had gotten that yesterday. He said this would City Council Meetrng August 10, 2004 Page 14 need to be put on the next agenda. He said they would need to contact Chris Harding of the Waters Group to see how the search for a City Manager is coming along. Councilman Bell reminded everyone of the Senator Bill Ratliff's dinner on Thursday night, August 12tn There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. CURTIS FENDLEY, MAYOR APPROVED AS TO FORM: SHERIAN DIXON, ASST. CITY CLERK