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Item 4.1 Albertville Fire Services Contract Amendment Request for City Council Action DEPARTMENT INFORMATION ORIGINATING DEPARTMENT REQUESTOR: MEETING DATE: Administration City Administrator/Finance Director Flaherty October 28, 2024 PRESENTER(s) REVIEWED BY: ITEM #: Administration 4.1 – Fire Services Agreement STRATEGIC VISION MEETS: THE CITY OF OTSEGO: Is a strong organization that is committed to leading the community through innovative communication. Has proactively expanded infrastructure to responsibly provide core services. X Is committed to delivery of quality emergency service responsive to community needs and expectations in a cost-effective manner. Is a social community with diverse housing, service options, and employment opportunities. Is a distinctive, connected community known for its beauty and natural surroundings. AGENDA ITEM DETAILS RECOMMENDATION: City staff is recommending that the City Council review and discuss amendments to a Fire Protection Agreement. ARE YOU SEEKING APPROVAL OF A CONTRACT? IS A PUBLIC HEARING REQUIRED? Yes No BACKGROUND/JUSTIFICATION: The City contracts with the City of Albertville for fire protection and emergency medical services within their designated coverage area within Otsego. In addition, the City of Albertville provides for automatic aid services to the Fire Departments from Elk River and Rogers across the entire City for structure fires and will respond to mutual aid requests from those respective departments when requested. The most recent and current contract with Albertville was approved in November 2022 and was effective January 1, 2023. The City of Albertville provided City staff on October 24, 2025, an amended Fire Protection Agreement for consideration by the City Council. City staff is presenting the amended Fire Protection Agreement for review and discussion and will highlight any amendments that vary from the current contract. City staff would request the City Council provide staff with any requested changes, or clarification necessary that will be communicated to the City of Albertville. The City Attorney has been provided the amended agreement and will be available to provide comments at the meeting. SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS ATTACHED: • Amended Fire Protection Agreement POSSIBLE MOTION PLEASE WORD MOTION AS YOU WOULD LIKE IT TO APPEAR IN THE MINUTES: Motion to approve the Fire Protection Agreement, as amended, between the City of Albertville and the City of Otsego. BUDGET INFORMATION FUNDING: BUDGETED: Fund 101 – General – Fire Protection (42200) Yes FIRE PROTECTION AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OF OTSEGO This agreement is made and entered into by and between the City of Albertville (Albertville), a municipal corporation located in the County of Wright, State of Minnesota, and the City of Otsego (Otsego), a municipal corporation located in the County of Wright, State of Minnesota. WHEREAS, Otsego desires the fire protection and emergency medical services response of the Fire Department of Albertville, in case of emergencies occurring in Otsego; and WHEREAS, Albertville maintains a Fire Department with emergency response capability, which the Fire Department is available to provide fire protection and emergency medical services response to properties located in Otsego; and WHEREAS, Otsego has contracted for fire protection and emergency services from Albertville since prior to Otsego’s incorporation as a City, and during that time the two cities together have developed a fire service fee formula, interviewed and hired an Albertville Fire Chief, approved equipment purchases and studied shared fire service; and WHEREAS, Otsego has decided not to pursue shared fire service with Albertville and has approved Resolution #2023-78 authorizing the establishment of Otsego’s own Fire and Emergency Services Department; and WHEREAS, it is projected that after December 31, 2026, all emergency response to areas inside the corporate limits of Otsego will be provided by Otsego’s Fire and Emergency Services Department; and WHEREAS, it is understood any future shared emergency response between the two departments will require a fire protection agreement for service; and WHEREAS, the fire service fee formula is designed to treat Albertville and Otsego residents equally and the two parties agree and understand this formula is based on the cost of operating and maintaining a fire department capable of providing adequate response to meet the needs of its service area rather than to result in a year-end surplus. THEREFORE, it is agreed by and between said parties as follows: 1. Albertville, through its Fire Department, shall provide primary fire protection and emergency medical response services, attached as Exhibit A to this Agreement, to those properties in Otsego identified on the Fire Service Area (FSA) map, attached as Exhibit B to this Agreement. Such primary fire protection and emergency medical services response shall be provided from January 1st, 2025, to December 31st, 2025, unless earlier otherwise terminated pursuant to the terms of this Agreement. A. Otsego may adjust the FSA effective January 1st of any year by providing Albertville with an amended exhibit B no later than September 1st of the preceding year. 2. Otsego shall pay Albertville a Fire Service Fee (“Fire Service Fee”) annually according to the formula set forth in this paragraph in exchange for the provision of fire protection and emergency medical services response as described in Exhibit A. Albertville shall invoice, and Otsego shall pay, the amount due for each year, in two equal installments, due on or before every January 31, 2025, and July 31, 2025. The Fire Service Fee shall be calculated by multiplying the adjusted Fire Department budget, as set by the Albertville City Council, for the year fire service is to be provided (consisting of the Fire Department budget less state fire aids received) times the value of the Taxable Tax Capacity within the FSA that is located in Otsego for the year prior to the year service is to be provided divided by the total Taxable Tax Capacity of the entire FSA for the year prior to the year service is to be provided. divided by the total Taxable Tax Capacity of the entire FSA, where the Taxable Tax Capacity is the Taxable Tax Capacity used to calculate the real property taxes due in the year fire service is provided. For example, if the Fire Department budget for 2025 is $1,200,000 is $380,000, the Taxable Tax Capacity of the FSA in Otsego in 2024 is $16,200,000, and the total Taxable Tax Capacity of the entire FSA in 2024 is $27,800,000, then Otsego’s annual payment to Albertville for 2025 would be approximately $699,280, calculated as $1,200,000 times ($16,200,000/$27,800,000). is $3,000,000, and the total Taxable Tax Capacity of the entire FSA is $10,000,000, then Otsego’s annual payment to Albertville for that year under this Agreement would be $114,000, calculated as $380,000 times ($3,000,000/$10,000,000). Albertville shall issue a statement to Otsego by August 1, 2025, of each year detailing the following year’s estimated Fire Service Fee amount due. In the event that Otsego disputes Albertville’s calculations or the basis for the calculations, the parties shall, within thirty (30) days after such objections are delivered to Albertville, meet and negotiate in good faith a resolution to the objections. 3. Albertville shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that it has at all times adequate firefighting and medical personnel and equipment available and ready to provide fire and emergency medical services protection to Otsego’s citizens and property as provided for in this Agreement. 4. Albertville shall at all times, keep in place liability insurance coverage to protect Otsego’s interests and to fulfill Albertville’s obligations under this Agreement in at least the amount of the maximum tort liability limits set forth in Minn. Stat. 466.04. 5. Albertville shall fully indemnify, hold harmless and defend Otsego from all claims arising out of the negligence of Albertville, its employees, officers or agents in performing its duties under this Agreement, provided such indemnification shall not exceed the maximum tort liability limits set forth in Minn. Stat. 466.04. 6. Albertville’s obligation to provide fire protection and emergency medical services response shall be subject to the following: a. If road and weather conditions at the time of the call are such that the fire/medical run cannot be made with reasonable safety to personnel and equipment, in the opinion of the Fire Chief or their his Deputy in charge, no obligation arises under this agreement on the part of Albertville to answer such call and no person or party shall have recourse against Albertville or Otsego for reasonable refusal to answer such call. b. In the event that a sufficient amount of the firefighting/medical equipment and the number of firefighters, or both, are committed at the time of the fire call to fighting pre-existing fires or attending a pre-existing emergency, so as to render the available equipment and manpower inadequate to answer a fire or medical call from Otsego, in sole judgment of the Fire Chief or their his Deputy, to fighting pre-existing fires or attending a pre-existing emergency, so as to render the available equipment and manpower inadequate to answer a fire or medical call from Otsego, no obligation shall arise under this agreement to answer such call, provided that Albertville makes all reasonable efforts to answer the fire or medical call in Otsego, including requests for mutual aid. c. In the event a fire or other emergency call by Otsego is answered by Albertville, but before the fire in question is extinguished or the emergency is fully abated, the firefighting equipment, emergency equipment, or firefighters, or any combination thereof, are needed to fight another fire or respond to another emergency elsewhere in the FSA, the Chief or their his Deputy without liability therefore to any person or to Otsego under this agreement, may in his reasonable judgment, redeploy the firefighting equipment, firefighters and emergency response equipment as they deem necessary given the competing emergency situations. If a decision is made to leave a pre-existing emergency fire in Otsego, Albertville shall utilize all resources reasonably at its disposal to provide alternative services to address the emergency extinguish the fire in Otsego, including requests for mutual aid. The reasonable judgment of the Fire Chief or their his Deputy shall be final, and no person or party shall have recourse against Albertville or Otsego for any damages or losses resulting from such action or decision. d. The parties acknowledge that Albertville has entered into mutual aid contracts with other Fire Departments in other municipalities, and that in the event of concurrent fire calls or other concurrent emergencies within the FSA, Albertville will call for mutual aid to serve one or all such emergencies as deemed necessary by the Fire Chief or their his Deputy. e. Third parties shall have no recourse under this Agreement against either party to the Agreement. f. Because the Albertville has heretofore entered into mutual assistance firefighting agreements with other municipalities possessing firefighting equipment and firefighters, which equipment and firefighters could be called by the Chief or their his Deputy to a fire or other emergency in Otsego, Otsego agrees to pay such additional cost as may be incurred thereby if, in the sole reasonable judgment of the Chief or their his Deputy, such additional firefighting equipment/emergency response equipment and firefighters are needed to respond to an emergency in Otsego and are in fact called to such emergency by the Chief or their his Deputy. Otsego shall be provided an itemized list and explanation for any additional costs incurred under this section and billed to Otsego. g. Otsego shall adopt an emergency services response fee ordinance that imposes a fee upon vehicle-related emergency responses occurring within the FSA that are responded to by Albertville. Such ordinance shall adopt the same fee schedule as Albertville’s Ordinance Establishing Charges for Emergency Response Services for vehicle-related emergency responses. All such fees collected by Otsego shall be remitted to Albertville. 7. This Agreement shall run for the period set forth in paragraph 1 commence on January 1st, 2023 and shall remain in effect for the term stated unless earlier unless, and until, terminated as provided below: A. By Agreement i. This Agreement may be terminated at any time during its term by mutual agreement of the parties. Such mutual agreement to terminate shall be in writing and shall be effective when fully executed by both parties. B. By Either Party i. Either party may terminate this Agreement by serving a 365-day written notice of termination to the other party. This Agreement shall terminate on the December 31st following the 365-days from the date of written notice of termination, unless the party serving the notice specifies a later date of termination or withdraws the notice of termination in writing before it is effective. BC. By Albertville i. If Otsego fails to pay for services as provided in this Agreement hereof, Albertville may terminate this Agreement upon 60 days’ written termination notice. ii. If Otsego fails to reimburse Albertville for mutual aid costs as provided in this Agreement hereof or fails to collect and forward to Albertville penalties for false alarms as provided in this Agreement hereof, Albertville may give 30 days’ notice to make payment or settle any dispute. In the event that payment is not made, or any dispute is not resolved within the 30-day period, Albertville may terminate this Agreement upon 60 180 days written termination notice. CD. Effect of Termination i. In the event this Agreement is terminated, Otsego shall still be responsible for paying in full any amount owed to Albertville for Services provided under this Agreement up to the date of termination. Notice to either party shall be made to the Office of the City Clerk. 8. Albertville shall provide Otsego with 2026’s proposed fire budget and Otsego’s 2026 estimated fire service fee amount by August 1, 2025. Otsego shall notify Albertville by September 1, 2025, as to whether it desires to enter into a contract for fire protection with Albertville for 2026. If Otsego desires to enter into such a contract for fire protection with Albertville for 2026, such contract shall be agreed to and be executed by the parties no later than September 23, 2025. 9. If Albertville and Otsego do not enter into a fire protection agreement for the 2026 calendar year, Albertville shall have no obligation to provide fire protection and/or emergency medical services response to the Otsego FSA after December 31, 2025. In such event, Otsego shall mail a notice to every address within the Otsego FSA notifying the owners/occupants of such properties that Albertville shall no longer provide such emergency response to those properties 108. Albertville shall provide Otsego an incident report for every structure fire occurring in the FSA, in a format that is agreeable to both the Fire Department and Otsego. 119. Albertville, as primary responder for at least one calendar year, is entitled, by MN Statute Chapter 477B and Minn. Stat. § 423A.022, to collect the Fire State Aid and Supplemental State Aid for the Otsego FSA. Albertville shall require the Otsego City Administrator to review the Minnesota Department of Revenue Apportionment Agreement of Fire Service Area Form annually with any Fire Departments providing fire protection to the Otsego and apportion the population and estimated market value (EMV) of the property in the jointly covered area (Minn. Stat. § 69.021, subd. 7, para. (c)). This review shall be completed prior to July 1st of each calendar year. If any changes to the apportionment percentages are necessary, these changes shall be signed by all individual Fire Departments and submitted to the MN Department of Revenue prior to August 1st of that same calendar year, to allow the changes to take effect the next calendar year. This change will then be reflected in each individual Fire Department’s Minnesota Department of Revenue Form FA-1, Fire Equipment Certification. 1210. All parties acknowledge that excessive false alarms constitute a public nuisance. Otsego agrees to enact a false alarm ordinance substantially similar to that in force in Albertville and to enforce such false alarm ordinance and to collect and forward to Albertville penalties and fees collected from properties within the FSA for excessive false alarms. 1311. Albertville shall enforce its false alarm ordinance. 1412. Albertville owns all fire/rescue equipment used by the Fire Department and shall have the sole discretion to determine when and how to dispose of such equipment, provided, however, that the proceeds from the sale of such equipment shall be credited to Albertville’s Fire Department fund. 1513. Albertville owns the fire hall and shall have the sole discretion to determine when and how to dispose of it, provided, however, that the proceeds from the sale of the fire hall shall be credited to Albertville’s Fire Department fund. 8. Commencing on January 1st, 2023, Albertville shall undertake required Fire Inspections within the Albertville FSA of Otsego. a. Process and Indemnification i. Otsego shall provide to Albertville a list of sites that require biennial fire inspections. ii. Albertville shall provide to Otsego, at the time of billing, documentation and reports (in written or electronic format) regarding each inspection setting forth the address of the site inspected, the time spent on the inspection, observations made at the site, and the result of the inspection. iii. Albertville shall defend, hold harmless and fully indemnify Otsego from any and all claims or causes of action of whatever nature resulting from or arising from the fire inspections undertaken pursuant to this Agreement. However, nothing in this Agreement shall waive any immunities or liability caps applicable to Albertville under Minnesota statutory or case law, including Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 466. b. Reimbursement for Fire Inspection Services i. Otsego shall pay to Albertville, upon receipt of properly detailed billing, $50.00 per hour only for time spent on fire inspection within Otsego. No additional costs such as mileage will be paid above the $50.00 per hour above stated. 16. Commencing January 1st, 2025, all requests for Fire Code information, Fire Inspections, and Fire Safety / Public Event Attendance in the Otsego portion of the FSA shall be handled by the Otsego Emergency Services Department. 17. That certain Fire Protection Agreement between Otsego and Albertville dated November 8, 2022, shall be terminated effective at the end of the day on December 31, 2024. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have hereunto set their hands and seals this ________ day of _________________________, 20242. CITY OF ALBERTVILLE CITY OF OTSEGO By: ___________________________ By: _________________________ Jillian Hendrickson, Mayor Jessica Stockamp, Mayor ATTEST: ___________________________ _________________________ Kris Luedke, City Clerk Audra Etzel, City Clerk EXHIBIT A: SERVICES Albertville’s Fire Department agrees to provide primary response to Otsego for the following services, subject to the terms and conditions of the Agreement:  Structural Firefighting, specifically: o Exterior Structural Firefighting o Interior Structural Firefighting  Grass/Wildland Firefighting  Other Firefighting, specifically: o Vehicle & Equipment Firefighting  Technical Rescue, specifically: o Vehicle & Equipment Extrication o General Search and Rescue o Surface Ice and Water Rescue  Other, specifically: o Investigation of Fire and Carbon Monoxide Alarms  Hazardous Materials Response, specifically: o Haz-Mat Awareness Level o Haz-Mat Operations Level  Emergency Medical Services, specifically: o Emergency Medical Responder Level to Medical Emergencies as requested by Allina Health EMS Dispatch and/or Wright County Dispatch o Emergency Medical Responder Level to Personal Injury Accidents as requested by Allina Health EMS Dispatch and/or Wright County Dispatch  Disaster Response, specifically: o Initial response for rescue, life-safety and incident stabilization (not including emergency management related functions) EXHIBIT B Fire Service Area (FSA)