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Home My WebLink About2008-04-08 Finance and Safety Minutes ^r�. /~r��__li Of ��t`� �l4�� l Safety Committee FINANCE AND SAFETY Meeting Minutes ,4n/'il8,2008 5:00p./o. PRESENT Coouodnuoruhcry: Dennis Robertson, Chair; Pam Linder and Kathy }{ougur6v Staff Mary Miotko, Nick U|ivuu, Rhonda Berry and Kimberly Mo1j CALL ][OORDER: Committee Chair Robertson called the meeting to order ut5:UOy.nu. 8. PRESENTATIONS —Nkopresentations. H. BUSINESS AGENDA A. First Amendment to Vallev Communications Center Govemina Interlocal Ap-reement Staff is seeking full Council approval for an umoudcucnt to the current Valley Cornrnuuioutiouo Coutuc Governing Udccloou) Agreement. As u member obv of Valley Communications Center, the City uf Tukwila needs to approve these changes to the inter{ocul agreement. This amendment will address the following: l. Recognize Valley Regional Fire Authority (Auburn, Pacific and Algona) as the agency providing services tu the City of Auburn; and 2. Recognize King Cuuuh/ Firm Protection District No. 39 as the agency providing services to the City of Federal Way (previously Federal Way Fire I)cpudmenh. Rhonda Berry stated that Steve Reinke, Director of Valley Communications Ceutcr, will attend the April 14 COW to introduce himself to the Council. UNANIMOUS APPROVAL. FORWARD TO APRIL 14 COW FOR DISCUSSION. B. Animal Control Contract L]ndate Rhonda provided u brief update from the Police Department regarding the City's uuiouul control contract with King County. Effective immediately the County has suspended the creation of any new enhanced services contracts uoh| the further notice. The County is in the p000000 of assessing the overall functioning of King County animal control services as well as consideration of whether or not services will continue tuhn provided iu incorporated areas. Currently, the City has uu enhanced patrol contract with King County which staff will discuss with King County to determine bovv and if the current contract will he effected. Staff will return to Comncnh1cu when an update regarding uoinuu| control through the County is available. 0 ONLY, C. Lead and Other Feavv Metal Testing Based on u letter of recommendation from Washington Cities Insurance Authority (WCDA), the Committee has decided that the issue of lead and other heavy oueu| toudug will not be pursued any further. A copy ofthe WClA letter io attached to the minutes. INFORMATION ONLY. III. ANNOUNCEMENTS -Nuannouncements. IV' MISCELLANEOUS Meeting u6iouoncdut8:O3 p.m. &ex/nnnuting: Tuesday, April 22,2O08—j:00p.ru.— Conference Room 3 Comnniftee Chair Approval Minutes byKAM. - . . cItIes -- Insurance Authonty P.O. Box 88030 Tukwila, 'vVli 98138 April 4, 2008 Phone: 206-575-6046 Kevin Fuhrer City of Tukwila 6200 Southcenter Blvd. Tukwila, WA 98188 Fax: 206-575-7426 RE: Lead Testing of Toys Dear Kevin: This will serve to confirm WCIA's recommendation regarding the City's proposal to _ offer your citizens testing of toys for lead levels. WCIA does not recommend the City offer toy testing of any kind due to the potential for creating liability, where none currently exists, which could lead to high severity bodily injury claims. It is our understanding that a councilrnember is proposing to buy equipment for the fIre department in order for them to offer lead testing of toys for the citizens of Tukwila. There are several potential problems with this idea. First, the city has no responsibility to offer this type of testing and if allowed, creates a potential for liability claims against the city. Some examples of potential claims would be alleged improper testing which is relied upon by the citizen and leads to injury or death of a child or alleged failure to advise the citizen of other hazards associated with the toy such as choking or product recall. Second, this past Wednesday, Governor Gregoire signed into law new legislation with extremely stringent toy safety requirements for the State of Washington. The Governor assigned the Department of Ecology as the lead agency. As a result, this raises an important question regarding what standards the fIre depfu'iment would use in their testing. Also, there is already talk that these new toy safety standards are not an area of law that can be regulated at the State level and there will likely be a legal challenge. This further complicates the issue and could pose problems for anyone offering to test the lead levels in toys. Finally, this type oftesting is being conducted by the Federal Government and can also be done at home by the consumer for a relatively small cost. Therefore, we see no need for the city to step in and offer this testing. . - While we understand the'dty's desire to offer this service to its community, we do not .believe the benefits outweigh the risks outlined above. Therefore, WCIA strongly recommends against offering any lead testing of toys, - Page 2 City ofTukwila April 4, 2008 If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at the number listed below. ~ Sincerely, Debbi Sell~rs, RPLU Senior Risk Management Representative Washington Cities Insurance Authority 206-575-6046