#3 Authorize participation in a Reciprocal Mutual Aid Fire/EMS Protection Agreement (File Res. #2012-923)
FIRE DEPARTMENT MEMORANDUM
June 29, 2012
TO: City Council
FROM: Jim Jensen, Fire Chief
SUBJECT: Action on a proposed resolution authorizing participation in a Reciprocal
Mutual Aid Fire/EMS Protection Agreement.
(File Resolution No. 2012-923)
Summary
File Resolution No. 2012-923 authorizes the City Administration to enter into a
reciprocal mutual aid agreement with neighboring jurisdictions for assistance in fire,
emergency medical, and other emergency situations. The City Council has previously
authorized participation in the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS). The agreement
being presented today covers emergencies which do not rise to the MABAS “box alarm”
level and are not covered by the MABAS agreement.
Recommendation
The Fire Department recommends adoption of Resolution 2012-923.
City Manager Recommendation
The City Manager concurs with the Fire Department recommendation.
Suggested Motion
I move to adopt resolution 2012-923 which authorizes the City Manager to enter into the
Reciprocal Mutual Aid Fire/EMS Protection Agreement.
Background
The City of Janesville, through the Fire Department, has been a participant in mutual aid
agreements since 1973. Prior to 2001, separate agreements existed that covered either
fire emergencies or emergency medical emergencies. In 2001 the City Council
authorized participation in the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS). At that time the
two agreements were consolidated into a comprehensive MABAS agreement. It was felt
that the MABAS contract would cover all types of mutual aid requests, whether or not an
actual MABAS system activation was initiated.
MABAS activations are used primarily for large-scale, long-term events, which occur
infrequently. However, the Fire Department requests and responds to mutual aid on a
fairly routine basis for emergencies that do not reach the level of a MABAS activation.
Rock County Fire Departments were recently informed by MABAS and Wisconsin
Emergency Management that the MABAS agreement does not replace local or county
mutual aid contracts, unless the utilization of emergency resources progresses directly
from local resources to requesting a MABAS “box alarm.”
Mutual Aid Resolution Memo
p. 2
The Fire Department has good working relationships with surrounding departments.
Automatic aid dispatching arrangements are common in surrounding rural service
areas. We would prefer to utilize existing relationships and predetermined assignments
rather than being required to activate the MABAS system for routine incidents. We
believe that our participation in the Reciprocal Mutual Aid Fire/EMS Protection
Agreement will assist in providing for the most efficient and effective use of resources.
Please let me know if additional information is needed.
cc: Eric Levitt, City Manager
Jay Winzenz, Director of Administrative Services/Assistant City Manager
RESOLUTION NO. 2012- 923
A resolution authorizing the City Manager or his designee to enter into a Reciprocal Mutual Aid Fire/EMS
Protection Agreement.
WHEREAS, section 66.0301, Stats., authorizes municipalities to cooperate together and to contract with other
municipalities for the receipt or furnishing of services or the joint exercise of any power or duty required or
authorized by law; and
WHEREAS, section 66.0303 (2), Stats., authorizes municipalities to cooperate together and to contract with
other municipalities of another state for the receipt or furnishing of services or the joint exercise of any power
or duty required or authorized by law; and
WHEREAS, the Common Council of the City of Janesville believes it is in the best interest of the residents of
municipalities to cooperate for purposes of fire/EMS protection and to contract for the fire/EMS protection units
of the municipalities to come to the aid of other municipalities to fight fires and to respond to other emergencies
within those municipalities when necessary; and
WHEREAS, the Common Council of the City of Janesville has determined that it is in the best interest of the
City of Janesville to enter into the proposed Reciprocal Mutual Aid Fire/EMS Protection Agreement to provide
for efficient and effective coordination of fire protection and emergency medical services.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY the Common Council that the Reciprocal Mutual Aid Fire/EMS
Protection Agreement, a copy of which is attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference, is herby
approved and adopted and that the City Manager and City Clerk be and hereby are authorized to execute the
same on behalf of the City of Janesville.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City Manager and his designee(s), on behalf of the City of Janesville,
are hereby jointly and severally further authorized and empowered to negotiate, draft, review, review, modify,
amend, execute, enter into, file and/or record additional agreements, amendments, documents, and letters of
understanding concerning this matter, and to take whatever additional other minor actions that the City
Manager may determine in his sole discretion, from time to time and at any time, necessary and/or desirable in
the public interest to effectuate the intent of this Resolution.
ADOPTED:
Motion by:
Second by:
APPROVED:
Councilmember Aye Nay Pass Absent
Dongarra-Adams
Farrell
Eric J. Levitt, City Manager
Kealy
Liebert
ATTEST:
Severson
Steeber
Voskuil
Jean Ann Wulf, City Clerk-Treasurer
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Wald Klimczyk, City Attorney
Proposed by: Fire Department
Prepared by: Fire Chief
RECIPROCAL MUTUAL AID
FIRE/EMS PROTECTION AGREEMENT
WHEREAS, the parties to this Agreement hereinafter designated as
“Municipalities,” each maintain and operate separate fire/ems protection services;
and
WHEREAS, for purposes of this Agreement, “Municipality” shall include
any city, village, town or fire/ems protection district which signs this Agreement;
and
WHEREAS, the Municipalities believe it is in the best interest of the
residents of each of the Municipalities to cooperate for purposes of fire/ems
protection and to contract for the fire/ems protection units of the Municipalities to
come to the aid of other Municipalities to fight fires and to respond to other
emergencies within those municipalities when necessary; and
WHEREAS, section 66.0301, Stats., authorizes municipalities to cooperate
together and to contract with other municipalities for the receipt or furnishing of
services or the joint exercise of any power or duty required or authorized by law;
and
WHEREAS, the Municipalities desire to enter into a Reciprocal Mutual Aid
Fire/EMS Protection Agreement upon the terms set forth hereinafter;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual agreements and
covenants provided herein, the Municipalities agree as follows:
1. PURPOSE. It is recognized and acknowledged that in certain situations,
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such as, but not limited to, emergencies, natural disasters and man-made
catastrophes, the use of an individual Member Units personnel and
equipment to perform functions outside the territorial limits of the Member
Unit is desirable and necessary to preserve and protect the health, safety
and welfare of the public. It is further expressly acknowledged that in
’
certain situations, such as the aforementioned, the use of other Member
Units personnel and equipment to perform functions within the territorial
limits of a Member Unit is desirable and necessary to preserve and protect
the health, safety and welfare of the public. Further, it is acknowledged that
coordination of mutual aid through the Reciprocal Mutual Aid Fire/EMS
Protection Agreement is desirable for the effective and efficient provision of
mutual aid.
2. MUTUAL AID. For purposes of this Agreement, mutual aid shall be
considered any fire, ambulance service or emergency aid rendered by a
participating municipality to another participating municipality below the
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MABAS Box Alarm Level. Such mutual aid shall be rendered to the full
extent of the lawful powers of the participating municipalities.
3. PLAN. In the event an emergency occurs in any of the municipalities, said
municipality may call upon any one or all of the other Municipalities for aid.
The plan shall be implemented in accordance with MABAS Division 104
Policy and Procedures. The governance for policy and procedures shall lie
with the MABAS Division 104 Committee of which each Unit is a member.
.
4. JURISDICTION OVER PERSONNEL AND EQUIPMENT. Personnel
dispatched to aid a party pursuant to this Agreement shall remain
employees of the Aiding Unit. Personnel of the Aiding Unit shall report for
direction and assignment at the scene of the emergency to the Chief or
Incident Commander of the Stricken Unit. The Aiding Unit shall at all times
have the right to withdraw any and all aid upon the order of its Chief Officer
or his designee; provided, however, that the Aiding Unit withdrawing such
aid shall notify the Incident Commander or his designee of the Stricken
Unit of the withdrawal of such aid and the extent of such withdrawal.
5. COMPENSATION. Equipment, personnel, and/or services provided
pursuant to this Agreement shall be at no charge to the Stricken Unit;
however, any expenses recoverable from third parties and responsible
parties shall be equitably distributed among Aiding Units. Nothing herein
shall operate to bar any recovery of funds from any state or federal agency
under any existing state and federal laws.
6. LIABILITY. Each party hereto agrees to waive all claims against all other
parties hereto for any loss, damage, personal injury or death occurring in
consequence of the performance of this Agreement; provided, however,
that such claim is not a result of willful or reckless misconduct by a party
hereto or its personnel. The Stricken Unit hereby expressly agrees to hold
harmless, indemnify and defend the Aiding Unit and its personnel from any
and all claims, demands, liability, losses, including attorney fees and costs,
suits in law or in equity which are made by a third party that may arise from
providing aid pursuant to this Agreement.
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All employee benefits, wage and disability payments, pensions and
workers compensation claims, shall be the sole and exclusive
responsibility of each party for its own employees provided, however, that
such claim is not a result of willful or reckless misconduct by a party hereto
or its personnel.
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The rendering of assistance under the terms of this Agreement shall not be
mandatory and the Aiding Unit may refuse if local conditions of the Aiding
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Unit prohibit response. It is the responsibility of the Aiding Unit to
immediately notify the Stricken Unit of the Aiding Units inability to respond,
however, failure to immediately notify the Stricken Unit of such inability to
respond shall not constitute evidence of noncompliance with the terms of
this section and no liability may be assigned.
No liability of any kind or nature shall be attributed to or be assumed,
whether expressly or implied, by a party hereto, its duly authorized agents
and personnel, for failure or refusal to render aid. Nor shall there be any
liability of a party for withdrawal of aid once provided pursuant to the terms
of this Agreement.
7. INSURANCE. Each part hereto shall procure and maintain, at its sole and
’
exclusive expense, insurance coverage, including: comprehensive liability,
personal injury, property damage, workers compensation, and, if
applicable, emergency medical service professional liability, with minimum
limits of $1,000,000 auto and $1,000,000 combined single limit general
liability and professional liability. No party hereto shall have any obligation
to provide or extend insurance coverage for any of the items enumerated
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herein to any other party hereto or its personnel. The obligations of the
Section may be satisfied by a partys membership in a self-insurance pool,
a self-insurance plan or arrangement with an insurance provider approved
by the state of jurisdiction. The Rock County Fire Officers may require that
copies or other evidence of compliance with the provisions of this Section
be provided to the Rock County Fire Officers. Upon request, Member Units
shall provide such evidence as herein provided to the Rock County Fire
Officers members.
8. TERMINATION. Any municipality may terminate its participation in this
Agreement by mailing a notice to the Municipal Clerk and to the Chief of
every other participating municipality. The date and exact time of
termination shall be specified in the notice and shall be at least 30 days
following the date of mailing.
This Agreement shall take effect when signed by the duly authorized
officers of each participating municipality and the signed and dated original
filed with the Secretary of the Rock County Fire Officers Association, Inc.
This Agreement shall remain in effect until terminated by one or more of
the participating Municipalities.
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9. COUNTERPARTS. This Agreement may be signed in any number of
counterparts with the same effect as if the signatures hereto were upon the same
instrument.
Participating Jurisdictions:
City of Beloit Clinton Fire Protection District
Edgerton Fire District Evansville Fire District
City of Janesville City of Milton
Town of Turtle Orfordville Fire District
Town of Beloit Village of Footville
City of South Beloit, Illinois Evansville EMS
Brooklyn Fire/EMS Whitewater Fire/EMS
Brodhead Fire Brodhead EMS
Fort Atkinson Fire Fitch-Rona EMS
Sharon Fire/EMS Darien Fire/EMS
Stoughton Fire Stoughton EMS
Albany Fire Albany EMS
Deerfield Fire Cambridge Fire/EMS
Oregon Fire/EMS Durand Fire/EMS, Illinois
Shirland Fire/EMS
Name of Municipality: ____________________________________________________
By: ___________________________________________________________________
Title: _________________________________________________________________
Date: _________________________________________________________________
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