City of East Lansing Shared Services and Partnerships

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1 City of East Lansing Shared Services and Partnerships Local governments such as East Lansing have a long history of collaborating with public, private and nonprofit institutions to sustain and improve services. Establishing key partnerships has become even more critical in these tough financial times. Our City has sought and will continue to seek sensible ways in which to share services, pool resources, achieve efficiencies and, in some cases, to reduce costs. East Lansing is a unique, vibrant and safe community, and we hold this as our vision for the future, despite the financial challenges we must address. The following list, while by no means exhaustive, describes some of our collaborative efforts over the past 15 years: Interlocal Agreements: Entered into an interlocal agreement with Meridian Township in 2010 to share the services and costs of the City's specialized trade inspectors. Entered into a second interlocal agreement with Meridian Township in 2010 to share the services and costs of a newly hired, Level 4-certified assessor. Is working in partnership with the City of Lansing and Ingham County to open a consolidated 911 Dispatch Center in early 2012 to serve region. Is participating in shared service discussions with regional fire departments. Partnering with City Employees: Has for the past ten years contained health care cost increases to between 0 and 3.5% in the face of double digit increases nationwide. This has been accomplished through the work of the City s joint, Union/Management Healthcare Task Force. The Task Force has contained costs through annual competitive bidding, increased premium costsharing, increased copays, extensive education, wellness efforts and right-sizing of the number of recipients receiving benefits. Eliminated (1993) retiree health care for new hires. Converted (FY 1998) most new hires to Defined Contribution pension plans. Obtained a 2% wage freeze for all non-union employees in FY 2010 (140 employees). Obtained a 2% wage freeze for FY 2011 for all employees. Bargained the privatization of custodial and lawn mowing services. Has left vacant or in some cases, eliminated positions. Is working with fewer Patrol Officers. Employs three fewer fire fighters per shift leaving one fire truck unstaffed.

2 School District Collaboration: Maintains the bus fleet for East Lansing Public Schools (ELPS). Provides snow plowing services and maintenance of a number of ELPS athletic fields. Manages 26 athletic leagues for MacDonald Middle School. Provides the Before & After School Childcare program out of four of the six ELPS elementary schools. Shares the cost of School Resource Officers with East Lansing Public Schools. The East Lansing Fire Department (ELFD): Partners with a consortium of regional and state fire departments to provide mutual aid and special operations during times of large-scale disasters and/or emergencies. Is part of the Lansing Metro Response Team, a subset of the Michigan Urban Search and Rescue (MUSAR). Through MUSAR, ELFD has made a number of activations to various disasters throughout Michigan. Participates in specialized training with other regional fire departments, including ice rescue, confined space, trench rescue, hazardous materials, building collapse and high/low-angle rescue. The East Lansing Police Department (ELPD): Partners with regional law enforcement on the Tri-County Metro Narcotics Squad, Major Crime Task Force and Regional Tactical Team. Provides mutual aid during major area disasters and/or emergencies. Utilizes and shares in the cost of a countywide VisionAIR records management system and computer aided dispatch - shared hardware/software. Utilizes and shares in the cost of countywide ticket writers - shared purchase, shared hardware (backbone). Is working with local law enforcement on a countywide jail booking system which will create a single booking system (hardware and software) so that prisoners can be transported between jails without creating redundant data entry. Participates in a four-county consortium that has purchased a joint phone system allowing for shared servers, back-up dispatch capabilities and increased communication capabilities between counties. Participates in a countywide All police, fire and EMS agencies in the county utilize a countywide radio system with all police, fire and EMS agencies. This system also provides communication capabilities with Clinton County, Eaton County and Michigan State Police. Participates in a countywide emergency management committee, which purchases emergency equipment with Homeland Security grant funds.

3 The Department of Public Works (DPW) & Environmental Collaboration: Participates in co-operative purchasing through the State of Michigan MiDEAL program for fleet trucks, vehicles, road salt and other items. Is a part of the East Lansing-Meridian Water & Sewer Authority. As such, the authority jointly developed and maintains a wellhead protection plan for the East Lansing and Meridian Township communities with the help of the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission. Provides waste water treatment for Meridian Township and MSU under a contract. Has, since 1999, taken a lead role in the establishment and technical aspects of the Greater Lansing Regional Committee for Stormwater Management. Visit to learn more about this organization. Partners with MSU to host an off-campus location for the Pack Up, Pitch In student recycling event during spring move out. The DPW also collaborates with Greater Lansing charitable organizations and volunteers on this event, providing a number of donated items for reuse by those in need. Is an active member the Regional Recycling Coordinating Committee, comprised of several local municipalities. The group works to create awareness and action around resource recovery and conservation issues. The group co-sponsors special recycling events and environmental education for the tri-county community. Is an active partner on the Greater Lansing Area Clean Cities Coalition, a group of stakeholders working to achieve cleaner air and energy security in mid-michigan through alternative fuel and vehicle use and fuel economy practices. Currently provides potable water to portions of MSU (the Brody Complex and Kellogg Center) and is making improvements to provide water to other areas of MSU. Is an active member of the Groundwater Management Board, organized under the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission. The City participates in their wellhead protection plan and the Children's Water Festival. Provides a representative as a neighboring community to the Lansing Board of Water & Light's Wellhead Protection Team and to Williamston's Wellhead Protection Team. Actively participates in CARTS - Capital Area Regional Transportation - organized under the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission. Planning & Community Development: Is partnering with Lansing and Lansing Township on the Michigan Avenue Corridor Improvement Authority. Is partnering with MSU, MDOT and the Capital Area Rail Council on the development of the Multimodal Station on Harrison Road. Is partnering with msuenet on The Hatch, an incubator for student entrepreneurs. Is partnering with CATA on the Michigan /Grand River Avenue Transportation Study. The City is partnering with the Small Business Technology Development Center on business development for East Lansing Technology Innovation Center tenants. Is partnering with the Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP) on placemaking efforts.

4 Is partnering with the Arts Council of Greater Lansing on implementation of the Cultural Economic Development Plan and administration of the Cultural Entrepreneurship program. Is partnering with Hometown Housing Partnership on administering Housing Rehab and Employee Home Ownership programs. Is partnering with the U.S. Department of Commerce and Commerce Connect on outreach to businesses. Is partnering with LEAP on business recruitment and retention efforts. Is partnering with MSU, the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce and Prima Civitas on maximizing the economic development potential of the FRIB (Facility for Rare Isotope Beams). Parks, Recreation & Arts: Regularly receives grant funds from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources/Natural Resources Trust Fund for parks projects. Currently has a one-year AmeriCorps Service Position partially funded by the Ingham County Health Department. This employee is working to assist in establishing a Park Stewardship Program for East Lansing's park system. Partners with MSU for childcare grants, Active Living for Adults (ALFA) funds and archery programs through the Demmer Center. Partners with East Lansing Public Schools to provide childcare sites, middle school sports and indoor/outdoor recreational facilities (see School District Collaboration above for more details). Partners with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Community Partners in Health on the Mayor's Blues Community Challenge, which provides grants for wellness, wellness programming and prevention information. Partners with Delta Sigma Phi on grants for youth programming and volunteerism. Partners with the Demmer Shooting Sports Education & Training Center, Studio de Danse, Challenger Sports, the Michigan Athletic Club and the Spartan Dance Center to provide recreational programming to the community. Partners with Riverwalk Theatre, Lansing Community College and the All-of-us Express Children's Theatre Non-Profit Board of Trustees to provide community theatre programming and theatre program funding (All-of-us Express). Active Living for Adults (ALFA): Works closely with the Tri-County Office on Aging as a subcontractor for Respite Subsidy funding, on a senior dining program for congregate meals for daily lunches, as a project Choices Medicaid vendor and as a Creative Caregiver class host and respite provider. Partners with MSU to provide a School of Social Work graduate level intern position at its site. ALFA also serves as a School of Nursing undergraduate learning site for community nursing, a referral site for MSU's Child and Family Services program and

5 a Service Learning Center. ALFA receives an annual funding contribution recognizing service to MSU staff, alumni, etc. Serves as a Human Services Program intern worksite provider (provides supervision) for Lansing Community College. Is a Senior Companion Program worksite for RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Program) Is a referral site for Sparrow Hospital Senior Health Center (St. Lawrence Campus), Mareck Family & Geriatric Services and Community Mental Health. Works closely with CATA-Spectran, the Clinton Area Transit System and Eatran (Eaton County Transportation). Receives an annual funding contribution from the City of Lansing recognizing service to Lansing residents. Serves as a worksite for consumers of Community Mental Health. 54-B District Court: Collaborates with MSU, the City of East Lansing Attorney and the Ingham County Prosecuting Attorney to implement the Arrest Impact Discussion (AID) program for MSU freshman offenders. The program allows MSU officials to provide an educational intervention to students arrested for alcohol violations during the first six weeks of classes. Initiated and participates in the Ingham County Veterans Treatment Court Prime Time Seniors' Program: Serves as a field placement site for the MSU Bachelor of Social Work program, MSU Master of Social Work program and the MSU Levande Program in Gerontology. The Department of the City Clerk: Partners with MSU on the MSU YouVote initiative. Hosts voters from other jurisdictions that attend ELPS during school elections. This reduces costs to the school district by not requiring outside jurisdictions to conduct an election and open extra precincts for voters who live in the ELPS district. During general elections, East Lansing High School band students get to see democracy in action by serving as election inspectors. The money they earn is used to offset costs for band trips.