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<br />Regular Meeting <br /> <br />April 19, 2005 <br /> <br />77. <br />Page 13 <br /> <br />buildings. Mr. Pietsch stated this is a concern with a lot of cities and <br />he has never heard of the State assisting with the purchase of a ladder <br />truck. Mayor Narvaiz reminded the Council that the City passed a <br />Resolution, which was accepted by Texas Municipal League and will be going <br />before the Legislature requiring the universities to help participate in <br />the budget of their cities. She encouraged citizens to write letters to <br />their representatives requesting their help. Mr. Mihalkanin stated Texas <br />A&M provides resources to College Station's Fire Department. Mr. Guerrero <br />stated he is interested in getting additional information from El Paso to <br />see if the City partnerships with the University of Texas in El Paso. Mr. <br />Bose stated if the City invested in lowering their rating to a Class 3, <br />then the citizens would only save three percent on their insurance. Mr. <br />Pietsch stated the citizens would only save three percent, but the <br />commercial citizens would save nine percent, which could be used as an <br />Economic Development tool. Mr. O'Leary stated he feels a reasonable goal <br />for the City would be to try to become a Class 3 rating, but currently the <br />City should work on maintaining a Class 4 rating. Mr. Guerrero inquired to <br />whether improving the response time could be used as a mechanism to assist <br />the City with turnovers within the Fire Department. Mr. O'Leary stated <br />firefighters like to be part of a Fire Department they feel is growing, or <br />at least staying up with the times. He also stated a largest portion of <br />turnovers were within the Police and Fire Departments. Mr. Taylor inquired <br />to a yearly cost of operating a fire station. Mr. pietsch stated a fire <br />station costs approximately 1.2 million dollars per year to operate. Mr. <br />Taylor inquired to whether the City could maintain a Class 4 rating if the <br />Central Fire Station was relocated. Mr. Pietsch stated currently Fire <br />Station 4 responds to Technology Way, which takes nine to ten minutes in <br />good traffic. He stated Technology Way is considered a non-ISO covered <br />area because of that response time, which could hurt the City's current <br />rating. Mr. Bose inquired to whether fire hydrants and water pressure is <br />considered in the ISO Grading Schedule. Mr. O'Leary stated the ISO Grading <br />Schedule does not consider the size of the water main, they are only <br />interested if there are fire hydrants and they work. Mr. Pietsch stated <br />when the City of San Marcos PPC Grading Point Totals is being developed, <br />any four inch main would be considered as a non fire hydrant. The Council <br />agreed by consensus for the City Manager to bring back information <br />regarding what it would take to maintain the current Class 4 rating and to <br />become a Class 3 rating. <br /> <br />Mayor Narvaiz introduced a discussion regarding City Council direction of <br />future agenda items. 1) Mr. Mihalkanin stated he would like a discussion on <br />which City Boards and Commissions as related to the budget process and City <br />departments. 2) Mayor Narvaiz stated she would like to hold a joint <br />Workshop with the Airport Commission to discuss the development of the <br />Municipal Airport. 3) Mr. Guerrero inquired to the Zoning Ordinance <br />reconsideration process. Mr. O'Leary stated a Zoning Ordinance is <br />automatically placed on the next agenda for reconsideration. Mr. Mark <br />