Title
An ordinance approving an amendment to cooperative agreements for emergency dispatch services by and between the City of Lee's Summit, Missouri and various fire districts, for the purpose of extending said agreements for up to twelve months and authorizing the Mayor to execute the same by and on behalf of the City of Lee's Summit, and containing an emergency clause.
Body
Issue/Request:
Approval of an ordinance approving an amendment to cooperative agreements for emergency dispatch services by and between the City of Lee's Summit, Missouri and various fire districts, for the purpose of extending said agreements for up to twelve months and authorizing the Mayor to execute the same by and on behalf of the City of Lee's Summit, and containing an emergency clause.
Key Issues:
5 of the 8 fire agencies for which Lee's Summit Fire Department provides emergency dispatch services under contract were advised, that per the contracts, renegotiation of the terms of the contracts is desired by the City of Lee's Summit.
The process of determining an updated charging system has been challenging. Due to time constraints of the upcoming termination of the contracts (December 31,2018), LSFD is asking for an extension of the current contracts for a 12 month period. A 12 month extension allows all contract agencies that LSFD dispatches for to be on the same yearly schedule, which will help prevent confusion in the future and make managing the contracts smoother.
Also, LSFD is conducting an audit with a consultant to research the proper amount of personnel needed to operate the communications center. An RFP will be issued in the coming month. The result of this audit should be a part of determining proper charges for the contract agencies.
Proposed City Council Motion:
First Motion: I move for a second reading of an ordinance approving an amendment to cooperative agreements for emergency dispatch services by and between the City of Lee's Summit, Missouri and various fire districts, for the purpose of extending said agreements for up to twelve months and authorizing the Mayor to execute the same by and on behalf of the City of Lee's Summit, and containing an emergency clause.
Second Motion: I move for adoption of an ordinance approving an amendment to cooperative agreements for emergency dispatch services by and between the City of Lee's Summit, Missouri and various fire districts, for the purpose of extending said agreements for up to twelve months and authorizing the Mayor to execute the same by and on behalf of the City of Lee's Summit, and containing an emergency clause.
Background:
The Lee's Summit Fire Department has provided emergency dispatch services for various local fire protection districts, the first one being Lake Lotawana FIre Protection District in 1998.
Currently, the LSFD Communications Center dispatches for 8 agencies, 9 including LSFD. These contracts have been automatically renewed annually since their inception.
The staffing for the shifts in the Communications Center is 3 on each shift, with a minimum of 2 personnel. The 2 person minimum has been in effect since 2000. Due to the increasing call load of all 9 agencies, the Communications Center personnel are frequently overloaded with calls, making quality of service lacking.
In FY19, LSFD requested an expansion of 6 personnel for the Communications Center, to add to the 13 FTEs currently approved. Approval of the additional 6 was granted, providing the renegotiation of charges with the 8 contract agencies covered the cost of adding the 6.
Notification to terminate and renegotiate the contracts to 5 of the 8 agencies were given in September 1 and October 1, 2018, with termination to occur at midnight on December 31, 2018. The remaining 3 agencies have a notification deadline of April 1 to terminate contracts on December 31. That April deadline was missed since approval to add the 6 personnel had not been granted yet. An official notification to terminate with these remaining 3 will be given by April 1, 2019.
Of the 5 agencies notified of termination and renegotiation, 4 have agreed to a renegotiation process. West Peculiar FPD notified LSFD that they were going to contract with the Raymore Police Department for dispatch services as of January 1, 2019.
The charging mechanism for the contracts have been a percentage of assessed property values of each district since 1998. City personnel are researching other ways to charge the contract agencies for the service.
There has not been a new offer for charges presented to the contract agencies yet. LSFD is issuing an RFP for services to audit the Communications Center to determine the appropriate staffing levels for call load levels.
Since the contracts for the 4 (previously 5) agencies terminates December 31, 2018, we are asking for an extension of the current contracts for twelve months, to terminate on December 31, 2019 in order to continue negotiations. This prevents the 4 agencies from not having emergency dispatch services for their respective districts while negotiations proceed. This also allows all contract agencies to be on the same schedule of terminating at the same month and year, thus preventing confusion and making the managing of the contracts less cumbersome.
Fort Osage Fire Protection District, Sni-Valley Fire Protection District, Lake Lotawana Fire Protection District, and Western Cass Fire Protection District have all agreed to a 12 month extension of the current contracts.
Impact/Analysis:
If the 12 month extensions are not granted, these 4 agencies will not have emergency dispatch services for their response districts, placing their customers in danger of not receiving fire, EMS, and rescue capabilities. This could also influence future contract negotiations.
Presenter
Rick Poeschl, Fire Chief
Recommendation
Staff recommends approval of an ordinance amending to cooperative agreements for emergency dispatch services by and between the City of Lee's Summit, Missouri and various fire districts, for the purpose of extending said agreements for up to twelve months and authorizing the Mayor to execute the same by and on behalf of the City of Lee's Summit, and containing an emergency clause.