Title
Combined Communications Center Interlocal Agreement (B)
This item presents an amendment to the Interlocal Agreement between the City of Gainesville, the Alachua County Sheriff and Alachua County for the Combined Communications Center.
Explanation
The City of Gainesville, the Alachua County Sheriff and Alachua County entered into an agreement on November 3, 1999 for the provision of a Combined Communications Center (CCC). The Agreement was amended effective October 28, 2003 to address the methodology for monthly billing and annual true-up.
On March 26, 2009, the Executive Board of the CCC, which consists of the Sheriff of Alachua County, the Mayor of the City of Gainesville, and the Chairperson of the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners, approved an amendment to the Agreement to be presented to the City of Gainesville and Alachua County for approval. The proposed changes to the Agreement are summarized below.
The Agreement establishes an Administrative Board comprised of the City Manager, the County Manager and the Sheriff's designee. The Administrative Board is subject to Sunshine Laws. This amendment provides for both the City Manager and the County Manager to designate the Assistant City Manager with oversight over the Fire Department and the Deputy County Manager to sit as a member of the Administrative Board when they are not available. These individuals will also be subject to Sunshine Laws with respect to discussing matters related to the CCC with the potential voting members of the other entities.
The Agreement also establishes a User Advisory Committee consisting of operational staff to advise the Administrative Board on operational policies and procedures, performance and standards. The establishment of the Committee through the Agreement also subjects this Committee to Sunshine Laws. Because the Committee consists of staff of each of the three agencies who meet regularly to work through operational issues, it is recommended that the establishment of this Committee and all reference to the Committee be removed from the Agreement.
Section 2, paragraph F adds language requiring the acquisition and utilization of the same radio communications technology platform by all users of the CCC to be directly interoperable with all other agencies on the system. It also requires each agency to adhere to Communications protocols utilized for the CCC.
The current agreement requires approval by the City Commission should the Sheriff's requested CCC budget increase by more than five (5) percent over the preceding year. The proposed amendment requires approval by the City Commission when the requested budget increases by more than three (3) percent.
The final change addresses the provision of services for call taking and dispatch to the other municipalities within Alachua County. The current funding formula is cost prohibitive for the other municipalities that have a need to receive services from the CCC. As a result, Alachua County has assumed the full cost of the calls for services to those municipalities. The proposed amendment establishes a provision for a "small user". A small user is defined as a municipality with a population of less than 2000 as verified on October 1 of each fiscal year using the University of Florida's Bureau of Economic and Business Research (BEBR) and must not require additional funding for the CCC. Under the proposed amendment, the Sheriff is authorized to enter into an interlocal agreement with municipalities within Alachua County who meet the small user definition. The interlocal shall include an agreement to pay the Board of County Commissioners for the cost of services as provided by the small user formula. A small user shall be charged 25% of the cost of a call for service beginning 10/1/2009. The County agrees to fund the remaining 75% of the cost of a call for service. The agreement provides a methodology for billing the small user on a monthly basis with an annual true-up. The Sheriff may renew these agreements annually provided that the municipality continues to meet the small user definition. Municipalities that do not meet the definition of a small user shall be required to make a request of the Executive Board of their desire to receive services from the CCC.
All other changes to the agreement were made to reflect the current status of the CCC and remove language related to the initial establishment of the CCC which no longer applies.
Fiscal Note
There is no fiscal impact to the City of Gainesville. Payment received by small users will decrease the amount of funding required by Alachua County.
Recommendation
The City Commission approve the Interlocal Agreement as amended.
Alternative Recommendation A:
The City Commission direct staff to communicate any concerns of the City Commission to the Executive Board and report back to the City Commission.