"Thomas Jefferson said a democracy is dependent on an informed citizenry. I don't care whether it sounds corny or not.  It's the truth." -Jim Lehrer

Carefree Truth
Issue #1044, August 1, 2022

Mayor Les Peterson thanked Rural/Metro (R/M), which has been providing contracted town-wide fire protection and emergency medical services for over 15 years, noting that they have done an outstanding job.  "There are circumstances that have come together which may force something different from the past but these gentlemen have been extremely cooperative to assure the continued safety of the residents of Carefree in the interim time, while we consider what is the best and put it out to the people of Carefree to vote on how to proceed."
 
 
Gary Neiss began by presenting the history.  Over 15 years ago, a citizen committee was appointed to look at fire services within the Town of Carefree.  They recommended entering into a contract with R/M for services.  Prior to the town-wide contract with R/M, residents paid a subscription fee of, on average, $700 a year.  Today, that subscription rate would top $1000 per household.  In order to offset the cost of the Town's contract with R/M, the sales tax for retail purchases within the town was raised from 2% to 3%.  At that time, Lowes was approved, which helped to offset that reoccurring cost.

 
 
Today, after thousands of calls to R/M for assistance, Carefree is looking at the citizen committee's options to join the regional automatic-aid dispatch system to ensure timely, seamless, and unconditional support from nearby first responders, and similar to 15 years ago, to assure the town has the reoccurring revenue stream to support this long-term commitment.

 
 
When going through the budget process for fiscal year (FY) 2022/23, the "dashboard" showed the reoccurring revenues and expenses. They are about $7 million each.  "There is not much fat on the bone here in Carefree."  Some of the surrounding communities have as much in their line items as Carefree's entire budget.  "We run a lean operation."  It is vital to have this conversation with the residents so they understand the financial commitment, and it's not just one year.  Cave Creek contracted with Daisy Mountain for 25 years.  The analysis that is needed will take some time.
 
 
"The appointed committee did a deep dive into the options and their recommendation was a short term 'bridge' contract with R/M, so there was time to continue to evaluate the options and to have these discussions with the community to decide how to design a solvent plan to join automatic-aid.

 
 
That plan takes education and facts, so the Town hired a consultant who has been in the fire business for over 40 years throughout Arizona, who knows Carefree's millions of dollars in assets, and knows what the town needs to do in order to move up a notch to join the automatic-aid partnership.  But Carefree needs to know what capital investments the automatic-aid partnership might impose and must be included in the budget.  These capital costs are not one time.  They have a life cycle, so it's putting a budget to those items as well.
 
 
If Carefree joins an existing automatic-aid partner, it could cost $1 million more that the Town pays R/M today.  Someone suggested using the reserve funds to do this instead of maintaining the streets.  This must be a community decision, and these conversations will take place this fall.  It takes time to have those discussions and to come up with a pathway to join automatic-aid.

 
 
This has always been citizen driven, as is everything the Town has done in Mr. Neiss' over 20 years on staff here.  These issues are vetted through public meetings, and Mr. Neiss wished more citizens would attend.  "There's nothing hidden about this."  Approximately 20 public meetings were held, and are available online.  "This is not flipping a switch and you're done.  It has to be an orchestrated effort."
 
 
The R/M contract term length includes an initial 18 months from July, 2022 through January, 2024, with an option for a second term from January, 2024 through June, 2027, with an annual cost of $1,859,000.  All utilities would be paid by R/M.  There would be a $2,500 a month credit to Carefree to house a second fire engine that relocated to the Carefree Station from Cave Creek to primarily cover the County islands south of Carefree and to serve as a back-up to the Carefree based engine.  If a second term is executed, the inflationary adjustment would be based on the CPI U/W Mesa-Phoenix, with a cap of 2-1/2%.

 
 
R/M will support Carefree throughout this transitional process.  Neither Scottsdale nor Daisy Mountain were willing to do this.  Cave Creek does not have the certainty of cost in their 25 year contract with Daisy Mountain.  The purpose of this contract is to give the citizens time to learn the facts and express their input.
 
 
R/M has provided service to Carefree for over 50 years.    R/M firefighters are trained just like any other firefighters, and have provided exception service to Carefree.  The Carefree fire station is centrally located.  Carefree has 2 engines within the fire station with certified paramedics and EMTs on each.  That's more than Cave Creek has now.  The majority of calls are medical, which places Carefree in an improved position.  The Town has an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with both the State Department of Forestry and Fire Management and County Emergency Management to address catastrophic events such as wildland fires.  What stopped the 2 major wildland fires in Cave Creek 2 years ago wasn't the engines.  It was the aerial attack that was coordinated through these 2 agencies.

 
 
Fire Chief Russell, the new R/M Carefree Chief, was there to address any questions from the Council.  Councilman Tony Geiger brought up the question of mutual-aid with the Scottsdale fire department.  He asked what criteria had changed that the other fire departments would no longer respond to a mutual-aid call.  Mr. Neiss said he couldn't explain it.  Mutual-aid is universal throughout the state and throughout the nation.  Small communities do not have the resources to deal with catastrophic events.  "That's what mutual-aid is about."  Mr. Neiss has a document generated by the fire chiefs.  The second page talks about neighbor helping neighbor.

 
 
When Chief Russell asked at a Scottsdale City Council meeting if Scottsdale would respond to emergency/life safety events, he was told yes, they would respond as long as the assets were available, and in the past they have always responded.  In the past, those responding to mutual-aid calls were reimbursed.  It was a compensation plan to off-set the liability of a response from an adjacent agency.
 
 
Chief Russell said he had also spoken to other City Councils who confirmed that if there were a life safety emergency, they would come, as R/M would come to their aid.  He added that R/M is committed to supporting Carefree and its citizens regardless of which direction the Town decides to go.  He said he is still working to establish R/M in the automatic-aid partnership, and is working with surrounding fire companies on mutual-aid agreements that would be equitable.  Mr. Geiger noted that it is safe to say that first responders outside of Carefree will respond in those events, and Chief Russell confirmed that.
 
 
Mayor Peterson again thanked R/M for their professionalism.  He said some organizations he has dealt with in his past who are in danger of losing a contract have disappeared.  He praised R/M for supporting and working with Carefree, and continuing to provide the high level of service that they have in the past, as the Town works towards solutions.  Chief Russell said that the end of the day, we are all partners.
 
 
The Council unanimously approved the signing of the Fire Protection and Emergency Medical Services Agreement between the Town of Carefree and the R/M Corporation.
 
https://vimeo.com/718544894
 
 
Lyn Hitchon
 
 Prepared by Carefree Truth
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