SCC Item 2. 2026 Fire Protection Agreement City of AlbertvilleTO: Mayor and Councilmembers
FROM: Adam Flaherty, City Administrator/Finance Director
DATE: September 8, 2025
SUBJECT: Fire Protection Agreement
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
The City contracts with the City of Albertville for fire protection and emergency medical services within their designated
coverage area within the 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 2024 and provides service from
January 1, 2025, to December 31, 2025. The Albertville City Council reviewed a draft of an amended agreement for
services in 2026 at their meeting on August 18, 2025. This amended agreement was provided to the City of Otsego on
August 21, 2025.
City staff are presenting the amended Fire Protection Agreement for review and discussion. The Albertville Fire Chief has
prepared an accompanying memorandum, which is attached, and City staff will highlight any amendments from the
current contract.
The City Attorney has completed review of the amended agreement and will be available during this meeting to provide
any comment and answer any questions from the City Council.
If the City Council is agreeable to the amended agreement, City staff would recommend consideration of approval
during this meeting. However, if the City Council has any requested changes, needs additional clarification, or other
questions, those should be provided to City staff and will be communicated to the City of Albertville.
Materials Attached for Discussion
1)Memorandum from Albertville Fire Chief Bullen
2)2026 Fire Protection Agreement (redlined)
SCC Item 2.
Albertville Fire Department
5959 Main Avenue NE * P.O. Box 9 *Albertville, MN 55301 * Phone 763-497-3384 x 107
Adam,
Please see the attached Draft 2026 Fire Protection Agreement as reviewed by the Albertville
City Council on August 18th, 2025.
Below are summary bullets for the proposed updates:
• Paragraph 1 = Updates the period of the agreement.
• Paragraph 2 = Updates the dates of invoicing and payments; and the approximate
Fire Department budget and the Otsego share of the Fire Service Fee. Removes the
requirement for providing a 2027 estimated Fire Service Fee to Otsego, as no Fire
Protection Agreement is expected to be needed in 2027.
• Paragraph 7,B,iii = Outlines the termination notification of the Fire Protection
Agreement should the City of Otsego hire any member of the Albertville Fire
Department for a volunteer or paid-on-call first responder and/or firefighter position
on the Otsego Fire and Emergency Services Department.
• Paragraph 7,C,I = Clarifies the responsibility of payments made by Otsego to
Albertville.
• Paragraph 8 = Removes the requirement for providing a proposed fire budget for
2027, and the requirement for Otsego to notify Albertville whether it desires to enter
into a contract, as no Fire Protection Agreement is expected to be needed in 2027.
• Paragraph 9 = A reminder that at the termination of the 2026 Fire Protection
Agreement, the Albertville Fire Department will have no obligation to respond to any
calls in Otsego unless a written Dispatch and/or Fire Protection Agreement is in
place.
o The understanding, by both Cities, should be that “Mutual Aid”, absent a
written agreement, is not supported.
• Paragraph 11 = Reiterating that as primary responder in the “Albertville Fire District”
portion of the Otsego Fire Service area, Albertville is statutorily entitled to collect
Fire State Aid for 2026 and 2027.
• Paragraph 16 = Removes the old date of when the Otsego Fire and Emergency
Services Department began handling local initiatives.
• Paragraph 17 = States that Otsego shall not hire any member of the Albertville Fire
Department for a volunteer or paid-on-call first responder and/or firefighter position
on the Otsego Fire and Emergency Services Department for the length of the
Agreement.
o The hiring of any Albertville Fire Department members, by Otsego, before or
during 2026 will diminish the personnel available to respond to calls and
dilute the fighting force of the Albertville Fire Department. If the Albertville
Fire Department does not have sufficient personnel to respond to the needs
of the Fire Protection Agreement, as outlined in Paragraph 3 of the
Agreement, the Agreement would need to be terminated.
o This does not apply to anyone hired in a part-time capacity on the Otsego
Community Risk Reduction Team.
• Paragraph 18 = Added a clause specifying that Albertville will be the only responder
in the Fire Service Area.
o The previous Otsego Emergency Services Director had inquired about co-
response, or “shadowing”, by the Otsego Fire and Emergency Services
Department on calls for service in Otsego in 2026. This paragraph prohibits
that action. The Albertville Fire Department Board of Officers believes that
this practice adds a layer of uncertainty to if and/or when Otsego would
respond to any calls and hinders consistency and timeliness of emergency
response. The Albertville Fire Department budget and the Fire Protection
Agreement do not account for the training and/or mentoring of Otsego Fire
and Emergency Services Department personnel by the Albertville Fire
Department.
• Paragraph 19 = Removes language from the 2025 Fire Protection Agreement that is
no longer applicable.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks!
Albertville Fire Department
5959 Main Ave NE | PO Box 9 | Albertville, MN 55301
Office: 763-497-3384 x 107 I Fax: 763-497-3210
Email: EricB@albertvillemn.gov
www.albertvillemn.gov
2026 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 which 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, identified as “Albertville Fire District”,
attached as Exhibit B to this Agreement. Such primary fire protection and emergency medical
services response shall be provided from January 1st, 2026, to December 31st, 2026, unless
earlier terminated pursuant to the terms of this Agreement.
2. Otsego shall pay Albertville a Fire Service Fee (“Fire Service Fee”) 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 in two equal installments, due on or before January 31, 2026, and
July 31, 2026. The Fire Service Fee shall be calculated by multiplying the Fire Department
budget, as set by the Albertville City Council, for the year fire service is to be provided 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. For example, if the Fire
Department budget for 2026 is $1,800,000, the Taxable Tax Capacity of the FSA in Otsego
in 2025 is $16,400,000, and the total Taxable Tax Capacity of the entire FSA in 2025 is
$30,400,000, then Otsego’s annual payment to Albertville for 2026 would be approximately
$972,000, calculated as $1,200,000 times ($16,200,000/$27,800,000). Albertville shall issue
a statement to Otsego by August 1, 2025, 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 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 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 Deputy, 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 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 in Otsego, Albertville
shall utilize all resources reasonably at its disposal to provide alternative services to
address the emergency in Otsego, including requests for mutual aid. The reasonable
judgment of the Fire Chief or their 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 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 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 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 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 and shall remain in effect for
the term stated unless earlier 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 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 days written termination notice.
iii. If Otsego hires any member of the Albertville Fire Department for a volunteer or
paid-on-call first responder and/or firefighter position on the Otsego Fire and
Emergency Services Department, Albertville may terminate this agreement upon
30 days written termination notice.
C. 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 all payments required by 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.
8. Should Albertville and Otsego do not enter into a fire protection agreement for the 2027
calendar year, Albertville shall have no obligation to provide fire protection and/or emergency
medical services response to the Otsego FSA after December 31, 2026. In such event, Otsego
shall mail a notice to every address within the Otsego portion of the FSA notifying the
owners/occupants of such properties that Albertville shall no longer provide such emergency
response to those properties.
9. Upon termination of this Agreement, Albertville shall have no obligation to respond in any
capacity to any call for service in Otsego, unless Albertville and Otsego have entered into a
written Dispatch and/or Fire Protection Agreement.
10. 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.
11. Albertville, as primary responder for at least one calendar year for all of 2026, is entitled, by
MN Statute Chapter 477B and Minn. Stat. § 423A.022, to collect the Fire State Aid and
Supplemental State Aid for the “Albertville Fire District” portion of 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.
12. 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.
13. Albertville shall enforce its false alarm ordinance.
14. 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.
15. 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.
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 Fire and Emergency Services Department.
17. Otsego shall not hire any member of the Albertville Fire Department for a volunteer or paid-
on-call first responder and/or firefighter position on the Otsego Fire and Emergency Services
Department for the length of the Agreement.
18. The Otsego Fire and Emergency Services Department shall not respond, or co-respond, to any
call for service in the FSA during 2026. At no time, shall the members of the Albertville Fire
Department be under the direction of a member of the Otsego Fire and Emergency Services
Department.
19. 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 _________________________, 2025.
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)