Item #05
Date: October 18, 2022
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Jim Schaad, City Manager
Subject: Agreement with the Linda Fire Protection District for Fire Protection Administrative Services
Recommendation:
Pass a Motion to 1) approve an Agreement with the Linda Fire Protection District for Fire Protection Administrative Services, providing services of a Fire Chief, provisions for a potential future Battalion Chief and related administrative support activities as described in the Agreement and scope of work, 2) authorize the City Manager to execute the agreement, and 3) transfer FY2022/23 appropriations from Salaries and Benefits to Professional Services.
Background
The City has historically funded the salaried exempt director-level position of Fire Chief to head the Marysville Fire Department. With the recent vacancy of this position, City staff, with the assistance of Peckham and McKinney Consulting, commenced a national recruitment for the position.
Unfortunately the recruitment did not yield a candidate who stood out as having the level of experience desired by the City.
In parallel with the recruitment City staff began discussions with the Linda Fire Protection District (District) regarding the feasibility of consolidating administrative and support functions with the District. Consolidation of public safety functions has been a long-standing topic among staff and City Council. The current Fire Chief vacancy afforded an opportunity to explore such options.
Discussion and Analysis:
Through discussions with the Linda Fire Chief, staff concluded that there would be advantages to an agreement. These include the ability to provide leadership and administrative functions in a costeffective manner, better communication and sharing of operational resources, ability to provide backup of Fire Chief function in his absence utilizing the District’s existing Battalion Chief, and a provision for the District to hire an additional Battalion Chief domiciled at the Marysville Fire Department which would provide additional leadership support and depth of backup. Other potential benefits would be future District utilization of City fire prevention/inspection and fire mechanic staff. Staff has negotiated the attached agreement with the District and recommends to Council the approval and transfer of funds from Personnel related accounts to the appropriate Item #05
Professional Services account.
Alignment with City Council Goal(s):
Goal #1: Increase Fiscal Sustainability and Goal #4: Enhance Public Safety Fiscal Analysis:
Budgeted funds would be transferred from the appropriate Salaries and Benefits accounts to Professional Services. The annual cost for the services of the District’s Fire Chief under for this agreement is $64,000 for the remaining eight (8) months of the fiscal year at $8,000 per month and $96,000 for a full fiscal year. Additional services for a potential future Battalion Chief would increase the contract to $12,000 per month or $144,000 per fiscal year. The personnel costs budgeted for FY2022-23 totaled up to $175,325 resulting in an overall savings to the General Fund of up to $111,325. For future years the savings would be up to $79,325 for the current agreement and up to $31,325 if a Battalion Chief position is added.
Attachments:
1) Copy of Signed Agreement with the Linda Fire Protection District 2) City of Marysville Fire Chief Job Description
3) D10/Hallwood Service Agreement