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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRFA 2015-09-09 Minutesi CLtE of �c M x�oa MINUTES Regional Fire Authority Annexation Steering Committee September 9, 2015 Call to Order Co -Chair Verna Seal called the meeting to order at 1738 hours. Committee Members David Cline, City Administrator; Verna Seal, City Councilmember; Joe Duffie, City Councilmember; Moira Bradshaw, Senior Planner; Chris Flores, Tukwila Interim Fire Chief; Alan Codenys, Tukwila firefighter; Merle Brooks, Tukwila firefighter; Dawn Judkins, Captain, Union President of Tukwila firefighters; Jim Schneider, Chief KFDRFA; Mike Denbo, Commissioner, board member of KFDRFA; Genevieve Christensen, Assistant General Manager, Westfield Mall; Roxanne Knowle, Senior Real Estate Manager, CBRE; Jessica Jerwa, Tukwila citizen representative; Jerry Thornton, Tukwila citizen representative; Kathleen Wilson, Tukwila citizen representative. Ride -along Experience Jerry Thornton recently did a ride -along on Tukwila's Engine 51. He said it was a worthwhile opportunity and a great experience. It also gave him a chance to talk to the Tukwila firefighters about the KFDRFA (Kent Fire Department Regional Fire Authority). The responses he got were all positive. Roxanne Knowle relayed her experience with the Kent RFA firefighters during an unexpected encounter. Her son enjoyed an opportunity to climb into the engine and she had a chance to talk with the firefighters about the potential Tukwila annexation. Governance Report The governance work group, which included Tukwila Councilmembers Duffie and Seal, and Kent Councilmember Thomas and Commissioner Denbo, presented a report on the first five sections of the proposed Tukwila Plan Amendment to the KFDRFA Plan. Revisions to the Plan are being drafted so that it is applicable to Tukwila. City Administrator Cline noted that the edits to the Plan to add Tukwila will keep the historical portions. Moira Bradshaw pointed out that important sections in the Plan that have been revised are the "needs statements" on pages 10, 11, the annexation effective and operational dates on page 12, the City of Tukwila annexation authority on pages 16, 17; the establishment of the governing board structure and operation on page 21, 22; and the development of a name change for the consolidated RFA on page Regional Fire Authority Annexation Steering Committee Minutes Page 2 of 5 September 9, 2015 22. The amended governance section proposes that on the Tukwila annexation effective date, the KFDRFA governing board would add three new voting members consisting of current Tukwila City Council members to the existing six voting and two non - voting members of the Board. The reason the annexation effective date is different from the annexation operational date is because the KFDRFA would need time to gear up for the addition of the Tukwila firefighters. The two different dates also will allow time for Tukwila to have input into any 2017 budgeting and policy decisions and the KFDRFA name change. Chief Schneider noted that the name change would probably start immediately after a positive vote and that all stakeholders would be included in the renaming process. Commissioner Denbo said the Governance work group accomplished a lot in a short amount of time. Moira Bradshaw explained that the draft Plan will encapsulate the work done by this Steering Committee and will form the basis of the recommendation that the Committee sends to the Tukwila City Council. Roxanne Knowle asked if there would be an opportunity for the Tukwila Plan Amendment to be revised during the process, and if there would be back - and -forth discussion during the process? Moira Bradshaw stated that the KFDRFA are involved in the Steering Committee meetings, they are drafting and reviewing the proposed amendments to the Plan, and they are participating in the various work groups in order to minimize significant changes later in the process; however, changes to the Plan are possible with the Tukwila City Council and the KFDRFA Governing Board. The following steps will happen before final approval of the Tukwila Plan Amendment. First, the Steering Committee will make a recommendation to the Tukwila City Council. Then, if the City Council approves the Plan amendment, the KFDRFA Governing Board will have to approve the Plan. If the KFDRFA Governing Board approves the Plan, the final step will be for the Tukwila City Council to put the Plan up for a vote by the citizens of Tukwila. The citizens will have the final input by voting on whether or not to adopt the Plan and annexation. Chief Schneider said that the Plan and the fire benefit charge used to be voted on separately, but now they are voted on together. The first part of the Tukwila Plan Amendment is basically dictated by RCW's and is very generic. The last three sections involving finance, administrative, fire prevention and investigation, public education and emergency management and contain the meat of the Plan. Capt. Judkins asked who makes the decisions on the revision of sections 7, 8 and 9 of the Plan? Moira Bradshaw said the Finance Committee would be recommending revisions to Section 7 - Financial. The revision of Section 8, Administrative /Management /Personnel and Section 9 Prevention /PubEd /EM /Investigation are being revised by Tukwila and KFDRFA staff as well as legal counsel for both agencies. All Sections of the draft Plan are being brought to the Steering Committee. Capt. Judkins asked if the Steering Committee would be making a recommendation to the Tukwila City Council about whether or not to contract with the KFDRFA for those contract services? Moira Bradshaw responded since those services are addressed in the Plan, the Steering Committee would be including their recommendation on those issues to the City Council. 2 Regional Fire Authority Annexation Steering Committee Minutes Page 3 of 5 September 9, 2015 Moira Bradshaw noted that an important outcome of the Governance work group's meeting in July was the concept of having two different dates- 1 . An Annexation Effective Date of July 31, 2016, which allows governance of the RFA to include Tukwila. August 1, 2016 is the deadline to notify King County of any changes in levy codes so that revenue can start accruing on the Operational Date of January 1, 2017; and 2. An Annexation Operational Date of January 1, 2017, which provides time for the organizations to merge, incorporate 67 transferred employees and gear up to operate as a consolidated organization. Community Outreach Discussion There is a community outreach plan that includes holding specific business and community meetings, and articles in the Hazelnut and Tukwila Reporter. It's anticipated that the best time to have the community meetings will be after the steering committee and before the Tukwila City Council public hearing. Councilmember Duffie stressed that the citizens need to be informed and allowed input before the City Council holds a vote on the RFA annexation. He said the City can't come to the citizens at the last minute. Councilmember Seal said citizens are upset because of misinformation resulting from some people talking about numbers that have not been vetted. As an example, on another issue, she said the City held public meetings for one year about the City's Comprehensive Plan, but some community members are upset because of misinformation they have received. There is inaccurate information out there. Chief Flores stated that the fire department is also running into that problem; however, he and Moira Bradshaw have spoken to citizen groups that are well- informed. The City will be scheduling "open houses" at the Fire stations, so that citizens can tour the stations and can ask questions. He stressed the need to have a consistent message. Even though the current approach is good, there is always the risk of missing somebody. Outreach is occurring, but there is more that we can do. Councilmember Seal said people need to know the numbers, i.e. "what's it going to cost me and what do I get ?" City Administrator Cline asked the Committee for ideas on how to improve community outreach so that we reach the most people with the right information, and how much time would be needed for the community to weigh -in on the City Council's decision? Councilmember Duffie said that since he serves the citizens of Tukwila, he needs to make sure the citizens of Tukwila want the RFA. He thinks the RFA is a good program, but the citizens need to decide for themselves. He wants to be sure the business people and the citizens want to be part of the RFA before any final decision is made. City Administrator Cline asked Chief Schneider how the KFDRFA got community input. Chief Schneider said it takes a long time to put the pieces together to be successful. This will be the third 3 Regional Fire Authority Annexation Steering Committee Minutes Page 4 of 5 September 9, 2015 consolidation he has been involved in. People want to know the bottom -line, but it takes a lot of work to determine the numbers for the fire benefit charge. He is committed to being transparent. The KFDRFA didn't talk to service groups until after the Kent City Council voted on the RFA plan. He is hoping King County will have a calculator available on their website, so that a citizen could see a breakdown of what they would be paying for each part of their property tax bill. If not, citizens could call either Kent or Tukwila, and they will figure the property tax calculations for them. The RFA was originally formed because the Kent Fire Department wanted to sustain services and avoid cutbacks. If they had not gone with the RFA, they would have had to close two stations. The KFDRFA was able to get an impact fees ordinance passed in the City of Kent to help cover future capital improvement costs, which is a huge change. The benefit of the RFA is that the board is only concerned with the fire department, and the fire department does not have to compete with other City departments for funding. Having an RFA allows the citizens the opportunity to vote not only thru their City Council, but also on the fire benefit charge. When the KFDRFA was formed, they inherited a lot of infrastructure that needed updating, so they had a large amount of capital improvement needs. Because of the capital improvement needs and the fact that assessed property values dropped when the KFDRFA was first formed, the fire benefit charge was higher. The fire benefit charge can be adjusted so that the RFA doesn't have to decrease services. The KFDRFA will lower the fire benefit charge this year because some of the backlog in capital improvements have been completed. When the KFDRFA first formed, they were able to keep the Kent and Covington residents' taxes about the same; the taxes on the businesses did go up some. City Administrator Cline said it's important to keep the community informed now and in the future. Before the steering committee makes a recommendation to the City Council, it's important to be sure the Tukwila Plan Amendment works for both Tukwila and the KFDRFA. The Steering Committee has been updating the City Council every two months on the Committee's progress. Roxanne Knowle asked if there was a plan to put together a summary for the public? Moira Bradshaw said they would be targeting residences and businesses with a summary of the basic information and where they can go to find more detailed information. Organizational Structure /Operations Chief Schneider discussed the organizational chart created by merging the KFDRFA and Tukwila Fire Departments. Some positions that are duplicates of positions already existing in the KFDRFA, would eventually go away thru attrition. This process would eventually lead to economies of scale as the organization evolves. Some extra positions would be needed in the IT and the apparatus maintenance areas. If the annexation happens, the KFDRFA would end up with over 300 employees. If the vote passes, he would then decide the best positions for the Tukwila staff. Nobody in the Tukwila Fire Department would lose their job or take a cut in pay. The Tukwila City Council will ultimately decide whether or not the City keeps fire prevention, public education, emergency management and fire investigations or contracts with the RFA to provide those services. General Discussion Moira Bradshaw asked the Committee members if they would like more time to go through Sections 1 -6 of the Tukwila Plan Amendment, which is on tonight's agenda? Councilmember Seal said she El Regional Fire Authority Annexation Steering Committee Minutes September 9, 2015 Page 5 of 5 really wants the members to review the needs statement on page 11 of the Plan and come to the next meeting with feedback. There was general discussion about scheduling additional meeting dates in October and November since the Finance committee was not yet ready to report out, and their presentation would probably take two meetings. Consensus was reached to schedule the additional following dates: Wed, October 28, Thursday, November 5, and potentially Wednesday November 18 as a back -up date. The Committee's presentation to the City Council would depend on when the Finance package can be completed for the Committee's review. Moira Bradshaw also asked Committee members to let her know if they wanted to discuss other parts of the Tukwila Plan Amendment in more detail during one of the future committee meetings. Capt. Judkins pointed out that the Tukwila Firefighters Union was hoping to vote on the RFA proposal at their November 10th meeting. Roxanne Knowle asked what would happen in the meeting presented by the finance committee? Chief Schneider explained that after the operating budget and capital improvements budget are defined, the fire benefit charge can be defined. After the fire benefit charge has been defined, it will be possible to show the citizens what the cost will be. City Administrator Cline pointed out that Tukwila currently has not budgeted any dollars for capital replacement for the fire stations. The capital improvements involve large numbers, and the City and the RFA will have to discuss who will be responsible for which improvements. Roxanne Knowle asked about the time - length of the RFA's capital improvement plan? Chief Schneider replied that the RFA had a 15 -year capital improvement plan. Adjournment At 1907 hours Co -Chair Seal declared the regional fire authority steering committee meeting adjourned. Minutes taken and prepared by Norita Deckard, Admin. Support Tech. 5