Agenda Date: 06/27/2017
Subject:
Title
An ordinance of the City of Littleton, approving an intergovernmental agreement to contract emergency dispatch services with Metcom through South Metro Fire Rescue
Body
Presented By:
Chris Armstrong, Fire Chief; Tiffany Hooten, Finance Director
POLICY QUESTION:
Does city council support contracting emergency dispatch services with South Metro Fire Rescue
BACKGROUND:
Three study sessions have been provided to discuss the option of contracting emergency dispatch services with South Metro. The last study session, May 16, 2017, council requested staff to bring the IGA as an ordinance to first reading for consideration.
Questions/Comments from first reading June 6, 2017...
Council requested public comment on this topic: Staff worked with the Communications Department and developed an informational release to various social media sites including www.openLittleton.gov for public comment.
Council inquired about what other cities (ie: Lonetree, Greenwood Villiage etc.) pay for dispatch services: These municipalities are all part of the South Metro Fire District therefore their 9.25 mils paid for service is all inclusive. It is unknown what portion of this mil assessment is spent specifically on dispatch services.
Review of Contracts for Deer Trail Rural Fire and the Byers Fire Protection District for dispatch services through South metro Fire (MetCom) did reveal the same pricing methodology as LFRs IGA. These contracts are both three year terms compared to the 4.5 year term for COL.
The Littleton Fire Rescue (LFR) has experienced high turnover of emergency dispatchers since a spike in 2014. In addition, there are challenges recruiting and retaining qualified dispatchers due to the strong Colorado economy, low unemployment rate, workload and overtime for individual dispatchers, pay/benefit discrepancies compared to neighboring South Metro Fire Rescue (SMFR), and the high-stress environment, among others. The emergency commu...
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