Second Annual CONGRESS of Neighboring Communities June 18, 2010

Resolution 10-01 Election of officers

Resolution 10-02 Establish one Congress per Calendar Year   Establish one Congress per Calendar Year

Resolution 10-03   Establish five officers and a nominating committee to propose a slate of nominees for officer election

Resolution 10-04   Establishes three standing committees: an Executive Committee which shall provide overall director for the operations of CONNECT, a Policy Committee which shall deal with issues relating to the 36 municipalities as a core community, and an Operations Committee which shall focus on intergovernmental cooperation among member communities

A representative from Pittsburgh City Council; Resolution 10-05   Establishes that the Executive Committee will be comprised of one representative from each CONNECT municipality and representative of Allegheny County government (appointed by the County Executive) plus the following non-voting members: A representative of Pennsylvania’s Department of Community and Economic Development; A representative from Pittsburgh City Council; A representative from the City Controller’s office; A representative of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission Establishes that each CONNECT member shall also hold one seat on either the Policy Committee or the Operations Committee for a term of two years, after which a community will serve on the opposite committee. Allows for the city of Pittsburgh to have a seat on both the policy and operations committee and for the Policy and Operations committees to include a representative from each of the councils of governments (COGs) whose members are CONNECT members

Resolution 10-06   Establishes that CONNECT expeditors will serve as the first point of contact for the CONNECT member municipalities

Resolution 10-07   Calls on expeditors to make a full faith effort to communicate their concerns to the expeditors of all relevant community members

Resolution 10-08   Asks CONNECT members to give priority to processing agreements between CONNECT municipalities to the maximum extent possible

Resolution 10-09   Encourages each COG to appoint a member of their body to attend the Policy and Operations Committee meetings and participate, in an advisory capacity, in the annual Congress

Critical Condition: The EMS Crisis in Pittsburgh and its Neighboring Communities A Report by the Office of the Pittsburgh City Controller Submitted to the Congress of Neighboring Communities (CONNECT) June 18, 2010 Michael E. Lamb City Controller, Pittsburgh

EMS Challenges Undependable Funding Sources Private insurers send co-pays to the user rather than the provider Medicare reimbursements often cover only half of the cost billed Subscription rates within CONNECT communities range from 15% to 62%

EMS Challenges (Cont.) Increased demand and cost of staffing Volunteerism has plummeted Professional Staff is expensive Education and training required is extensive

Allegheny County 911 Funding for 911 is a from a monthly fee levied on all landline phone bills. As an increasing number of county residents dropped their landlines to use only cell phones, the county 911 center began to operate at a deficit. In both 2008 and 2009 the county 911 center operated at deficits approaching $2 million.

The Coming Crisis Of the seventeen EMS organizations serving the CONNECT region, nine of the organizations showed a deficit in 2008. The sixteen non-profit and municipal CONNECT EMS organizations ran a $2,657,753 deficit in 2008. Thirteen of the organizations still used volunteers, but they have largely been replaced by a mix of full and part time EMT personnel. EMS is facing a future of rapidly rising personnel costs and diminishing compensation for their service. The situation could literally become a matter of life or death.

The Plan A new partnership with our non-profit organizations Creation of a grant pool for EMS providers that meet certain minimum standards Using the Allegheny County Library Assn. as a model Grants awarded based on population served and emergency call volume

The Plan (cont.) A new commitment from our municipalities Municipalities will match the non-profit commitment through local support of EMS Subscriptions, direct and indirect assistance, etc.

The Plan (cont.) New standards for our EMS providers based on criteria such as service area, staff certifications and training, response time, staffing levels, etc., as determined by the EMS community.

The Plan (cont.) The funding pool is suggested to be split three ways. 80% would be divided among the qualifying EMS providers for operations. 10% to help support any projects that improve training, or efforts of coordination, cooperation, and/or sharing of services among EMS providers. 10% dedicated to the County to offset its funding shortage for county-wide 911 services.

Identifies adequate revenues for the EMS providers Resolution 10-10   CONNECT: Accepts the report of the City Controller identifying the urgency of finding additional revenues for Emergency Medical Service (EMS) providers Charges the Executive Committee with initiating discussions with the EMS Council of Allegheny County Charges the Executive Committee with initiating discussions with the nonprofit community Identifies adequate revenues for the EMS providers

Resolution 10-11   Encourages CONNECT members to participate fully in all appropriate transit corridor planning efforts; encourages municipal and county governments not in CONNECT but part of the transportation corridor to join CONNECT members in corridor planning; and calls on the SPC, state of Pennsylvania and other appropriate funders to place a high priority on funding transit corridor planning efforts within CONNECT municipalities

Resolution 10-12   Authorizes the 36 municipalities of CONNECT to call upon the state legislature to provide a long-term plan for sufficient funding to ensure that public transit remains a viable public service to our citizens and a critical component of our area's transportation infrastructure

Resolution 10-13   Commits to establishing a dialogue with its member municipalities and working with Three Rivers Wet Weather to develop a regional approach to address wet weather issues

Resolution 10-14   Commits to work inter-municipally and with ALCOSAN to implement green initiatives which will result in money saved and less infrastructure to manage, and will help rehabilitate the sewage collection system

Resolution 10-15   Authorizes the creation of a framework for retrofitting and upgrading street lighting in the member municipalities

Resolution 10-16   Supplements the County energy audit program by retaining the services of an energy auditor to perform a CONNECT-wide audit of phone, electricity and gas usage for cost-saving purposes beginning in August 2010 for CONNECT members who chose to participate

Resolution 10-17   Provides joint bidding opportunities to its member municipalities in the area of energy savings

  CONNECT CONGRESS 2010 All Congress attendees will be e-mailed the full PowerPoint presentation