HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010/04/05 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session f/fSt. Louis Park OFFICIAL MINUTES
MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL STUDY SESSION
ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA
APRIL 5, 2010
The meeting convened at 6:00 p.m.
Councilmembers present: Mayor Jeff Jacobs, Phil Finkelstein,Anne Mavity, Paul Omodt (arrived at
6:04 p.m.),Julia Ross (arrived at 6:06 p.m.), Susan Sanger, and Sue Santa.
Councilmembers absent: None.
Staff present: City Manager (Mr. Harmening), Deputy City Manager (Ms. Gohman), Police Chief
(Mr. Luse), Police Lieutenant (Ms. Dreier), Police Lieutenant (Mr. DiLorenzo), Chief Information
Officer (Mr. Pires), Communications Coordinator (Mr. Zwilling), Controller (Mr. Swanson), Fire
Chief(Mr. Stemmer), and Recording Secretary (Ms. Hughes).
1. Dispatch Options
Mr. Harmening introduced the topic and stated that Golden Valley has notified the City that it
wishes to terminate its public safety dispatch services contract effective January 1, 2011 on the
premise that the County will take on their needs. He pointed out that City staff recently attended a
County Board meeting and based on the discussion at that meeting, it is not absolutely certain that
the County will take on Golden Valley in 2011. He stated that consideration is being given by the
County to conduct a comprehensive analysis of its dispatch services overall, and the County
indicated it would let Golden Valley know by June 15`whether it will accept Golden Valley's request
to provide dispatch services.
Ms. Gohman stated the staff report contains an analysis of four separate Public Safety Answering
Point (PSAP) approaches. She then discussed Option A which represents the current PSAP model,
which includes ten dispatchers. She stated that in addition to PSAP services, dispatchers perform a
number of ancillary services including clerical work on a 24 hour basis; the City also operates the jail
facility.
Mr. DiLorenzo pointed out that monitoring of the jail cells cannot be performed remotely and
Corrections Department regulations require that jail cells be physically checked every 30 minutes.
Ms. Dreier stated that the Viper phone upgrade purchase is on hold at the present time, but it is a
scheduled upgrade and will have to be replaced within the next year. She added that this is an
upgraded phone system that is better able to locate cell phone calls.
Ms. Gohman explained that the City is on line for a new LOGIS CAD system and the City is
obligated to pay the full purchase price of$138,125.
Ms. Gohman presented Option B, representing St. Louis Park as an independent PSAP and noted
this is a likely scenario. She stated that Option B and Option C contain sufficient budget numbers
to allow the City to continue to provide the same value-added services. She indicated that with
Option B, there would be a reduction in call level so the City could meet its business needs with a
reduction of three dispatchers, or 7 FTE.
Special Study Session Minutes -2- April 5, 2010
Councilmember Ross asked if the overtime estimate could be reduced.
Mr. Luse stated that in a typical calendar year, the Police Department does not spend its entire
overtime budget and the estimate represents a realistic number.
Councilmember Sanger stated that she did not think seven dispatchers would be enough to cover a
24-7 operation and meet the needs of the City.
Mr. Luse stated that he was comfortable with seven dispatchers based on the City's size. He added
that many Dakota County cities, comparable in size to St. Louis Park, had seven or eight dispatchers
before they joined the countywide system. He also indicated Hopkins currently has 6 dispatchers
and Minnetonka currently has 8 dispatchers for 24/7 independent PSAP operations.
Ms. Gohman stated that staff would continue to monitor the number of dispatchers needed in order
to maintain the level of service currently provided.
The Council discussed the technological needs required under Option B, including the Viper
purchase.
Mr. Harmening pointed out that it would be prudent for the Council to wait a couple of months to
see what takes place with Golden Valley's request to the County and then decide the appropriate
course of action pertaining to the purchase of the Viper system.
Ms. Gohman then presented Option C, which would involve the City contracting with Hennepin
County for PSAP services, and Option D, which consolidates PSAP services with another
independent PSAP. She stated the largest component of Option C involves staffing; in order to
continue to provide value-added services, five Community Service Officers (CSO) would be
required, along with an office assistant and a crime analyst, for a total of seven positions. She added
Option C would reduce costs for MCD and the LOGIS CAD system, and revenue under this
scenario would be zero because the City would not receive 9-1-1 funding.
Councilmember Sanger asked if staff has any reason to suspect that the State might cancel 9-1-1
funding in its quest to balance the State budget.
Mr. Luse replied that 9-1-1 funds are derived from phone billings and staff has not heard that the
State is looking at that money.
Councilmember Finkelstein expressed concern about the City incurring additional expense if it
decides to contract with the County because of the uncertainty surrounding the County's practice of
not charging for PSAP services.
Councilmember Sanger asked if the City would incur any transition costs under Option C. She also
asked how difficult it would be to terminate a contract with the County under this scenario if at
some future time the City determined it did not wish to contract with the County for PSAP services
Mr. Luse stated that through their research, staff learned that Dakota County did not experience the
cost savings they anticipated when they Joined the countywide system.
Special Study Session Minutes -3- April 5, 2010
Mr. Harmening stated that the County has previously discussed the concept of charging a buy-in fee
or a per call fee for new cities coming on to the County's PSAP system. He explained that the
County Administrator has suggested to the County Board that it charge for dispatch services to new
cities coming in to the system, but the Sheriff feels the County should not charge for this service.
He noted that this decision will be a County Board decision and not a Sheriff decision. He stated
that based on the County Board meetings attended by staff, the County Commissioners are
struggling with the concept of charging some cities and not others because of equity issues, and felt
there would be a lot of questions raised if the County Board did this. He added that Golden Valley
is the only city that has asked the County to take them on, but other cities have now become more
engaged in the discussion, including Richfield and Eden Prairie. He stated that the County Board
discussed the idea of undertaking a comprehensive study with respect to PSAP services, including a
review of existing dispatch facilities.
Councilmember Finkelstein stated that the Sheriff is required to provide certain services and the
question is whether the Sheriff can statutorily charge other cities based on a city's timing of coming
on to the County system He added the City is paying for the Sheriff to provide services and the
City is also paying for its own independent PSAP.
Councilmember Sanger stated that consideration could be given to a two-phase approach, i.e.,
assuming Golden Valley is no longer part of the current model, what needs to be done in the short
term and what are the longer term items that need to be considered, including the possibility of
having several cities join together to create one joint PSAP.
Ms. Gohman stated the best case scenario related to option D would be for the City to join another
LOGIS city like Minnetonka or Richfield. Council was also informed that this arrangement has
been looked into with not much success at this time.
Mr. Luse stated he felt the logical next step would be a consolidation of several cities and to
determine whose facility would provide the services. He added that cities like New Hope and
Crystal would work well for consolidation because their model does not depend on ancillary services
of on-site dispatchers. He indicated that in his opinion, the independent PSAPs provide the best
service and represent the most cost-effective model for getting the most out of the taxpayer dollar.
Mr. Harmening stated that staff has met with Commissioner Dorfman and asked her if the County
takes on Golden Valley, whether that opportunity would be available to St. Louis Park, and whether
there would be any cost associated with the County providing that service to the City. He added he
has asked at a couple of County meetings, as have some other cities, whether St. Louis Park has the
option of joining the County if the County is willing to allow Golden Valley to join. He noted that
the County informed the City in 2004 that it would not entertain any other cities until 2012.
Councilmember Sanger stated that Golden Valley appears to have been misinformed regarding its
costs. She asked if this misinformation served as a basis for Golden Valley's request to terminate,
and whether Golden Valley might consider not terminating its contract based on Mr. Harmening's
March 26, 2010 letter of clarification. Mr. Harmening stated he has not heard from Golden Valley,
and agreed to keep the Council updated on Golden Valley's request to the County. He asked if the
Council wished to keep the option of going with the County on the table.
Mayor Jacobs and all Councilmembers replied in the affirmative
Special Study Session Minutes -4- April 5, 2010
Mayor Jacobs expressed the City Council's thanks to staff for their thoughtful analysis and helpful
information contained in the staff report.
The meeting adjourned at 7:06 p.m.
Written Reports provided and documented for recording purposes only.
2. Operation May Day Update (z.___,
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Nancy Stroth, City Clerk Jeff J o s, Mayor