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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 3a - Agreement for Automatic AidG�IIFOgnt9`y� * a ' —d AuBUSt i, IY03 C ° --jq°n;ty°t ° ee � STAFF REPORT Fire Department DATE: May 5, 2015 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council FROM: Kurt Norwood, Fire Chief By: Maria Lourdes A. Taylor, Senior Management Analyst SUBJECT: AGREEMENT FOR AUTOMATIC AID OF BATALLION CHIEF SERVICES BY AND AMONG THE CITY OF ARCADIA, THE CITY OF MONROVIA, AND THE CITY SIERRA MADRE Recommendation: Approve SUMMARY The City of Sierra Madre's Director of Public Safety has approached the Fire Chiefs of Arcadia and Monrovia on providing automatic aid for Battalion Chief responses strictly for incident management emergency response within the City of Sierra Madre. Arcadia and Monrovia Fire Departments currently provide Battalion Chief coverage to the City of Sierra Madre when requested and when available, but without any compensation and no automatic aid agreement is currently in place. To formalize the Battalion Chief services with Sierra Madre in order for the emergency responses to be automatic in nature, and to outline the cost reimbursement for providing such a service, it is recommended that the City Council approve the agreement for automatic aid of Battalion Chief Services among the Cities of Arcadia, Monrovia, and Sierra Madre. A copy of the Agreement for Automatic Aid is attached to this staff report. BACKGROUND The Sierra Madre Fire Department is a combination paid and volunteer Fire Department and they occasionally request the assistance of a Battalion Chief from either Arcadia or Monrovia to ensure the proper management of an emergency if the Sierra Madre Battalion Chiefs, who are volunteers, are unavailable. Lack of response from Sierra Madre's volunteer Battalion Chiefs is becoming more common and placing the Fire Department, firefighters, and citizens in situations where emergency incidents could be delayed or without safe and professional incident management. Arcadia and Monrovia Fire Departments currently provide Battalion Chief responses on a mutual aid request Agreement for Automatic Aid of Battalion Chief Services to Sierra Madre May 5, 2015 Page 2 of 3 and when available, but without any compensation. Sierra Madre is the only City in the region that lacks an automatic aid agreement with neighboring cities because they do not have the capability of reciprocating like service to neighboring jurisdictions due to their paid /volunteer structure. Due to Sierra Madre's existing Fire staffing structure, the Sierra Madre Director of Public Safety has expressed a strong interest in formalizing the Battalion Chief response relationship through automatic aid assistance with Arcadia and Monrovia Fire Departments, to where a Battalion Chief would be dispatched automatically without the delay of a mutual aid request. Essentially, instead of Sierra Madre having to call and request a Battalion Chief for incident management, depending on availability and proximity, a Battalion Chief in Arcadia or Monrovia will be automatically dispatched to Sierra Madre when the incident requires a Battalion Chief response. This will expedite Battalion Chief incident responses, enhance firefighter safety, and decrease potential losses associated with fires. DISCUSSION Both the Arcadia and Monrovia Fire Departments have agreed in principle to provide Battalion Chief coverage for incident management on an automatic aid basis in exchange for being reimbursed for the time the Battalion Chief spends in assisting Sierra Madre on the incident. As such, to formalize the arrangement, Sierra Madre has drawn an agreement for such service solely for providing incident management emergency response by either Arcadia or Monrovia on a cost reimbursement basis. This agreement, as attached, has been reviewed with language approved by each of the City Attorneys. The hourly fee will be $85 for either City, which is based on salary, benefits, overhead, vehicle, fuel, and other incidentals. Liability coverage for incident management would be the same as it is today — effectively every department is responsible for the work of their own employees and the main exposure, if any, lies with the City in which the incident takes place. The Agreement shall become effective upon the execution by the respective City Managers for each City. The Agreement will automatically renew from year to year, and the hourly fee will be re- evaluated every two years from the effective date of the agreement to ensure the fees are accurate for cost recovery. Either of the Cities can elect to terminate its participation as outlined in the Agreement. The Arcadia and Monrovia Fire Departments' Battalion Chiefs' ability to respond to Sierra Madre's automatic aid service will depend upon any existing emergency conditions within each City and the availability of their resources. As with other automatic aid agreements, Arcadia personnel will always give incidents in Arcadia first priority and will not be dispatched outside of the jurisdiction unless adequate coverage can be maintained within the City. Agreement for Automatic Aid of Battalion Chief Services to Sierra Madre May 5, 2015 Page 3 of 3 Overall, the automatic aid arrangement set by the agreement will enhance incident management in the City of Sierra Madre, will help recover some expenses the City presently incurs, and will ease regional response efforts. FISCAL IMPACT There is no significant administration or operational drawbacks for Arcadia. As a reference, in Fiscal Year 2013 -14, if this proposed agreement were in place, a Battalion Chief would have been dispatched approximately 100 times within the City of Sierra Madre, with less than 10 of those requiring a Battalion Chief for an extended period of time. Assuming Arcadia is dispatched in half of those incidents, there would be about 50 call -outs and less than 5 extended calls per year. The associated revenue would be less than $7,500 per year. RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the City Council approve the Agreement for Automatic Aid of Battalion Chief Services by and among the City of Arcadia, the City of Monrovia, and the City of Sierra Madre. Approved: Dominic Lazzar City Manager Attachment: Agreement for Automatic Aid of Battalion Chief Services By and Among the City of Arcadia, and the City of Monrovia and the City of Sierra Madre ATTACHMENT AGREEMENT FOR AUTOMATIC AID OF BATTALION CHIEF SERVICES By and Among THE CITY OF ARCADIA AND THE CITY OF MONROVIA AND THE CITY OF SIERRA MADRE THIS AGREEMENT is, made and entered into this 1st day of June 2015 by and between, the CITY OF ARCADIA (AFD), the CITY OF MONROVIA (MFD), and the CITY OF SIERRA (SMFD) (collectively hereinafter referred to as "CITIES "). WHEREAS, the CITIES operate independent fire departments within the County of Los Angeles by providing fire, rescue and emergency medical services within their respective jurisdictions; and WHEREAS, the CITIES, pursuant to Title 19, Division 2 of the State's Code of Regulations, are considered by the State of California Office of Emergency Services to constitute Operational Area C of Los Angeles County, one of five counties comprising Region I of the statewide emergency response system, and WHEREAS, the CITIES have found it to be of mutual benefit if the services of each fire department are in some limited and predefined circumstances extended outside of the limits of each jurisdiction into the boundaries of the other; and WHEREAS, the CITIES have operated with both automatic and mutual aid agreements for several decades in an effort to assist departments and their respective communities; and WHEREAS, it is necessary and desirable that CITIES coordinate efforts for the provision of automatic aid on an area -wide basis and for purposes of this Agreement, Automatic Aid shall mean assistance dispatched automatically by contractual agreement without request and Mutual Aid shall mean aid provided to another agency upon request; NOW, THEREFORE, for and in consideration of the covenants contained herein, the CITIES hereby agree as follows: Purpose. The purpose of this Agreement is to provide for cooperation in the suppression of fires and protection of life and property within the City of Sierra Madre by providing Battalion Chief Services for the purposes of the Incident Management System while working fire, rescue, or other emergency incidents with the City of Sierra Madre. Agreement for Battalion Chief Service 2. Duration of Agreement. This Agreement shall become effective upon the execution of this Agreement by the respective City Manager for each city party to this Agreement. The Agreement shall automatically renew itself from year to year thereafter, until terminated. Any party may terminate its participation in the Agreement at any time by giving written notice to the other parties at least sixty (60) days prior to the date of termination. The Agreement shall remain in effect with respect to the remaining parties until and unless all of the parties to the Agreement terminate their participation. 3. Administration. For purposes of liaison and the administration of this Agreement, the respective Fire Chief for each city party to this Agreement, or his /her designee, is designated as its representative, and collectively, they shall be responsible for administration of this Agreement. 4. Response Area. This Agreement is entered into in attempt to create an automatic aid process where responses to incidents are made by the closest and most appropriate Battalion Chief (AFD or MFD), even where the service response area is not included within the individual agency's jurisdictional boundary. AFD and / or MFD agree to respond to any reported fire, rescue or emergency incident requiring a response of a Battalion Chief into the City of Sierra Madre and its boundaries only. Said responses shall not require any specific request but shall be automatic upon dispatch by the Verdugo Fire Communications Center which shall generally follow the dispatch parameters as determined in advance. 5. Provision of Services. When either AFD or MFD responds auto -aid into the City of Sierra Madre under this Agreement, the Battalion Chief of the responding jurisdiction shall be in command of all staffing and equipment committed to the incident; however, the first officer at the scene will be in command even if it is not their jurisdiction. Command will then be reasonably passed to the AFD or MFD Battalion Chief arriving on scene of the incident. The Incident Command System will be utilized, however the AFD or MFD Battalion Chief will remain in charge of the incident. SMFD Command Staff on scene will resume the role of "support" for the Incident Commander. It shall be the responsibility of the Incident Commander on scene to utilize the staffing and equipment necessary to the extent that is required to bring the emergency under control. Request for Mutual Aid may be made by the Incident Commander acting as an agent of the City of Sierra Madre and SMFD. Any cost incurred from Local, State, or Federal agencies as a result of a Mutual Aid request within the boundaries of Sierra Madre will be the responsibility of the City of Sierra Madre. Under this agreement AFD and MFD Battalion Chiefs are responsible for Incident Management only at the scene and will report any unsafe practices or concerns with SMFD personnel to the Director of Public Safety for the City of Sierra Madre. Page 2 of 5 Agreement for Battalion Chief Service 6. Costs and Reimbursements. All services provided by either AFD or MFD under this Agreement shall be performed, and shall be paid by the City of Sierra Madre, at a rate of $85 per hour with a minimum charge of one hour and increments of one hour per each individual service response. The hourly rate will start at the time of dispatch and will end at the time the AFD or MFD Battalion Chief goes available. The CITIES agree that the review of this Agreement and the associated cost shall be re- evaluated every two years from the effective date of this Agreement, prior to any automatic extension for the subsequent year. 7. Priorities of Response. The CITIES understand and agree that a responding agency's response to a request for aid shall depend upon any existing emergency conditions within its own jurisdiction and the availability of its resources, with the priority for each agency's resources being an emergency situation in the agency's jurisdictional area. 8. Indemnity. Notwithstanding the provisions of Government Code 895.2, each party shall defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the other party and its officers, agents, employees and representatives from any and all losses, liability, damages, claims, suits, actions and administrative proceedings, and demands and all expenditures and costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees, relating to acts or omissions of the indemnitor, its officers, agents or employees arising out of or incidental to the performance of any of the provisions of this Agreement. No party assumes liability for the acts or omissions of any other party or persons other than each party's respective officers, agents or employees. 9. Liability Insurance. Each party shall maintain, during the life of this Agreement, a policy of liability insurance naming the CITIES as an additional insured party in the amount of $2,000,000.00 per occurrence with aggregate liability coverage of $2,000,000.00. In the alternative, a party may self- insure in accordance with the above referenced liability amounts. 10.Waiver. By entering this Agreement, no party waives any of the immunities provided by the Government Code or other applicable provisions of law. This Agreement is not intended to confer any legal rights or benefits on any person or entity other than the parties of this Agreement. 11.Amendments. This Agreement may be amended from time to time by the unanimous written agreement of the Parties. This Agreement represents the entire integrated agreement among the Parties as to its subject matter. 12. Parties Operate Independently. Nothing contained in this Agreement shall be construed to make any party hereto or any of its officers, agents or employees the officer, agent or employee of any other party. Employees of any party performing services in accordance with this Agreement shall remain employees of that party for the purposes of workers' compensation and other laws, and no party shall have liability for injury to an employee of another party. 13. Notification. All notices herein required shall be in writing and delivered in person or sent by first class mail, postage prepaid, addressed to the Fire Chief. Page 3 of 5 Agreement for Battalion Chief Service IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be executed and attested to by the proper officers hereunder duly authorized, their official seals to be heretofore affixed. This Agreement may be signed in counterparts. CITY OF MONROVIA Date: ATTEST: 53 Oliver Chi City Manager Alice Atkins, City Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM THIS day of 2015 IM Craig Steele, City Attorney CITY OF ARCADIA Date: ATTEST: Dominic Lazzaretto City Manager City Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM THIS day of 2015 53 Stephen P. Deitsch, City Attorney Page 4 of 5 Agreement for Battalion Chief Service Date: ATTEST: Nancy Shollenberger, City Clerk CITY OF SIERRA MADRE Elaine Aguilar, City Manager APPROVED AS TO FORM THIS day of 2015 Terri Highsmith, City Attorney Page 5 of 5