10.b3 May Township 2027-2029 Contract Staff reportPage 1 of 7
Staff Report
Date of Meeting: September, 7th 2023
To: May Township Board
From: Mike Hinz, Scandia Fire Chief
Re: 2027-2029 May Township Fire Contract
Background:
Scandia Fire has contracted with May Township to provide fire protection to about 15% of the township
for many years. Stillwater Fire and Marine Fire provide coverage to the remainder of the township. We
currently negotiate a new contract every 3 years and the current contract expires December 31st of 2026.
I have provided the excel worksheet that was used to determine the contract costs. The population and
household information was gathered from both the 2020 Census office and the Washington county GIS team.
The basic formula is May Township is billed for 10.35% (percent of the total population served) of the total
budget of the fire department; this includes the general operating budget and capital expense & debt service
payments. Early contracts only included the operating budget cost, last cycle we included estimated debt service
figures and this year we have also included CIP funding cost. I believe this is a true cost of providing fire
coverage as a whole. Of note this year I also deducted fire state aid from the figures.
On the Contract history tab of the work sheet I have included a list of some of the capital expenses that
have contributed to the increase in cost over the years. As you can see the cost has fluctuated as contracts are
reviewed, some time there was an increase while other times there was a decrease. This contract does have a
16.92% increase for 2027, but if you look at the percent of total population worksheet you can see that we have
included CIP funding which has not been included in the past and have also used current figures for the debt
service funding.
We did have a few big years of CIP purchases with the replacement of our primary engine (25 year life),
water tender 2 (20 year life), Rescue boat, utility truck, and some other smaller items. With the trucks that were
replaced our next truck will be our Rescue in 2030 this should keep our debt service payments stable.
Of note May Township is actually 9% to 14% of our call volume not including mutual aid response and
I believe that in the next few years we will see an increase in this number as both the Veterans Campground and
Washington County Park are both making improvements to their facilities to increase usage and the new state
refuge area may see an increase in use.
Issue:
Should the May Township Board sign the contract with the City of Scandia to provide fire service to the
presented area of May Township for the years of 2027, 2028 & 2029?
Proposal Details:
May Township proposed contract amounts are as follows.
2027 = $61,118
2028 = $62,917
2029 = $64793
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Page 3 of 7
FIRE DEPARTMENT SERVICE AGREEMENT
THIS AGREEMENT, made and entered into effective January 1st, 2027, by and between the City of
Scandia, Washington County, Minnesota, 14727 209th Street North, Scandia, MN 55073, a public corporation
(“City”) and May Township, Washington County, Minnesota, 13519 May Avenue North, Stillwater, MN 55082,
a public corporation (“Town”).
WHEREAS, the Town desires to contract with the City for the furnishing of fire service to that part of
the Town described on the Service Area Map (Exhibit A); and
WHEREAS, the City agrees to furnish such services on the terms and conditions hereinafter set forth.
NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual promises contained herein, it is mutually agreed
between the City and the Town as follows;
1.The City shall furnish the services of its fire department to the Town in that part of its area
shown in the Service Area Map (Exhibit A)
2.The City Fire Department will respond to calls for service to the described area in the Town with
apparatus, equipment and personnel of the fire department responding to any such call and will render all
assistance possible in the saving of lives and property, within the limits of personal safety of the personnel.
The parties understand the fire department officer in charge of the particular scene shall
exercise judgment to determine, in consideration of all the established policies, guidelines, procedures, and
practices, how best to allocate the available resources of the fire department under the circumstances of a
given situation.
3.Failure to respond to a call because of adverse weather conditions, unavailability of equipment
or personnel or for any other reason beyond the control of the fire department shall not be considered to be a
breach of this agreement. If the fire department is unable to respond it will notify the “911” Center and the
Marine on St. Croix and Stillwater Fire Departments of its inability to respond.
The parties understand and agree that the city will endeavor to provide the services indicated
above to the best of its ability given the circumstances, but the City makes no guarantees that the services it
actually provides in a given situation will meet any particular criteria or standard
4.The term of this contract shall be January 1st,2027 to December 31st, 2029. If this contract is not
replaced by a new contract by December 31 st, 2029, this contract shall continue in force month to month at
the then current yearly rate plus 5% prorated to a monthly payment basis until such time as a replacement
contract is executed or until either party terminates in writing. Either party may terminate this contract during
the extended period at any time with or without cause by providing 30 days written notice to t he other party
of its intent to terminate.
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5.The town shall pay to the City for the fire department services rendered to it by the City the
sum of $53,791.00 on or before April 15th, 2027; the sum of $55,361.00 on or before April 15th, 2028; and the
sum of $57,000.00 on or before April 15th, 2029.
In the event of the termination of this agreement prior to the completion of the full term
described herein, a pro-rata adjustment of the annual fee shall be made and paid to the appropriate party.
6.Any amounts recovered for fire calls under this contract from insurance in effect on the
premises involved with the fire shall be property of the Town.
7.The City, its officers, agents and employees shall not be liable for any intentional or negligent
act of the Town or any officer, agent or employee of the Town and the Town agrees to hold the City, its
officers, agents and employees harmless from any intentional or negligent act of the Town or any officer,
agent or employee of the Town and the town agrees to defend the City, its officers, agents or employees from
any claim for damages resulting from a negligent or intentional act of the Town or any officer, agent or
employee thereof.
8.The Town, its officers, agents and employees shall not be liable for any intentional or negligent
act of the City or any officer, agent or employee of the City and the City agrees to hold the Town, its officers,
agents and employees harmless from any intentional or negligent act of the City or any officer, agent or
employee of the city and the city agrees to defend the Town, its officers, agents or employees from any claims
resulting from a negligent or intentional act of the City or any officer, agent or employee thereof.
9.No Waiver. Nothing herein shall be construed to waive or limit any immunity from, or limitation
on, liability to either party, whether set forth in Minnesota Statutes Chapter 466 or otherwise.
10.Subcontracting and Assignment. The City shall not subcontract or assign any portion of their
contract to another without prior written permission from the Town. Services provided to the Town pursuant
to a mutual aid agreement the City has, or may enter into, with another entity does not constitute a
subcontract or assignment requiring prior approval of the Town so long as the City remains primarily
responsible for providing fire services to the Town’s Service Territory.
11.Service Contract. This is a service contract. The parties do not intend to undertake or create,
and nothing herein shall be construed as creating, a joint powers agreement, joint venture, or joint enterprise
between the parties.
12.Minnesota Law Governs. This contract shall be governed by and construed in accordance with
the internal laws of the State of Minnesota. All proceedings related to this contract shall be venued in the
State of Minnesota.
13.Severability. The provisions of this contract shall be deemed severable. If any part of this
contract is rendered void, invalid, or otherwise unenforceable, such rendering shall not affect the validity and
enforceability of the remainder of this contract.
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14.It is understood that this agreement contains the entire agreement between the parties and
that any statement, promise or inducements made by any party hereto, or officer, agent, or employee of
either party which is not contained in this agreement shall not be valid and binding; and this agreement may
not be enlarged, modified or altered except in writing signed by the parties hereto. It is expressly understood
between the parties and this understanding shall be considered in interpreting the provisions of this
agreement, that upon notice given by any party hereto, later negotiations may be undertaken for the purpose
of revising, adding to or striking any provision of this agreement which appears unworkable or insufficient to
perfect, maintain and insure the purpose of this agreement. Any change of the original provisions of this
agreement shall be written, signed by both parties and attached to this agreement as provided above and any
later revision, addition or deletion shall only apply to the provisions revised, added or deleted and the
remainder of this agreement shall remain in full force and effect.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have caused this agreement to be executed by its appro priate officers.
CITY OF SCANDIA
Steve Kronmiller, Mayor
ATTEST:
Kyle Morell, City Administrator
MAY TOWNSHIP
John Pazlar, Chairman
ATTEST:
Bobbi Hummel, Clerk
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Exhibit A
(See Attached)
Page 7 of 7
Population Served (2024 Met Council & Washington County GIS)
Estimated
Total
Population
Total
Households
Persons per
Household
Households
Served
%
Households
Served
Population
Served
% Population
Served
Scandia 4,092 1,873 2.18 1,873 90.97%4,092 89.65%
May 2,863 1,127 2.54 186 9.03%473 10.35%
Totals 6,955 3,000 2.32 2,059 100.00%4,565 100.00%
Population Information
May Township is actually 10-16 percent of the calls when mutual aid is taken out of the equation. You can see
this in the Call Type tab under Percentage of call to May Township vs Scandia calls
The cost per capita formula was adopted by the Scandia Town Board in 2000 as the policy / formula to use for
calculating contract costs. It has been the base formula for the contract ever since
I still believe this is still the most straight forward, fair and equitable formula for our citizens.
Population numbers are based on Met Council population projections from the 2020 census and data received
from the Washington county Senior GIS Analyst on July 31st.
Year
Contract
Price % Increase
Cost if increased
5% since 2006
2006 Actual $20,890
2007 Actual $21,516 3.00%21,935$
2008 Actual $22,162 3.00%23,031$
2009 Actual $29,266 32.05%24,183$
2010 Actual $30,876 5.50%25,392$
2011 Actual $32,574 5.50%26,662$
2012 Actual $33,551 3.00%27,995$
2013 Actual $34,558 3.00%29,394$
2014 Actual $35,594 3.00%30,864$
2015 Actual $32,248 -9.40%32,407$
2016 Actual $33,216 3.00%34,028$
2017 Actual $34,212 3.00%35,729$
2018 Actual $34,771 1.63%37,515$
2019 Actual $35,000 0.66%39,391$
2020 Actual $35,000 0.00%41,361$
2021 Actual $30,710 -12.26%43,429$
2022 Actual $31,493 2.55%45,600$
2023 Actual $32,300 2.56%47,880$
2024 Actual $35,816 10.89%50,274$
2025 Actual $36,443 1.75%52,788$
2026 Actual $46,007 26.24%55,427$
2027 Estimated $53,791 16.92%58,199$
2028 Estimated $55,361 2.92%61,109$
2029 Estimated $57,000 2.96%64,164$
2030 Estimated 65,689$ 15.24%67,372$
2031 Estimated 67,682$ 3.04%70,741$
2032 Estimated 69,760$ 3.07%74,278$
2033 Estimated 71,925$ 3.10%77,992$
2034 Estimated 74,180$ 3.14%81,891$
Contract Cost History