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Belleair Bluffs weighs fire service options
By WAYNE AYERS
| Article published on Wednesday, May 20, 2009 |
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BELLEAIR BLUFFS – Tempers calmed from last week’s tumultuous workshop session, the City Commission’s regular meeting May 18 focused on providing future fire suppression services to the community.
The Belleair Bluffs Fire Department is facing a 46 percent cut in its financing following Belleair’s decision to move its fire contract to Largo.
Chief Patrick Competelli gave a presentation outlining what keeping the department would entail. He was followed by Largo Chief Michael Wallace, who reviewed his department’s capabilities and cost efficiencies.
Competelli painted a considerably rosier picture of the costs of retaining the Bluffs department as an independent unit than had been offered by Mayor Chris Arbutine last week. Arbutine had forecast a doubling of the city’s tax rate if the department is supported solely by Belleair Bluffs and the county unincorporated areas served.
Competelli estimated a $37,000 deficit resulting from the loss of Belleair. The difference is in the county’s portion of the financing.
By law, Pinellas County is obligated to pay 62 percent of the fire department’s cost as a fee for service to the unincorporated areas of Harbor Bluffs, Harbor Hills, and Oakdale Manor, which are in the fire district. Loss of the Belleair funding would up the amount due from the county considerably, and make up much of the loss caused by Belleair’s pullout, Competelli explained.
The county’s willingness to substantially increase its contribution was questioned by Arbutine.
“There is no desire on the county’s part to pay more,” he said.
Even though the 62 percent share is mandated by law, Arbutine predicted the county will be looking to change that requirement. The payment is not guaranteed, he said. “It is a law, but you can’t count on it.”
Competelli went on to speak of the benefits offered by a hometown Bluffs department, including a fast response time and a strong professional force that works well together.
“We’re a family, we care about each other and their families,” he said.
The mayor countered by saying he has worked hard over the years to build a career department that has been growing and improving.
“An environment of hacking and slashing (due to budget cuts) shows a department that’s struggling, not a world class department,” Arbutine said. He concluded that losing Belleair makes the department “unviable as the type of department we want.”
Chief Wallace said joining up with his department would lower the city’s fire services cost to $118 per household, or a total of $244,000 a year. Belleair Bluffs currently pays more than $300,000 a year as its share of the current fire services agreement, he noted.
“We will provide services at a lower cost, and keep Fire Station 43 open with the same personnel as today,” Wallace said, adding, “No firefighters will lose their jobs.”
The promise to keep the Bluffs fire station open is a short term commitment. Wallace said that long term plans (2011-2012) would be to close that facility along with Largo Station 39 at 12398 134 Ave. N and build a new station on Indian Rocks Road south of West Bay Drive.
Though Wallace indicated emergency response time to the Bluffs would not suffer when the new station is open, he said under questioning from Commissioner Hunt Brand that response could increase by as much as a minute and a half to the northern sections of the city.
Wallace revised that estimate in later e-mail correspondence.
“After running Pinellas County 911 reports of historical calls from a station farther from Belleair Bluffs than the proposed site, the difference in response time is between 30 seconds and 39 seconds longer than from the current Belleair Bluffs station. The proposed station is closer than this, so the response time would be even less of a difference,” Wallace’s note read in part.
The building of a new fire station to replace two existing ones is in line with the county’s recent push toward consolidation of services, Wallace said. “(The county) is looking for a more efficient, cost-effective way to deliver a service, and that’s exactly where we’re headed,” he said.
Wallace said that Largo would offer Belleair Bluffs a 5-year contract with 5-year extension. A cost escalator based on the municipal cost index, which has averaged 3 percent over the past seven years, would be in effect. That index rose 1.6 percent last year, and the contract would limit the increase to 5 percent annually, he indicated.
Arbutine obtained permission from the commission to begin preliminary negotiations with Largo fire officials on transition issues, and to bring back the information gathered to the commission at the June 8 workshop meeting for further discussion. He said that City Clerk Debra Sullivan and Chief Competelli would be involved in those discussions. Nothing will be approved without the commission’s consent, Arbutine emphasized.
A referendum date for a citizen vote on the fire department’s fate was set for Sept.1.
Settlement voids disciplinary actions
The city has reached a tentative agreement with Lt. Chuck Barlet over grievances filed after Barlet was disciplined last year by the city for alleged misconduct.
Under terms of the settlement announced by City Attorney Thomas Trask, Barlet will be given back pay for the 10 shifts he was suspended, and a 23-month probationary suspension will be voided.
Trask said the recommended settlement “puts (Barlet) back in the position he was in before disciplinary action was taken.”
In exchange for the city’s actions, Barlet agrees to release the city from all liability in the case, Trask indicated.
Terms of the settlement riled former Commissioner David Shimkus, who said the Sheriff’s Office had recommended the actions taken against Barlet following a lengthy investigation. He urged the commission to “read the pages of violations, look at the facts” before approving the agreement. “Don’t do this, don’t cave in,” he urged the commissioners.
Resident Mark Naedel said the city should “settle this thing, put it behind you, and move on.” He described Lt. Barlet as “very well spoken and intelligent.”
The commission voted 4-0 to authorize the attorney representing the city in the case to finalize the settlement for commission review. Commissioner Joseph Barkley recused himself from the vote, citing an ongoing business relationship with Barlet.
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Article published on Wednesday, May 20, 2009
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