1b. SW Mutal Aid Assoc Agreement � - /b
CITYOF
--
. CHANHASSEN
690 COULTER DRIVE • P.O. BOX 147 • CHANHASSEN MINNESOTA 55317
' (612) 937-1900 • FAX (612) 937-5739n 6Y ,�+1"'��st"atcr
Endcm0 P-4//14-
' MEMORANDUM
ReJect i'
TO: Don Ashworth, City Manager
Date Sc:m; ed to GC;-.17, s t
' FROM: Jim Chaffee, Public Safety Director
Date C12 t ift d to Coned
DATE: May 4 , 1990 4146
SUBJ: Mutual Aid Agreement to Join the Southwest Fire League
As we discussed, it is the desire of Chanhassen Public Safety and
the Chanhassen Volunteer Fire Department to join and participate
in the Southwest Fire League. The Southwest Fire League is a
' consortium of fire departments with the primary goal to provide
mutual aid and assist member fire departments .
' The paramount importance of membership in this league centers on
the availability of hazardous material specialists. At this
time, we are not prepared to handle advanced hazardous material
response incidents . Because of the costs and time associated
with becoming Level III Hazardous Material Specialists, it does
not appear likely that in the near future we will have this capa-
bility.
' As such, it benefits us greatly to participate in a group such as
the Southwest Fire League where they have trained specialists
' that can help us in a short amount of time.
The cost to join the league is $25.00 per a year . With that goes
the understanding that the City of Chanhassen would provide
' mutual aid to any member community -requesting it..
RECOMMENDATION:
It is staff ' s recommendation to join the Southwest Fire League
with a yearly cost of $25.00. : It is further recommended that the
' agreement - Southwest Mutual Aid Association, be signed by the
City Manager and the Mayor.
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AGREEMENT - SOUTHWEST MUTUAL AID ASSOCIATION
THIS AGREEMENT, made and entered into by and between the follow-
' ing municipal corporations: Bloomington, Chanhassen, Eden Prairie,
Edina, Golden Valley, Hopkins, Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan
Airport Commission Minnetonka, Plymouth, Richfield, St. Louis Park,
' V.A. Fort Snelling.
WHEREAS the said municipalities desire to make available to each
' other their respective fire-fighting equipment and personnel in the
case of emergencies, and each of said municipalities has legal author-
, ity to send its fire-fighting equipment and personnel into other com-
munities,
' NOW THEREFORE IT IS MUTUALLY AGREED AS FOLLOWS:
' That in consideration of the mutual covenants, agreements, and
undertakings hereinafter set forth each of the parties hereto agrees
to furnish fire-fighting assistance to any of the others when called
upon by the fire chief or fire department officer in charge of any of
the other parties hereto subject to the following conditions to wit:
1. That road and weather conditions must be such that the fire
run can be made with reasonable safety to men and equipment, and the
' decision of the fire chief or other fire department officer in charge,
shall be final in such matters.
2. That in the event all of the fire apparatus and all or most
' of the members of the fire department of any community so called upon
for fire assistance by one of the other parties hereto are in use in
' said community at the time the call comes in from the other party, or
in the discretion of the fire chief or other fire department officers
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in charge may be needed in said community, the said community shall be
held free and relieved from all liability to make said run or to '
respond to said call.
3. That in the event any apparatus and members of the fire de- '
partment of any community engaged in fire fighting for the benefit of
the party calling for assistance or in response to a call from said
party, shall be needed to fight fire or for any other purpose in its
own community, that apparatus and the members of said fire department
may and shall be recalled to its own community before completing the
fire fighting for the other party and said assisting party shall be
held free from any liability to continue fighting said fire.
4. If one or more fires occur within the limits of any of the
above municipalities, or within the limits of any territory in which
any of said municipalities has contracted to furnish fire-fighting '
equipment and personnel, and the fire-fighting equipment or personnel
of any of the municipalities executing this contract is, in the
judgment of the chief of its fire department or in his absence his ,
assistant or deputy in charge of its fire department, insufficient to
control or extinguish the fire or fires, an "emergency" shall exist
for the purposes of this agreement.
5. If an emergency arises, any of the persons who are entitled
by paragraph 1 above to determine an emergency may call upon the fire
department of one or more of the municipalities above named, which are
adjacent, for assistance. If all the fire-fighting equipment and per-
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sonnel of any of said municipalities is engaged in fighting fire, the
' chief or other commanding officer of the fire department of any other
such municipality whose fire-fighting equipment is not engaged in
fighting fire shall send equipment and personnel to the empty fire
station to be available for call if required for any fire. It is the
' intention of the parties by this agreement to cooperate in the event
of an emergency by making available necessary fire fighting equipment
and personnel from the nearest fire stations and during such an emer-
gency to rearrange fire-fighting equipment of the parties so as to
make the remaining equipment and personnel available for use in the
' event other fires shall occur anywhere throughout the territory of
' these municipalities.
5a. When in the opinion of the local Fire Chief, Fire Marshal or
Fire Investigator, there is a fire incident in their community that
needs additional trained investigative assistance, they shall be able
' to call on the participating departments to this agreement to get
' assistance of their trained investigator. This mutual aid -service is
designed to supplement, not replace the services of the State Fire
' Marshal's Office or the Arson Investigation Unit of the Hennepin
County Sheriff's Department or any like agency.
' 6. Upon receipt of a call for assistance as set forth in Para-
, graph 5, the fire department of any of the parties hereto shall
promptly dispatch at least one fire truck with the usual number of
' personnel to assist in fighting the fire which has caused the emer-
gency or to render stand-by service as the case may be, provided that
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no fire department of any of said parties shall be obligated to send
its fire equipment or personnel beyond its boundaries if to do so
would leave such municipality without any fire equipment or personnel
available within its limits for service at any fire which might sub-
sequently arise within. In extreme emergencies, however, every effort
will be made to redistribute fire-fighting equipment and '
g personnel so
as to make it available for any additional fires which might arise '
during the emergency.
7. The fire-fighting equipment and personnel of any fire depart- I
ment assisting the fire department of another municipality in an
emergency will immediately upon arrival at the scene of the emergency '
be under the command of the officer in charge for the municipality '
within whose boundaries the emergency is situated.
8. No charge shall be made by any party for assistance rendered ,
to another party under this agreement except; Each community answering
a call for assistance from any other party hereto shall be paid for
the cost of all fire extinguishing materials used in said call, the
cost of fuel consumed by the fire apparatus, cost of the meals for
firemen, and any other miscellaneous cost involved with said ,
assistance. Salaries excluded.
9. Each of the parties will maintain insurance policies cover-
ing:
'
(a) Accidental death of firemen in the minimum amount of $3, 000
on the life of each fireman who is a member of said party's 1
fire department, the coverage of said policy extending to
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' protect said firemen of said parties when engaged in the
performance of duties under this agreement outside the bound-
' ary of the party of whose fire department he is a member,
and
' (b) Damage or injury caused by negligent operation of its fire
' department vehicles to the extent of $5,000 property lia-
bility, and $25,000 personal injury liability, the coverage
' of such policies extending to accidents which may occur while
the said party's fire department is engaged in the perfor-
mance of duties under this agreement outside of the bound-
' aries of said party.
10. No party to this agreement nor any officer or employee of any
party shall be liable to another party or to any person on account of
failure of any party to this agreement to furnish its fire-fighting
equipment or personnel in response to a call for assistance from any
other municipality.
11. While each party in answering a call from some other party
hereto shall attempt to furnish a reasonable number of firemen on each
piece of equipment answering such call, the discretion of the fire
chief or other fire department officer in charge of the equipment and
department of said party shall be final as to the number of firemen
that can be spared.
1 12. That in event of fire calls from two or more communities or
parties hereto, the first call shall have priority and the second call
shall be answered as soon as possible, it being understood between all
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the parties hereto that property within the limits of each community I
shall have first call on the services of its own fire department.
13. No liability shall be incurred by a party who shall have '
summoned assistance under this agreement for damage to, or destruction
of, fire-fighting equipment of a party rendering such assistance
unless such damage or destruction shall be caused by negligent or mal-
icious conduct of any officer or employee of the party which has
summoned such assistance. ,
14 . That the governing body of each party hereto will appoint
the Chief of the Fire Department of his community to serve as a member '
of an association formed for the purpose of furthering the purposes of I
this agreement and increasing the efficiency of the fire-fighting ser-
vices of theses municipalities by exchange of information, standard- '
ization of equipment, education of personnel, perfection of methods of
fire alarms throughout the territory of these municipalities and such ,
other matters as will serve to mutually assist these municipalities in
the prevention and extinguishment of fires.
15. Any party hereto may withdraw from this agreement by thirty I
days notice in writing to the others.
16. A copy of this agreement will be posted at the fire depart- ,
went headquarters of each party hereto. Subject to all of the above
conditions, each of the parties hereto agrees to make every reasonable
effort to attend fires in any of the other communities mentioned 1
herein when such assistance is requested as above provided.
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17. The term, "fire" or "fire fighting assistance", as used
within this agreement, shall also include any emergency that places
1 life, property or environment at risk or danger.
18. The term, "firefighting equipment and personnel", as used
iwithin this agreement, shall also include any fire, medical emergency,
1 rescue, or specialized equipment (or) personnel capable of providing
assistance.
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF the said municipalities have caused this I
agreement to be signed in their respective corporate names by their
respective duly authorized officers by authority of their respective 1
governing bodies as of this day of , 19
CITY OF BLOOMINGTON MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL 1
By: METROPOLITAN AIRPORT COMM.
By: By: 1
CITY OF CHANHASSEN CITY OF PLYMOUTH
By: By
By: By 1
CITY OF EDEN PRAIRIE CITY OF RICHFIELD
By: By: 1
By: By:
CITY OF EDINA CITY OF ST LOUIS PARK
By: By: i
By: By:
CITY OF GOLDEN VALLEY VA FORT SNELLING FIRE DEPT. 1
By: By: -
By: By:
CITY OF HOPKINS
By:
By: , i
CITY OF MINNETONKA
By: 1
By:
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r(ibl. Soee4ede G4eae .1
ORGANIZED 1949
I BLOOMINGTON F. D. GOLDEN VALLEY F. D. MINNERICHFIELD TONKF.A D.
EDEN PRAIRIE F. D. HOPKINS F. D.
EDINA F. D. METROPOLITAN AIRPORTS COMMISSION F. D. ST. LOUIS PAR F. D.
IIApril 23, 1990
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Dear Chief:
IPlease find enclosed a copy of the Southwest Fire League Mutual Aid
Agreement. This agreement MUST be signed by your city administrators. ,
The original of the signature page must be returned to the secretary ■,__
I at:
George Magdal
II 1010 1st St. S.
Hopkins, MN 55343
I In most cases, this agreement is signed by the Mayor and the City Man-
ager. If your organization does not have such figure heads choose
someone who is authorized to approve this type of activity for your
department. This is the same agreement that was signed by the 9
I original member cities back in January of 1975 except for the follow-
ing:
II - Paragraph #1 has been modified to include Chanhassen, Plymouth,
and VA Fort Snelling.
II - A new paragraph, 5a has been added. This paragraph was
signed off by your city in 1980.
- 2 new paragraphs, 17 & 18, have been added. These were approved
Iat the January 1990 Southwest Fire League meeting.
I will send you a complete document with copies of all the signatures
I as soon as I get them all back. The three new members cannot partici-
pate in the group until this is completed.
I If there are any questions, please feel free to call me. My telephone
number is 939-1321.
Sincerely yours,
George J. Magdal
ITreasurer/Secretary
South.
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ri,Fej) tf SCiarkfiea &fe Zeafeee
0> . ...,
ORGANIZED 1949 C
BLOOMINGTON F. D. GOLDEN VALLEY F. O. MINNETONKA F. D. ,
EDEN PRAIRIE F. D. HOPKINS F. D. RICHFIELD F. D.
• EDINA F. D. METROPOLITAN AIRPORTS COMMISSION F. D. ST. LOUIS PARK F. D.
MEETING MINUTES = II
The Southwest Fire League meeting was held on Thursday, April 19, 1990 I
at the Richfield Fire Station. We were welcomed by Richfield Assistant
Chief, Steve Sutter. The minutes of the previous meeting on January
18, 1990 were approved. II
TREASURER'S REPORT
The treasurer reported that the general account for the Southwest Fire I
League had no transactions since the last meeting. The balance is
$1,398.74.
A new account was opened entitled Southwest Fire Le I with the following activity: ague "Safe Escape
Deposit $10,000.00 II
Interest for quarter 78.20
Total $10,078.20 I
ROLL CALL
Bloomington 1 Metropolitan Airport Comm. 1 II
Eden Prairie 2 Minnetonka 1
Edina 2 Plymouth 3
Golden Valley 2 Richfield 1
II
Hopkins 4 St.Louis Park 0
V.A. Fire 2
Chanhassen Fire Chief, Dale Gregory was also present at the meeting. II
MEMBERSHIP
IIChief Gregory expressed interest to join the Southwest Fire League.
A motion was made by Chief Conrad with Eden Prairie and seconded by
Capt. John Rivers with M.A.C. that we accept Chanhassen into the
II
Southwest Fire League. The motion passed unanimously. Chief Gregory
went on to explain some of the capabilities of his fire department.
They have a 38 member paid on call department covering 12 sq. miles
with a population of approximately 12,000 people. They operate out of II
2 fire stations.
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Meeting Minutes
Page 2
April 23, 1990
' OLD BUSINESS
The secretary noted that only 6 of the 11 departments had returned the
new Southwest Fire League agreement signed by their city adminis-
trators. Plymouth and VA Fire Departments cannot participate fully in
the Southwest Fire League until all cities have signed these forms.
Since Chanhassen has now been accepted as a member, a new agreement
must be signed. The secretary will send the updated agreement out
right away. Departments shall get these signed as soon as possible and
return. When they have all been returned, a copy of the signed
document will be mailed to each department. At that point, Chanhassen,
Plymouth, and VA Fort Snelling will be full fledged members and able
to call any Southwest Fire League department for assistant.
' Safe Escape House. By accepting a $10,000 check from the Minneapolis
Home Builders, the Southwest Fire League has agreed to build a public
' education tool commonly referred to as "Safe Escape House". The South-
west Fire League would need raise approximately $15, 000 more to com-
plete the project. The departments present were surveyed as to their
interest in participating in the project. All departments agreed they
' wanted to participate except:
- Plymouth was unsure since they are currently participating
' in the North Suburban Mutual Aid groups safe escape house.
- St. Louis park was not present at the time.
The membership wants some type of fundraising package put together
that they can show potential donors within their own cities. The
secretary agreed to compile such a package.
' There was some concern as to how the unit would be insured. The
secretary will be checking with other associations to see how they
' are handling that. Also, there was some discussion about a tow vehicle
for the Safe Escape House. The house weighs approximately 8,000 lbs.
It could be very difficult to move without the appropriate tow
vehicle.
' President Lundgren asked for volunteers to serve on investigate the above stated questions and to finalize ethe design of
' the Safe Escape House. The committee is also to come back to the
league with approximate costs for the project. The volunteers were
Chief Nelson with VA, Chief Ray with M.A.C. and George Magdal with
Hopkins.
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Meeting Minutes 1
Page 3
April 23, 1990 '
Hazardous Materials. As requested at the last Southwest Fire League
meeting, Don Beckering provided handouts giving estimated posts for
operating the Southwest Fire League Hazardous Material Team. Beckering
stated that the annual cost for physicals could be cut in half since
each Hazardous Materials Team member would need a physical only every
other year. It was stated that it's possible that state funding at
some point may be available for these costs. Chief Seal stated that
he has been putting his team through a similar physical at $150 per
man vs. the $250 each that Hopkins is paying.
There are a number of options on how to pay this cost. They are as
follows:
- Every department chip in.
- Build in the cost of physicals and training in a billing to
the spiller.
- Member departments not participating with personnel would chip
in dollars for the team.
- All departments pay for their own personnel and bill spillers
only to recover cost.
Consensus was that spillers should be billed for the cost of the '
hazardous material team. This billing has to be done by the host city.
Cost incurred by other cities should be itemized and sent to a host
city. If the host city recovers the dollars, each department would
receive their share. There was a great deal of discussion on the level II
of participation of member departments. it was stated that all 12
Southwest Fire League departments should have a minimum degree of
hazardous material response capability in house. The pooling of these
resources would make up the Southwest Fire League Hazardous Material
team. If a member department has an incident where they require HazMat
specialists, they should call for mutual aid the same as they would
for any other incident and ask for hazardous material equipment
and personnel.
The secretary has been directed to compile additional information on
the HazMat capabilities of each member department. This information
will be distributed to all departments so they know who to call for
what. '
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Page 4
April 23, 1990
NEW BUSINESS
New Equipment.
' - Bloomington recently put into service a new hazardous mater-
ials trailer and has ordered a new command van.
- Plymouth is tearing down station 1 and building a new station.
' They are also in the process of replacing all their SCBA's,
possibly Drager. Plymouth has also ordered a new telesquirt.
- Minnetonka will be accepting delivery of a new heavy rescue
in May.
- Edina has a new billing computer.
Next meeting will be in St. Louis Park on July 19, 1990.
The meeting was adjourned at 22:04.
' Respectfully submitted,
George J. Magdal
Secretary/Treasurer
min.
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