Consideration and Approval of Contract:  AZ Dept of Forestry & Fire Management (DFFM) - Cooperative Fire Rate Agreement (CFRA) 02-0733-18.

The existing CFRA expries March 31, 2018.  Recommended Council action is for the routine renewal of this two-year Agreement, done every-other-year.  The CFRA has existed between the City and DFFM for the past two plus decades.  The format, provisions, equipment rate structure, and renewal schedule is identical to that of every other Fire Dept/District in the State: personnel rates are the only difference and are wholly dependent upon one's specific pay & benefits rates.  Approval does not obligate the City to respond if requested, but does allow us, should we elect to respond (situationally dependent), to fully recover any costs (equipment and personnel) associated with any out-of-City fire/emergency response requested by the State and/or Federal government.  In addition, the CFRA provides the opportunity for members to build-and-maintain relationships with state-and-federal partners (important in that those same individuals/entities have in the past, and will again in the future, assist us in fire suppression actions).  It also provides a cost-free training environment for large-scale long-duration complex incidents in all incident functional areas (ex: logistics, planning, operations, finance, etc), important for future effective operations of the City-County Emergency Operations Center.

This Agreement allows for 100% cost-recovery for any fire/emergency response that we respond to out of the City at the request of either the State or Federal government.

COUNCIL GOALS: 
Climate Change:  improve/maintain forest ecosystems and positions them to better withstand change-agents such as climate change. 
Water Conservation: preserve water sources and prevent long-term damage to critical watersheds.
Environmental and Natural Resources: protect and sustain our natural environment, reducing catastrophic fire and post-fire flooding events and insect infestations, preserving valuable wildlife habitat, allowing for recreational ventures and business operations,  and maintaining community well-being (to include public safety - first responders, residents, and visitors).

REGIONAL PLAN:
Environmental Planning & Conservation – Vision for the Future:  In 2013, the long-term health and viability of our natural resource environment is maintained through strategic planning for resource conservation and protection.
Policy E&C.3.3 – Invest in forest health and watershed protection measures.
Policy E&C.6.1 – Encourage public awareness that the region’s ponderosa pine forest is a fire-dependent ecosystem and strive to restore more natural and sustainable forest composition, structure, and processes.
Policy E&C.6.3 – Promote protection, conservation, and ecological restoration of the region’s diverse ecosystem type and associated animals.
Policy E&C.6.6 – Support collaborative efforts for forest health initiatives or practices, such as the Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI), to support healthy forests and protect our water system.
Policy E&C.10.2 – Protect, conserve, and when possible, enhance and restore wildlife habitat on public land.
 

Council has approved each renewal of the CFRA over the past two+ decades.

Two exist:
  1)  Approve the CFRA, allowing full cost-recovery, and permitting relationships with State and Federal partners, as well as
       training/skill development, to continue,
  2)  Reject the CFRA, ending our ability to participate in these type of fire/emergency responses, and benefit from the
       opportunities this Agreement provides.

The CFRA is a standard State-wide Agreement for any Fire Dept/District who elects to participate.  The City has participated for the past two plus decades.

In addition to full-cost recovery, relationship enhancement, and free training and skill development, it also provides a mechanism whereby we can more easily request outside assistance if/when we experience a serious wildfire.

In FY14-17, we responded to 164 incidents, recovering over $3,9M.  In the first half of FY18, we responded to 40 incidents, recovering nearly $1.28M.  Annually, we typically generate in excess of $100K over-and-above our equipment expenses.

The CFRA is a mechanism whereby we are fully able to recovery any costs associated with out-of-City responses at the request of the State or Federal government, and it allows us to better provide quality service to our residents based upon the relationships, experiences, and skills obtained while doing so.

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