AgdaPkt 2010-09-27 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Al�'` �H�111 E NT 1 September 27, 2010 Hon. Clifford V. Cretan Judge of the Superior Court Hall of Justice 400 County Center, 2nd Floor Redwood City, CA 94063 Subject: Response to the Grand Jury Report: "City Fire Department Consolidations/Mergers" Dear Judge Cretan: On behalf of the City Council of the City of Redwood City, 1 would like to thank you for the opportunity to respond to the Grand Jury Report dated May 26, 2010, regarding City Fire Depa�tment Consolidations/ Mergers. The following response to the Grand Jury's Findings and Conclusions was reviewed and approved by the City Council at its meeting on September 27, 2010. Findin s The City has reviewed the 22 findings presented in the Grand Jury Report and is in agreement with the majority of the findings, provided the data analysis and methodology used was factual and sound. The City disagrees, partially, with Findings 4, and 9. • Finding 4: All frre depar�ments have fixed overhead cosfs for administration and management regardless of the size of the department. Usua!!y fire departments that support large popufations are more cost effective because their fixed overhead is spread over a larger base. Table 3 above compares the cost per capita to the population supported. In general, the larger the population the lower the cosf per capi#a. In addirion to cosf per capita, the cost to support a large geographica!area should be considered when evaluatinq fhe cost e�ciency of a department. Respondent disagrees, in part,with this finding. Population served does not necessarily correlate to cost-effectiveness in service delivery. Overhead costs are fixed based on organizational structure and are similar among agencies of all size. • Finding 9: There continues to be a redundancy of fire sfafions with five sifuations where starions are located within 1-mile of each ofher. These stations were placed by rhe loca!jurisdictions to fight fires within their city boundaries at a time when "boundary drop" did nor exisf and fire departmenrs on/y responded to fires ancl other emergenc�es within therr designated boundaries. Respondent agrees, in part, with this finding. However, geographic obstacles exist between the station Iocated at 41 Q1 Fair Oaks Avenue and the station located at 1091 2"� Avenue which creates a barrier between the two communities.Although the Caltrain and Southern Paci�c tracks do not impede cross traffic as much as they did when the stations were built, they still impact response delivery from one side to the other. This impact has the potential to increase response times to areas under consideration. Conclusions 9. Complete a study of possible consolidation wrfh neighboring fire departments or contracting with Cal Fire fo provide the same/eve!of service at reduced cosf by July 1, 2011.