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HomeMy WebLinkAbout67-02 Ordinance RECORD OF ORDINANCES Dayton Lega] Blank, inc. Form No. 30043 Ordinance No. (7-(12 Passed 20 AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO ENTER INTO MULTIPLE MUTUAL AID AGREEMENTS WITH OTHER CENTRAL OHIO JURISDICTIONS FOR SERVICE DEPARTMENT RELATED SUPPORT WHEREAS, all communities in Central Ohio and surrounding jurisdictions could fall victim to any number of potential manmade or natural disasters; and WHEREAS, Public Service/Works Departments stand equipped, staffed and trained to respond to any such challenge; and WHEREAS, local resources can be rapidly exhausted by such disasters thereby causing reliance on other jurisdictions for assistance; and WHEREAS, Eentral Ohio Service/Public Works Departments need a mechanism to allow for the reliable, rapid and smooth response by providing additional resources among and between jurisdictions in times of disaster; and WHEREAS, a Mutual Aid Agreement for Public Service/Works related personnel and equipment is needed among Central Ohio jurisdictions in order to insure their availability and response prior to a County/State disaster/emergency proclamation; and WHEREAS, such Mutual Aid Agreements will formalize existing informal agreements, ensure an ongoing spirit of cooperation and increase the overall level of preparedness in the region. NOW THEREFORE IT BE ORDAINED by the Council of the City of Dublin, State of Ohio ~ of the elected members concurring that: Section 1. The City Manager is hereby authorized to enter into Mutual Aid Agreements for Public Service/Works related services in times of disaster/emergency with both the County-wide Mutual Aid Agreement and/or with other jurisdictions as deemed necessary by the City Manager. Section 2. This ordinance shall take effect and be in force from and after the earliest date allowed by law. Passed this L! ~ a of , 2002 May - Pr mg O tcer ATTEST: Clerk of Council I hereby certify that copies of this Ordinance/Resolution were posted in the City of Dublin in accordance with Section 731.25 of the Ohio Revised Code. ~,a.~ . Cl of Council, Dublin, Ohio Department of Service 6351 Shier-Rings Road, Dublin, Ohio 43016-1243 CITY OF DUBLIN Phone: 614-761-6570 Fax: 614-761-6512 Memo To: All Members Dublin City Council From: Marsha Grigsby, Interim City ManagerlDirector of Finance Initiated by: Dana L. McDaniel, Assistant City Manager/Director of Service Date: April 18, 2002 Re: Ordinance 67-02, Mutual Aid Agreements for Public Service/Works Support Staff recommends approval of Ordinance 67-02 (attached). This Ordinance will authorize the City Manager to seek out interested jurisdictions and enter into Mutual Aid Agreements for Public Service/Works related services during times of emergency and/or disaster. Such Agreements would be entered into with other Central Ohio and surrounding Central Ohio jurisdictions. The Department of Service is well staffed, well equipped, well trained and prepared to respond to emergencies and even naturaUman-made disasters. However, the Department's resources could be exhausted in response to large-scale emergency/disaster. The national emergency management system is designed to and effective at providing assistance when local resources are exhausted. However, these additional resources, while greatly appreciated, may not be as responsive/timely as desired. Mutual Aid Agreements put into place prior to such an emergency/disaster can provide for a more reliable, rapid and smooth response by providing additional resources among and between jurisdictions prior to the County's and the Governor's disaster proclamations. Staff has been working with the Franklin County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) and has discussed this concept with other Central Ohio jurisdictions. All are interested and beginning to move forward on this concept. Additionally, as part of the American Public Works Associations' accreditation process, mutual aid agreements are required and considered to be a nationally accepted management practice. The attached Mutual Aid Agreement is the Agreement to be used. Also attached is a report from legal staff about the Agreement. Staff is content with the level of vagueness in the Agreement. The City cannot and does not desire to force other jurisdictions to assist us. Nor should the City of Dublin desire to be forced to provide support. Central Ohio communities have in the past come to each other's aid on an informal basis. There exists today a spirit of cooperation among area Service Directors, which would likely continue under any circumstance. However, signing into the agreements, combined with other coordination efforts and planning by the Franklin County EMA, will formalize existing informal agreements, ensure an ongoing spirit of cooperation and increase the overall level of preparedness in the region. Please address any questions to Dana McDaniel at mobile: 206-331 or office: 410-4751. Thank you. DLM/tb T:\word\DANA\MEMOS\COUNCIL\Mutual Aid Agreements.doc INTERGOVERNMENTAL EMERGENCY MUTUAL AID AGREEMENT STATE OF OHIO COUNTY OF FRANKLIN WHEREAS, State of Ohio law authorizes local governments to contract with each other to provide services, and WHEREAS, State of Ohio law and state policy also provides for certain reimbursements or financial aid to local government for certain disasters and emergency conditions declared by the Governor, and WHEREAS, the Cities, Villages, and Townships, that are signatories to this agreement, finds it to be their best interest to have such mutual aid agreements with other local governmental bodies in the state and region, NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the above recitals and covenants contained herein, the parties hereto agree as follows: 1. The signatories hereby agree to provide through their Director of Public Service or other designee such mutual aid as may be requested by a governmental unit, which has emergency conditions of a nature or manmade disaster as defined by State of Ohio law. The aid rendered shall be to the extent of available personnel and equipment not required for minimum needs of the their jurisdiction. The judgment of the Director of Public Service or his/her designee shall be final as to the personnel and equipment so available. 2. Personnel dispatched to aid another jurisdiction shall remain employees of the jurisdiction providing aid under this agreement, but shall work under the supervision of the Director of Public Services or his or her designee of the requesting jurisdiction. The jurisdiction providing the aid retains the right to withdraw any and all aid rendered upon direction of their Director of Public Services or his or her designee. 3. The Director of Public Services or his or her designee of the jurisdiction providing aid will provide a list of hourly rates, equipment costs, and hours worked for all such aid to the requesting jurisdiction for all actual costs, and the requesting jurisdiction agree to compensate such claim for costs incurred as expeditiously as possible. 4. The jurisdiction providing aid will maintain workers compensation coverage for its employees and liability coverage for its vehicles and equipment. Any uninsured or extraordinary expenses may be a part of claimed costs for reimbursement. The requesting jurisdiction agrees to maintain adequate liability insurance under state law and to hold harmless and indemnify the jurisdiction providing aid for any and all claims occurring while its personnel and equipment are working under the direction of the Director of Public Services of the requesting jurisdiction. These indemnities shall include attorney's fees and costs that may arise from providing aid pursuant to this agreement. 5. The purpose of these recitals is to insure that the jurisdiction providing aid is reimbursed all costs and assumes no additional liabilities as a result of this agreement. Neither party to this agreement shall be liable for its failure or refusal to render aid pursuant to this agreement. The Director of Public Services (or his /her designee) in charge of operations for the requesting jurisdiction shall in his /her sole discretion determine the manner which such emergency aid may be used. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, this Agreement has been duly executed by the parties subscribed below and is binding upon the jurisdictions that are signatories below. City of Bexley By: Title: Date: Blendon Township By: Title: Date: Village of Brice By: Title: Date: Brown Township By: Title: Date: Village of Canal Winchester By: Title: Date: Clinton Township By: Title: Date: City of Columbus By: Title: Date: City of Dublin By: Title: Date: County of Franklin By: Title: Date: Franklin Township By: Title: Date: City of Gahanna By: Title: Date: City of Grandview Heights By: Title: Date: City of Grove City By: Title: Date: Village of Groveport By: Title: Date: Hamilton Township By: Title: Date: Village of Harrisburg By: Title: Date: City of Hilliard By: Title: Date: Jackson Township By: Title: Date: Jefferson Township By: Title: Date: Village of Lockbourne By: Title: Date: Madison Township By: Title: Date: Village of Marble Cliff By: Title: Date: Mifflin Township By: Title: Date: Village of Minerva Park By: Title: Date: Village of New Albany By: Title: Date: Village of New Rome By: Title: Date: Norwich Township By: Title: Date: Village of Obetz By: Title: Date: Perry Township By: Title: Date: Plain Township By: Title: Date: Pleasant Township By: Title: Date: Prairie Township By: Title: Date: City of Reynoldsburg By: Title: Date: Village of Riverlea By: Title: Date: Sharon Township By: Title: Date: Truro Township By: Title: Date: City of Upper Arlington By: Title: Date: Village of Urbancrest By: Title: Date: Village of Valleyview By: Title: Date: Washington Township By: Title: Date: City of Westerville By: Title: Date: City of Whitehall By: Title: Date: City of Worthington By: Title: Date: Attorney-Client Communication Not a Public Record MEMORANDUM TO: Dana L. McDaniel, Assistant City Manager/Director of Service FROM: Stephen J. Smith, Law Director DATE: March 21, 2002 RE: Intergovernmental Emergency Mutual Aid Agreement INTRODUCTION You asked this office to review a draft cooperative agreement among municipalities entitled "Intergovernmental Emergency Mutual Aid Agreement." The following are our comments. ANALYSIS A. What are Intergovernmental Agreements? It is often beneficial for municipalities that are in close proximity to each other to cooperate with each other in the provision of certain services. The most common form of cooperation involves a formal contract for services between two jurisdictions under which one government agrees to provide a service to another government for an agreed price. For example, a city may contract with another city for law enforcement services. Mutual aid arrangements between subdivisions are approved by the state pursuant to Ohio Revised Code §5502.29, which states: Political subdivisions, in collaboration with other public and private agencies within this state, may develop mutual aid arrangements for reciprocal emergency management aid and assistance in case of any hazard too great to be dealt with unassisted. Such arrangements shall be consistent with the rules adopted by the director of public safety under section 5505.25 of the Revised Code. In time of any hazard, each political subdivision may render assistance in accordance with such mutual aid arrangements. Such mutual aid arrangements shall not in any manner relieve the chief executive of any political subdivision of the responsibility for either entering into a written agreement establishing a countywide emergency management agency under section 5502.26 of the Revised Code, entering into a written agreement establishing a regional authority for emergency management under section 5502.27 of the Revised Code, or establishing a program for emergency management under section 5502.271 [5502.27.1] of the Revised Code. Under this statute, public agency is very broadly defined as any agency, political subdivision, or unit of local government of this State. This statute is also broad enough to encompass law enforcement services, fire protection services, jail services, court services and emergency dispatch services. B. Pros and Cons of Intergovernmental Agreements. 1. Advantages of Agreements • Increased efficiency can be attained by establishing optimum-size operating units on a function- by-function basis. • Underutilized and expensive equipment, facilities and manpower can be shared. Seldom used or expensive facilities and equipment and specialized personnel may be better utilized. • A local government can obtain a service or a product which it cannot produce itself or can produce only at a prohibitively high cost. • Duplication of efforts may be eliminated and overall service efficiency increased. • A problem affecting several local governments can be solved without changing the basic structure of the local government system. • Intergovernmental service arrangements can enhance the service capabilities of small local governments by allowing them to provide specialized services to their residents that they may not otherwise be able to afford. • Intergovernmental service contracts allow local governments to avoid start-up costs of purchasing new equipment or hiring staff to provide a particular service. 2. Limitations on Use of Agreements • Poorly drafted agreements which do not provide adequate definitions of expected service levels and contractor responsibilities can cause friction between participating jurisdictions. • Smaller jurisdictions contracting for services from a larger jurisdiction may fear loss of control over service delivery. Clearly drawn contract specifications may somewhat reduce this problem. • It may be difficult to distribute costs and services equitably among participating agencies. • Retirement, insurance, and other overhead costs may be difficult to compute and distribute. C. Types of Agreements The opportunities for sharing are substantial and are not limited to services, but may also include sharing personnel facilities and equipment. 1. Personnel. Local governments may share not only services, but also personnel, such as secretaries, clerks, computer operators and financial analysts. The method of contracting is similar to other types of services. However, the agreement should include provisions detailing the personnel procedures (hiring, dismissing, promoting, paying, etc.). 2. Equipment. Equipment is a natural for sharing and the advantages of common ownership help all the participants: reduced acquisition costs, reduced annual maintenance, lesser programming expenses and smaller office space requirements. The costs can either be split in the cost of purchasing or leasing the equipment, or one municipality can buy the equipment and rent or lease it to the others. In this situation, the purchasing municipality may wish to create an Interlocal Government Rental Agreement, which may include the following provisions: a) The purpose of the contract; b) A section providing for the duties, rights and responsibilities of each party to the agreement; c) Rental charges for the equipment; d) Liability of each party spelled out in detail (it is recommended that the city owning the equipment carry its own insurance for damage against the equipment); and e) An explanation of the rental procedure. 3. Facilities. Municipalities may engage in the joint occupancy of facilities either as partner, landlord or tenant. If the agreement or contract is being made to purchase or rent arevenue-producing building or facility, some method may be specified for the return to the parties of their original investment as well as the payment to either party of any revenues produced by the facility. The time periods for payment should also be specified. D. Analysis of Proposed Intergovernmental Mutual Emergency Aid Agreement. The proposed agreement is fairly broad and gives each municipality much discretion in determining whether to offer aid to another municipality. For example, although the first paragraph purports to require each governmental unit to provide such aid as may be requested by another governmental unit in case of emergency, the aid that must be rendered is only to the extent the providing agency has available personnel and equipment. The providing agency's Service Director's decision cannot be questioned in this regard. Further, paragraph two permits the providing agency to remove personnel at any time. Paragraph three states that the requesting agency will reimburse the aiding jurisdiction, but no real timeline is given for such reimbursement. In sum, the draft proposal is not comprehensive and does not contain language that has much binding effect on the participating agencies. If Dublin simply wants to show its support for this concept, which the Franklin County Emergency Management Agency is spearheading, Dublin could sign the agreement, and will not have much of an obligation to provide services. However, if Dublin's wish is to ensure that both Dublin and the other participating agencies are locked into helping each other in emergency situations, the draft agreement should be significantly revised to provide a more detailed and comprehensive document. CONCLUSION The Intergovernmental Mutual Emergency Aid Agreement contains few concrete requirements and offers Dublin plenty of flexibility in deciding whether to aid another member municipality. However, because it is so open-ended, Dublin would have a difficult time forcing any other municipality to offer aid to Dublin. If Dublin would like to make the agreement more definitive, we would be happy to offer suggested revisions. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions regarding this matter.