“it’s
a great place to live…”
Action Items:
1) Anyone interested in becoming the chair of the
Recreational Venues sub-committee should contact an Executive Board member.
2) Debbie Trudeau and the audit committee to meet and
review the books from last year.
3) Ron Rada to finalize planning for Manchester
Foundation and present it to the MCC.
4) Any member willing to represent the MCC on the
proposed Manchester Foundation should contact an Executive Board member.
5) Bob Edwards to present a proposal on regular
disbursements from our treasury to the Executive Board and then bring a final
proposal to the MCC next month.
6) C. Thompson to reserve Library meeting room for
sub-committees on all 3rd Thursdays
Minutes:
The meeting was called to order by Chair, Ron Robinson at 6:32PM in the
Manchester Library. Ron welcomed the 29
people (including 18 current members) in attendance. Ron turned the meeting over to our
Vice-Chair, Ron Rada who introduced our special speaker for the evening, Chief
Wayne Senter of Fire District 7.
Guest Speakers comments:
Chief Senter began his presentation with the note that the last three Fire District levies have failed to gain voter approval. This led the Fire District to take a close look at their core mission and how they were using their resources. As a result, and with the elected Kitsap officials’ approval, the Fire District chose to drop four staff positions and add fire fighters.
The levy on May 16th of this year (it will be an all mail-in ballot) is requesting approval for funding to add nine firefighters/EMT’s. Ballots will be mailed on approximately April27th. The levy is requesting approval to increase the tax rate for fire protection by $0.14 per $1000 of assessed property value, which will equate to an added $25/year for the median Kitsap home. The total tax will increase from $1.05 to $1.19 per $1000 of assessed value. If this added tax is approve, it will be matched by a Federal grant of $900,000.
Senter stated that the District currently serves 83,500 citizens contained within 150 square miles and the population is increasing by 3% per year over the last ten years. Meanwhile, the call volume has been increasing by 4% per year with a total of approximately 9,000 calls last year. Of those calls, roughly 75% are for emergency medical assistance and the remainder are fire calls.
One of the driving forces behind the concern to add firefighters is the District’s response time. The National Fire Protection Association has a goal for first response time of 4.0 minutes. Typical first response times throughout the county are about 6.0 minutes, and District 7’s current response time is close to 10 minutes.
If this levy is approved, it will allow a matching grant of $900,000 to add to the total to support the additional firefighters.
The floor was then opened to a question and answer session.
?: How does the District’s response time affect my home owners insurance?
A: Your insurance company looks at multiple factors and the response time is one of those. We are currently rated a “class 4” which is pretty good. If our response continues to deteriorate however, our rates may increase.
?: How do businesses pay for your services?
A: Just like homeowners, they pay based on the assessed value of their property. About 80% of the Fire District’s revenue comes directly from property taxes.
?: Assuming the levy passes; how soon will the firefighters’ “feet hit the ground”?
A: If the levy is approved, I am ready to take action by June 1. The actual funds will not be available until 2007. My optimistic target is January 1, 2007, but more than likely, the firefighters will “hit the ground on April 1, 2007.
?: What is the difference between an EMT and a paramedic.
A: The key difference is in the levels of emergency medical treatment they are able to administer. Paramedics can administer drugs, insert breathing tubes, and can act almost like a mobile emergency room. The District has three paramedics on duty at all times. The EMT’s act as back-up to the paramedics. Incidentally, we have a “ride-along” program for those who are interested in seeing the staff in action, although it may be a little too intense for some individuals to handle.
?: What is the firefighters’ work schedule?
A: They work 24 hours on, and 48 hours off. This results in an approximate 50 hour work week.
?: I’ve heard the Navy may be considering changing the fire service from the Fuel Depot which has been used to augment fire/EMT support from the District in the Manchester area?
A: The Navy won’t make any changes in a hurry. No decision has been made, they are looking at cost savings measures and this could be one of those. If the Fuel Depot support goes away, we may have to adjust to maintain our level of service.
?: The 2006 property assessments changed significantly, does this mean our fire tax bill will increase at the same rate?
A: The Initiative 747 only allows a 1% increase + new construction. As your assessed value goes up, our fire service rate on the tax statement goes down to adjust to the max. 1% increased limit.
?: The Kitsap Consolidated Housing Authority has added dwelling units without paying any tax revenue to support the services such as fire protection. How does this impact us?
A: The Fire District is allowed to go to agencies to seek revenue to support our services to them. The Kitsap Housing Authority has cancelled their arrangement with District 7. They are not paying any fire service revenue now.
?: What is the cost to add one firefighter?
A: It’s about $65,000-$70,000 per year. They are salaried positions, but overtime is paid at an hourly rate.
?: Is equipment currently in place to support these nine additional firefighters?
A: Yes, no new equipment will be required.
With that, Chairman Robinson thanked Chief Senter for presenting his remarks on the levy and opened the floor to the business meeting. Robinson read the MCC mission statement from the Bylaws to begin the meeting.
Business meeting:
Review/approval of past mtg’s minutes: The minutes of January 24th were approved as written.
Correspondence: The only significant mail received was two dues payments.
Reports:
Treasurer: Treasurer Debby Trudeau reported an account balance of $925.03. We currently have 35 members who have paid their dues for 2006.
Sewers Sub-Committee: Ron Rada reported that the engineering is completed on LID#8. He expects the County to let bids in March, construction to begin in April, and completion in June.
LID#9 is currently in review by the County which is considering a proposal to consider using a “low pressure pumping system”. This proposal could lower the system cost from $26K per lot down to $17K per lot. If the County agrees to pursue this approach, then another public meeting will be held to present the plan for consideration by those affected. By comparison, LID#8’s cost per lot was $18K, due to its smaller size and ability to run a gravity system with no need for pump stations. Ron was asked what the total cost would be for each home-owner who elected to hook-up to the proposed system in LID#9. Ron estimated that there would be an approximate $3,000 fee for installation of individual grinder pumps and a County assessed $3,000 hook-up fee. In the proposal before the County, maintenance of the individual grinder pumps would be handled by Karcher Creek (they have ten years of experience with these pumps) and paid for by the County as part of the bi-monthly sewer fee.
Crime Prevention
Sub-Committee: Bud Larsen reported that there was a “drive-by” shooting
along
Larsen
reported that the committee is also working on a cost analysis showing the
value of having a Sheriff’s way-station located in the
Commercial Design Committee: Carole Leininger said that the group has re-thought their name change, and concluded that they should be known as “the Downtown Design Committee” in the future. They have also created a new mission statement: * Support a commercial village core that acts as a community center and maintains the small town charm and quaintness Manchester currently offers; *Promote a cohesive design concept for the commercial sector that compliments the qualities of Manchester; * Encourage commercial development that enhances the natural environment, protects the spectacular views and maintains the waterfront accessibility of the downtown core. Their next meeting is not currently scheduled, but is likely to be held on the third Thursday of the month from 7-9PM in the Library meeting room. See the web-site calendar for scheduling (www.manchesterwa.org).
Regain our
Partnering with other Agencies Committee: Debbie Trudeau mentioned that this committee still has an active membership. She suggested that the Village Commons group is apparently working on some ideas that could benefit from the ideas of the “Agencies” group and may want to join forces with them. Bill Shaw, chair of the Village Commons group welcomed the Agencies group to join in the meetings.
Recreational Venues Committee: John Winslow said that Carol Kowalski contacted all original members of the committee seeking a volunteer to chair the effort, with no success. Anyone interested in taking on this role should contact one of the members of the Executive Board.
Village Commons Committee: Chairman Bill Shaw asked Bud Larsen to report on recent activities of the group. Bud briefly covered the recent meetings’ activities investigating the feasibility of a new Library and Community Center. The next meeting is not currently scheduled, but will be posted on the web-site.
Old Business:
Action items from 1/24:
1) Debby Trudeau reported that the Audit committee has yet to meet.
2) Bob Edwards presented his proposed “Standards of Parliamentary Order for the Manchester Community Council” (see the web-site for a complete copy). After some discussion and explanation, a motion was carried to accept the proposal as presented. It was understood that this is a working document and subject to revision as the Council sees fit in the future.
3) Ron Rada reported that he is continuing the effort to
form a Manchester Foundation to act as the governing body for several
non-profits, including the MCC, in the
4) Ron Robinson said we are still looking for a volunteer to represent the MCC on the proposed Manchester Foundation board of directors.
John Winslow reported that the Friends of the Manchester Library is willing to allow the MCC to hold all regular, Executive Board, and sub-committee meetings in the Library meeting room for an annual fee of $500. A motion supporting that was approved by the members.
Debbie Trudeau said that the regular web-site fee is now payable and she suggested that we approve the fee of $79.79 for 24 months web-hosting. The motion was approved by the membership.
New Business:
Bob Edwards said he is working on a proposal to streamline the monthly task of approval of all MCC expenses and will present a proposal to the Executive Board for their consideration and likely consideration by the membership at the next regular meeting. It was suggested that this could be a “consent item” on each month’s agenda.
The issue of pro-rating of monthly dues has been discussed several times and was again suggested as a topic tonight. After a brief discussion, it was concluded that the effort by the Treasurer to accommodate this change was not justified. No motion for action was made.
A member
commented that he felt that
Topics from the floor:
Bud
Larsen introduced Dr. Donald Sharman who is opening a medical practice in
downtown
Arlene Rebelowski alerted the membership to the enhanced format used on our MCC web-site that should make navigation easier. The community event calendar was noted as particularly helpful. Arlene asked anyone with suggestions on improving the web-site, or additions to the calendar to contact her via the site.
Carrilu Thompson reminded all that on the third Thursday of the month the Library meeting room will be reserved for MCC sub-committee meetings. All are welcome to attend. Carrilu was requested by John Winslow to make the actual room reservation with the Library staff.
There being no other discussion from the floor, Chairman Robinson adjourned the meeting at 8:04PM.
Our next meeting will be Tuesday March 28th at
6:30-8:30PM in the Manchester Library.
Ron Robinson
and John Winslow will jointly develop an agenda for our next meeting and it will be posted on
the web-site several days before the meeting.
If you have any items for the agenda, contact John Winslow prior to March
17.
Respectfully
submitted,
John
Winslow, Secretary-Manchester Community Council