ALACHUA COUNTY
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Jack Durrance Auditorium
Second Floor
12 SE 1st Street
9:00AM
May 23, 2017 BoCC Regular Meeting
Agenda Item #11.
Agenda Item Name:
Cancellation of the Fire Services Assistance Agreement (FSAA) effective June 1, 2018
Item Description:
Cancellation of the Fire Services Assistance Agreement (FSAA) effective June 1, 2018.
Recommended Action:
Send cancellation letter to the City of Gainesville for a cancelation date effective 6/1/2018.
Prior Board Motions
At the October 10, 2006 BoCC meeting, the Fire Service Assistance Agreement (FSAA) was approved and
replaced the Designated Assistance Agreement (DAA) between the County and City for mutual aid in fire
responses.
At the November 10, 2015 BoCC meeting, Commissioner Cornell moved the following:
1. Hear the presentation and direct staff to negotiate an amendment to the FSAA or a new Interlocal agreement
with the City of Gainesville based on the transition plan. 2. Authorize staff to expend funds to identify new
locations. 3. Direct the County Manager to review the site plan and the design and bring back recommendations
with regards to the cost.
Commissioner Pinkoson presented comments to the Board.
The motion carried 5-0.
Fiscal Consideration:
The County will be obligated in FY18 for payments under the FSAA agreement for October 1, 2017 to May 31,
2018 (eight months). Currently, the County has $1.2M budgeted in FY18 for the FSAA payment.
Background:
The Fire Services Assistance Agreement between Alachua County and the City of Gainesville was originally
signed in October 2006. This agreement has a cancellation clause (Section 9) that requires a written three
hundred sixty-five (365) day notification to the other party.
Since the time that development occurred around the City of Gainesville (City) the County has relied on the
City to provide fire protection and since 1985 to provide first response medical services. During the late 1980’s
the City Fire Chief determined that the number of responses from City stations had exceeded the level of
effective service from City locations and recommended that the County Commission build fire stations to serve
the citizens who lived outside of the City. At the time, the City offered to enter into an agreement where the
City would operate the new stations. The BoCC at the time realized it was time to begin providing a more
appropriate level of fire protection and began planning for the construction and staffing of stations around the
City. Given the cost estimates provided by the City, the BoCC elected to build stations and operate these new
stations with County employees. It was then that the County Commission decided that the cost for the City to
provide these services exceeded what the County could provide protection for and opened the first ACFR
station in the urban cluster around the City. There are areas that the County has chosen to have the City be the
primary service provider due to limited connector roads, Millhopper Rd is an example. Since the first
reciprocal service agreement was signed in the 1990’s, several agreements have been in place that resulted in
the County paying the City for those services with the latest agreement being the current FSAA. With the
exception of years FY10 through FY14, the County has paid the City for fire services.
In 2014, the City placed a squad unit (Squad 2) in-service near ACFR Station 19 to minimize the cost of fire
protection in southwest Gainesville. The purpose of the placement of this additional unit was to mitigate the
financial impact of Engine 19’s responses into the City. The additional impact could have resulted in costs
incurred to the County by paying for responses for this squad unit into the County. The 2006 Fire Services
Assistance Agreement (FSAA) required all fire stations to be built consistent with the Fire Services Master
Plan and listed all of the units designated for compensation under that agreement. After County staff refused to
consider Squad 2 for compensation into the County, City staff directed the Communications Center to stop
dispatching the unit into the County as part of the automatic aid practices.
In 2015, Alachua County and City Commissions adopted an amendment to the 2006 FSAA that suspended the
compensation section of the agreement for FY2016 and FY2017. Using the first six months of FY17, it appears
as though the cost to the County under this agreement may approach $1.7mil in FY18 when the compensation
section returns. When compared to the FY16 cost of the agreement which would have been $1.5mil, the
growth would indicate that the cost under the FSAA could be closer to $2mil in FY18. As in 1989 when the
County decided to reallocate funds to improve fire protection in the unincorporated areas, and the 2014
decision by the City Commission to reallocate funds from the cost of the agreement to expand their services,
the cost to the County has reached a point where real improvements in the delivery of service can be made by
shifting funds from the FSAA.
In 2004, and again in 2012 the County Commission adopted the Fire and EMS Master plans. Both plans made
recommendations for additional fire station locations in the county. As growth has continued to expand the
service territory for Fire Rescue, service delivery is slower in areas that expect urban cluster levels of
protection. Development has occurred near Williston Road and also SW 24th Ave and 122nd Street that are not
currently located within 5 miles of a fire station. The cost to residents in the unincorporated areas of the County
under the FSAA could be more appropriately spent by changing the service delivery models and for the County
to add engine resources in the unincorporated sections of the County.