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Home My WebLink About13.F.3. Fire Strategic Plan CITY OF SHAKOPEE 13~ ~ ~I Memorandum TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Mark McNeill, City Administrator SUBJECT: Fire Strategic Plan DATE: April 27, 2006 INTRODUCTION: The Council is asked to consider follow-up from the April 26th meeting, during which time there was discussion of the need for a strategic plan for the Fire Department. BACKGROUND: Several issues were discussed at the April 26th workshop, including staffing, Fire Department organization, compensation, and the like. The Council discussed the need for having a strategic plan of from 5 to 10 years in duration, which would allow for a more "global" planning effort for the department. It was suggested that a committee be formed to look at strategic planning needs. Members of the department, city staff, and two members of the City Council could be members. Following the meeting, it was suggested to me that the City of Minnetonka had recently done strategic planning for their fire service. I spoke with Chief Joe Wallen to find out what they had done. He said that they were actually in the process of gearing up to do another strategic plan, as their previous one had been done 20 years ago, and was now nearly fully implemented. He described to me Minnetonka's process. He spoke of the need for this, but also recommended strongly that an outside company be engaged to look at this - in his opinion, if the strategic planning efforts were done "in-house", the results are not always as objective as they could be. He also recommended that 20 years be used as a time frame, as five years in the fire service is too short. He also said that the City of Stillwater had recently done strategic planning. As a result, I spoke with Chief Stuart Glaser of the Stillwater Fire Department. In 2005, they had completed a strategic planning study for their Fire Department. It is found in a 105 page document, which is viewable at the City's website-www.ci.stillwater.mn.us. Like the Minnetonka Chief, he supported having an outside agency do the Strategic Plan. He recommended that the study committee would still be needed, but it would have a different purpose than what had been proposed at the Shakopee Council Workshop - it could put together the Request For Proposal (RFP), interview the candidates, and then serve as liaison to the consultant as the study is done. He said that their study took approximately 8 Y2. months. I spoke with Chief Schwaesdall on this issue. He subsequently provided me with a list of issues which the Fire Department has identified as part of their 2006-2010 Vision. It is a very comprehensive list. His concern is that eight and a half months would be too long of a time frame to address some of the items listed (attached). I would suggest that a Committee could look at the issues, and determine which are ones that an outside consultant is better able to address, and which are ones that should be looked at "in- house. BUDGET IMPACT: Both Minnetonkaand Stillwater mentioned $25,000 as preliminary budgeted amounts. Stillwater actually had responses from six consultants that ranged from $6700 to $57,700. The Chief there said that the ones at the low end were from architects, who appeared to be more interested in selling their services for the design of a fire station, rather than looking at operational and equipment issues. In talking through with staff, our recommendation is that the funding for this could be taken from the Police budget - there are five unfilled positions, and therefore, money would be available so that it does not impact other portions of the budget. RECOMMENDATION: I recommend two things: 1. A Committee be appointed to act to put together an RFP for Fire Strategic Planning services, and look at the Fire Department's 5 Year Vision list. Such a committee could be made up of two members of the Council (Councilors Joos and Lehman had volunteered Wednesday night), three City staff, and three members of the Fire Department. From the staffs side, we would recommend designation of the Finance Director, the Assistant to the City Administrator, and the City Administrator. 2. The amount of $25,000 to corne from the Police Personnel line item, for which a budget amendment would be needed in the future. Relationship to Visioning: This could support Goal A (Active and Healthy Community), Goal B (High Quality of Life), Goal D (Vibrant, Resilient and Stable), and Goal E (Financially Strong). ACTION REQUIRED: lfthe Council concurs, it should, by motion, do the following: 1. Appoint a Fire Strategic Planning Liaison Committee. 2. Direct that funding for said study to be made available for $25,000, and that the budget shall be amended to take that amount from police staffing. 3. Direct that an RFP be drafted for review by the Committee, which would solicit possible consultants. {\AAA~~ Mark McNeill City Administrator MM:th Shakopee Fire Department 5 Year Operational Plan 2006 - 2010 Outline Part A: Overview for 5 year window 1. Mission Statement-Ed 2. Vision - 5 year (What we plan to look like in 5 years)-Ed, Rick, AI a. Services offered b. Geographic Coverage c. Stations d. Equipment / Apparatus e. ISO Goals: 4,3,2,1 Part B: Breakdown for years 2006,2007,2008,2009,2010 ***Either show theses sections with changes for each year (chapter by year) or list year changes under each section 1. Services Provided-Ed 2. Facilities / Property-Ed, Dave a. What Stations each year b. Training or other facilities 3. Apparatus-Ed a. Replacement Schedule b. Expansion Plans with stations and additional services 4. Equipment-Ed, Rick, AI a. SCBA b. Gear c. Hoze, nozzles, ladders, tools etc d. Extrication/Rescue e. Ventilation f. Dive/W ater g. High Level h. Hazmat i. Others 5. Communications - Marty 6. IT / GIS - Dave, Marty, Carrie D. a. City LAN, email, servers/shares etc b. MDT / MCT / CAD c. GPS d. Computer needs- new, replacement schedule/plan e. Key Card Access f. Key Card swipe sign - in / access 7. Personnel-Ed a. Organizational structure b. Management / Officers i. Full time transitions as appropriate ii. Admin requirements c. Firefighter staffing numbers d. Staffing plans i. By Station(s) ii. Acceptable response time(s) defined 1. Trigger points to make changes a. Add firefighters b. Shift firefighters around c. Shift designations d. Duty Crews e. Full time iii. Transition to duty crews in some year or trigger point iv. Group calls by trigger point criteria v. Station pages by trigger point criteria vi. Response type additions or changes (Firefighting, Med etc) e. Compensation i. Hourly / Wages ii. Pension (baseline and increase plan) iii. Benefits (gap insurance policies, etc) iv. Other possibilities 1. Real estate tax incentives 2. Real estate / finance incentives f. Job descriptions and requirements g. Firefighter / Officer review process i. Beyond just % attendance h. HR .Resource requirements 8. Firefighter Recruitment-Ed, Dave, AI, Rick, a. Recruitment Strategy and goals by area and location - stations b. Recruitment Activities i. Annual Schedule / Guideline 1. TV, Paper, Neighborhood awareness/interest activities, Public location activities (Home Depot, Lowes, Grocery Stores, etc) 2. Collateral a. Pamphlets, video, pics, banners, web etc, 3. Committee with chair 9. Firefighter Retention-Ed a. Pension b. Real Estate Tax Incentives c. Wages d. Social Benefits 10. Trianing-Ed, Dave, Marty, Jake a. High Level Training Requirements (NFPA, OSHAetc) b. Drills (requirements, mix, schedule) c. Make-up drills ( include daytime / alternate time) d. Basic Requirements / Certifications e. Training Planning and Schedule f. Outside Training (College, Sectionals, State, Fire Acadamy, FDIC, others) g. Specialty training i. High Level ii. Dive / Water iii. Hazmat iv. Advanced Medical v. Confined Space / Trench vi. Others h. Training Facilities i. Search room ii. Confined space iii. Roof operations iv. Live Burn v. Tower/sprinkler/ standpipe vi. Classroom vii. Audio Visual requirements viii. Books, Video, PC, Web resources 11. Response / SOG anticipated changes / Policy Requirements-Ed, Rick, AI, Dave a. Anticipated new hazards / responsibilities b. Response type changes i. Firefighting ii. Hazmat iii. High Level iv. Diving/Water v. Medical vi. Others... c. Station or partial paging, group calls, availability roster d. New policy requirements / needs e. EOP responsibilities plan 12. Homeland Security Requirements-Ed, Dave a. Target or Special Hazards b. Facilities Security and Protection c. EOP integration with our SOG's and Policies d. Special Duties and Personnel Requirements e. Response Levels I Plans for activation and response (EOP) 13. Maintenance Needs Planning-Ed, Scott B a. Apparatus b. Equipment c. Facilities 14. Fire Prevention-Ed, Rick, AI a. Public face to face activities b. Schedule c. Committee with leader/chair d. Equipment needs / props e. Collateral i. Books, CDs, Videos, Pics, Banners Web etc. t. Include Homeland Security issues/response plans for public g. CERT h. Other 15.Archivist functions - record keeping / history-AI