Fire Service Contracts

Breezy Point receives its fire services from adjacent communities as the city does not have a fire department.  Pequot Lakes Fire Department serves the majority of the city while a portion of the community is served by Ideal Township Fire Department. 

In working with Pequot Lakes Fire Department the city has established a “station” at the Public Safety Building in Breezy Point.  This station has a pumper truck and is served by a number of volunteers that report directly to that station in response to a call. 

The Pequot Lakes Fire Department serves a large area and does so on a shared cost basis.  The cost of fire service is defined for each jurisdiction served by using several factors.  The main components of the formula involve Use and Value.  Value is considered estimated market value, as determined by the county, of structures within the area served.  This obviously changes on an annual basis.  The use factor is the number of calls averaged over a 10 year period.  Both of these factors are expressed as a percentage considering all users of the fire service.  These two percentages are then added together and divided by 2.  This factor is a percentage number that is applied towards the budgeted cost for fire service for that year.  The Ideal Fire Department uses a similar formula to apportion costs. 

Renewals of the fire contract are accomplished annually.  The renewals for both fire contracts were approved at the April Council Meeting.  The contract with Pequot Lakes saw a fairly small increase.  The contract with Ideal Township was basically the same amount as that of 2012 but came with a notice of increased costs for each of the next five years.  The contract amount for service with them would double with the 2015 contract period. 

Options have been considered which included discussion with Pequot Lakes Fire Department towards serving the entire community.  The contract with Ideal was established prior to the establishment of a fire station in Breezy Point.  Response times from that station would be consistent with those from Ideal.  Preliminary costs were received from Pequot Lakes Fire Department which showed a savings, however a more specific calculation was requested. 

In approving the contract for Ideal the council recognized that a one year notice was required to be given if the contract was to be amended or extinguished.  The council moved to give Ideal Fire Department preliminary notice of the change to service through Pequot Lakes Fire Department subject to a better understanding of the contract amounts the city would have for the expanded service area. 

A decision to have all fire service provided by Pequot Lakes for the city as a whole will be considered at the May Council meeting. 

Personnel Policy

The city has long had a Personnel Policy which provided guidance for staff and council in how certain personnel issues are dealt with.  The policy details things like sick, vacation and holiday time.  Benefits and expected behavior, among other things, are also addressed.  This policy had been revised a number of times and there were many problems such as contradictions, inconsistencies, redundancies and vague statements as part of the policy.  The idea of clarity in the policy as well as having it match current practice was needed.  

The personnel committee of the council spent a good deal of time reviewing the document and its possible revisions.  Some policy matters were brought into the discussion when clarity involved a choice of this or that.  They also were brought into the picture when council was to assume authority that was given to staff that really were policy issues for the council to determine.  Along the way, the contradictions were resolved.  Clarity was improved. Organization was also made to the document. 

 

One issue of concern was that of Holiday Pay.  Several approaches to how pay is made when working a holiday were considered.  The police union contract provides for holiday pay when not worked.  When the holiday is worked pay is at time and a half plus the holiday pay.  In the end the council chose to mirror that of the police contract for non-union hourly employees.

A revised policy was approved by the council with the changes as recommended by the Personnel Committee with the clarification of how working a holiday would be treated. 

A Day of Caring

The Pequot Lakes School District has started a school event called a “Day of Caring”.  This effort was modeled after an event held annually by the Little Falls School District where high school students spend a day volunteering on various project throughout the school district.  

What is being done is the school is asking for projects that volunteers can accomplish in a five hour period.  Projects include any manner of need, whether it is for individuals, businesses, governmental agencies,  non-profit organizations or others.  

Their efforts can be washing windows, picking up litter, racking leaves, cleaning gardens at the cemetery or washing emergency vehicles.  If there is a need for help, it is a candidate for a volunteer effort. 

The school will be busing all students to areas where their volunteer efforts will be held.  They will be providing sack lunches and students will be expected to put in a days’ worth of work.  The idea is really many fold but there are needs in the community that can go unmet.  This can be a help meet those needs.  Students receive the benefit of tax dollars to pay for their education and this is one way they can pay back the community.  This effort also helps to instill in the minds of our youth the value of volunteering and helping others. 

The Day of Caring will be held on May 9, 2013.  Registration forms will be published in the Echo and the Northland Press.  Projects are needed.  Requests for assistance must be submitted to the school no later than May 3, 2013 for consideration.  Help make the day one of extended community spirit with projects and fulfilment. 

2012 Audit

The council reviewed the 2012 city audit at the April meeting.  Overall the city is in good financial shape.  Some progress was made in a few areas that are of note.   We received approximately $18,000 more in property taxes than budgeted.  This is primarily due to special assessments going to the general fund.  When a bond is paid off and funds come in, after the fact, they are general fund revenues.  The general fund collection rate has remained nearly constant at 93% overall.  Having this additional revenue is helpful. 

 

On the expenditure side we show a good deal of variance to budget.  Almost all line items show spending less than budget.  Some explanation might be helpful for some of these.  The auditor has considered a portion of budget items as transfers rather than expenditures.  We budget for capital on an annual basis and unspent capital is reserved in the Revolving Capital Fund.  The funds that were budgeted, but not spent, were transferred to the Revolving Capital Fund.  An explanation is helpful when looking at expenditure areas.   

·        * The area of General Government had a capital transfer and spending was less than budget. 

·         *Police had a capital transfer and spending was less than budget. 

·         *Our fire contract expenses were far below budget. 

·         *Public Works reflects a capital transfer and spending less than budget. 

·         *With parks we saw a capital transfer.

Overall our revenues were approximately $12,000 over budget.  Expenditures are about $7,000 under budget making the net about $19,000 to the good.  If the Pelican Township had paid the police contract prior to the end of the year the difference would have been approximately $40,500. 

The Cemetery Fund is in good shape.  We had a good year with sales and charges for services.  Expenditures in this fund included a good deal of donations spent on the Veterans Memorial. The memorial was funded entirely with donated funds. 

At year end the Revolving Capital Fund carries a balance of $633,691 in designated accounts.  With the fund transfers we made at year end the overall balance increased approximately $69,000 with capital set-a-sides for future expenditures. These were unspent capital funds in this budget cycle.

The audit has been placed on line so those who have an interest in it can download it for review.