ORDER NO. 20875 CONS.IDERATIUN OF THE HUNT VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT CONTRAC"f On this the 13th day u£ April 1992, upon motion made by Commissioner Morgan, seconded by Commissioner Oehler, the Court unanimously approved by a vote of 4-0-0, to authorize the County Attorney to meet with Mr. Sorrell and. give him an opportunity to discuss said contract. COMMISSIONERS' COURT AGENDA REQUEST PLEASE FURNISH ONE ORIGINAL AND FIVE COPIES OF THIS REQUEST AND DOCUMENTS TO BE REVIEWED BY THE COURT MADE BY: R. Qordon Mnrgan~ a~.~pe_e O ler OFFICE: ro mission ~' o~rt MEETING DATE: a.,,-;i 9 X44? TIME PREFERRED: SUBJECT: (PLEASE BE SPECIFIC) Consider Hunt Volunteer Fire Department Contract. EXECUTIVE SESSION REQUESTED: YES NO x PLEASE STATE REASON FOR EXECUTIVE SESSION ESTIMATED LENGTH OF PRESENTATION: PERSONNEL MATTER - NAME OF EMPLOYEE: NAME OF PERSON ADDRESSING THE COURT: commissioner Pct. dIl Time for submitting this request for Court to assure that the matter is posted in accordance with Article 6252-17 1s as follows: * Meetings held on Monday: 12:00 P.M. previous Wednesday THIS REQUEST RECEIVED BY: is THIS REQUEST RECEIVED ON : 4/9/92 ca z:4i nm All Agenda Requests will be screened by the County Judge's Office to determine if adequate information has been prepared for the Court's formal consideration and action at time of Court meetings. Your cooperation will be appreciated and contribute towards your request being addressed at the earliest opportunity. See Agenda Request Guidelines. t:er-r- County Commisioner-s Court t:err County Court House k::er-r-ville, Teas 78{~2S F'e: Contracts to VFDs Gentlemen: My delay in writing has been due to having my attorney 1004:: over- the legal ramifications r-egar-ding the proposed contract and I thinF:: you will find the information ver-v inter-estinq. First of all, the l.aw states that the Count; "may" enter- into a contract with the VFDs and not that they had to. It was e;:plained t^ me that the Lounty wished to do this as a measure to police the e:;pen- datur-es of the various departments in the ways money was used. AS the old saying goes, a contract is no better- than the people entering into the contract, so it appears nothing has been accomplished toward the goal you =_eek, The perfect tool to police the use of your- mnne~.• is by monitoring the bills as they ar•e submitted and set- ting strong rules as to the use of equipment. My main objection, to the contract is that by law, the county is relieved of any ar.d all liability that may arise from the actions of the VFDs and those that have entered into it have left themselves wide open to any litigation that ;ray come along. I don't thin4:: this is fair- to the very people who ar-e out fighting fires in your behalf. Is it possible this was your- r-eal intention all along? If liability to the ~=ounty was not your- intent, then a hold harmless and indemnity agreement in favor- of your- volunteers should be built into each contract. Should yOll do this, then the Hunt VFD wo~.rld enter- into the contract right now. AS for- viola±ions, here ar-e some ideas you could initiate that should curb some e:;penses. 1. All. use of VFD vehicles should be limited to the specific tas4s of fire fighting. F'r-evention should be the only e>:ception. ~. All invoices should be on a reimbursement basis and car-efuily monitored. The specific vehicle should be listed on eact-~ invoice for- r-epair-s. _. All gas tickets should list= the e;;act vehicle involved. .~. Each b'FD _hould suomit a list of specific vendors for parts ?< r-ep'- r-s for County approval. v. The ~_rse of command vehicles must be limited to the use a monitoring and directing fire fighting and fire inspections. I see little need for- command vehicles since most chiefs direct fire fighting from a f=ire truck:. b. No fire fighting equipment should leave it's specific terr-itor-y unless called upon by another department, or- for- repairs. 1 feel sure You could come up with other- ideas that would ser-•:e to c~_rrb e;:penditures tha± would also be useful. -fhe county could further help the var-ioi.rs departments by retiring somne county units a bit earlier, and sending them to the VFDs for replacement equipment of some of our- aging units. Please let me hear- from you, and thanks for- listening. Your-s ~ t'u1Y. C Sor- 11, Chief Hunt VFD F~.e r"r L: C7u my COmmi92Onet'S Lout't. ,/ 3~/ Z Kerr County C:ot.!rt: House X- F:errville, l'e;;as 7S3U^4 (~tt~ Mr. Gior-dnn Mor'q