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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 07/16/2024 - Workshop APPROVED WORKSHOP MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP & OPEN PODIUM TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2024 CITY CENTER 5:00 – 6:25 PM, HERITAGE ROOMS 6:30 – 7:00 PM, COUNCIL CHAMBER CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Ron Case, Council Members Kathy Nelson, Mark Freiberg, PG Narayanan, and Lisa Toomey CITY STAFF: City Manager Rick Getschow, Police Chief Matt Sackett, Fire Chief Scott Gerber, Public Works Director Robert Ellis, Community Development Director Julie Klima, Parks and Recreation Director Amy Markle, Administrative Services/HR Director Alecia Rose, Communications Manager Joyce Lorenz, City Attorney Maggie Neuville, and Recorder Sara Aschenbeck Workshop - Heritage Rooms I and II (5:30) I. FIRE SERVICES STANDARDS OF COVERAGE STUDY Getschow stated a dozen comparable cities have commissioned a fire staffing study in the past five years. Council budgeted to conduct a fire staffing study in 2024. The results of the study will be presented tonight, more discussion will be necessary in the future. Gerber introduced Stewart Gary, Citygate Public Safety Principal who conducted the study. Gerber outlined history of the Eden Prairie Fire Department (EPFD). The EPFD formed in 1967 and has transitioned staffing makeup from volunteer, to paid on call, to a combination of full time and duty crew. The EPFD has a focus on prevention and prioritizes safety of life, property, environment, and firefighters. Call volumes have more than doubled since 2011, mostly related to medical needs. Case asked why call volumes have increased dramatically when population has increased marginally. Gary stated it stems from the decline of affordable preventative healthcare. Gerber stated the average response time is eight minutes or less, measured from the time the EPFD is notified of an incoming call for service to the time a command vehicle arrives at the call location. Case asked if response time components are standardized. Gerber responded while there is some standard guidance nationally, departments measure their response time differently. The EPFD measure historically does not include dispatch time and stops the clock when a command staff vehicle arrives on scene, not a fire truck. City Council Workshop Minutes July 16, 2024 Page 2 Gary stated there are no federal or State regulations mandating fire service staffing levels, response performance, or outcomes. The level of fire service provided is a local policy decision. There is constructive tension to provide an adequate level of fire service including sufficient staffing, apparatus types, and response times at an attainable cost. The staffing study included a review of relevant documentation, interviews with stakeholders, incident data statistical analysis, and mapping service demand and travel times. Strengths of the EPFD include well-managed best practices, stations and apparatus in good condition, a culture of duty and cooperation, and exceeded training requirements. Gary outlined EPFD challenges. The first challenge is adequacy of response. One station is staffed during normal business hours. Two rotating stations are staffed during evenings and weekends. The second challenge is capacity of part-time staff. 94 part-time duty crew firefighters provide staffing equal to 13 full-time personnel. The part-time staff has reached its capacity for shifts covered. The inability to fill part-time shifts is increasing nation-wide. The third challenge is strained fire prevention staffing. 25 percent of inspector time is dedicated to backfilling unstaffed part time duty crew shifts, resulting in a 49 percent inspection completion rate in 2023. Gary next outlined the risk assessment summary and service demand. The optimal time from a call being answered to the arrival of a crew is eight minutes for meaningful intervention, after eight minutes the destruction to property and life is severe. Station two is in the densest population area and has the highest call volumes followed by stations one, three, and four. The most common incident type is EMS. The highest demand for service occurs between ten a.m. and eight p.m. Two or more incidents happen simultaneously 17 percent of the time. Gary outlined response time performance. The Citygate best practice for the time the call for service is answered to the time a fire truck is at the call location is 7.5 minutes. The EPFD is four minutes over Citygate’s best practice time. Most of the overage is due to travel time, especially as the closest station to the call may not be staffed. Gary displayed a map of driving time from each fire station. 47 percent of City roads are covered in a four-minute drive from a fire station, increasing to 70 percent in a five-minute drive. The Golden Triangle cannot be reached in a five minute drive from any station. The road network is difficult to serve, common for suburban communities. One of Citygate’s recommendations is to physically space the stations to cover more of the City in a five minute driving time. The City may also need a fifth station if the City Council Workshop Minutes July 16, 2024 Page 3 Golden Triangle continues to develop. If all four stations are staffed simultaneously, sufficient coverage can be attained. Gary summarized key deployment programs recommendations. The City should adopt a best practices call-to-arrival deployment policy built around a 5 minute travel time. Enough additional full time staff should be hired so when paired with duty crew staff, a crew of three is stationed at all four stations 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Dispatch and crew turnout times should be improved. Key headquarters program recommendations include relieving fire inspectors from backfilling unstaffed part time duty crew shifts and continuing career development planning. Gary next outlined implementation steps. Accomplishing the recommendations from the study and adding an adequate number of personnel will likely take years. Ideally thirteen employees would be on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week staffing all four stations. Next steps include absorbing the report’s findings and recommendations, adopting revised response time policies, asking Staff to prepare a phasing plan including defined costs, and increasing minimum daily engine staffing. Getschow asked if recommendations are similar for surrounding cities. Gary confirmed recommendations for the City are not unique. It is increasingly more difficult to find adults committed to the time requirements and demands for part time duty crew work on top of a full time job and family obligations. The part time model has been executed with success for decades, Citygate’s recommendations are to align the City with changes in society. Once full time firefighters are hired, many part time firefighters resign. Toomey asked if the City could incentivize duty crew firefighters to stay once additional full time staff are hired. Stewart explained clients often hire high achieving part time firefighters into full time roles. This leaves fire departments needing to replace the former part time firefighters, which are difficult to find. Case asked if there is data that makes the case for immediate action. Gary confirmed there is comparative data available nationally and from the regional Fire Chiefs Association. Community conversation and education are needed to effectively implement the recommendations. Narayanan asked if another fire station is needed to achieve a five minute travel time. Gary stated most of the City, except for the Golden Triangle, can be reached by a fire truck in five minutes if all four stations are staffed. Narayanan asked if the City should plan to build another City Council Workshop Minutes July 16, 2024 Page 4 fire station in the Golden Triangle long term. Gary stated if Golden Triangle zoning and businesses remain stable, it may be helpful for the City to purchase land and set it aside when and if a fifth station is needed. Narayanan asked for the cost of additional full time personnel to staff each station around the clock and achieve a five minute travel time. Getschow stated the Citygate report outlines the number of additional employees needed, the dollar amount is dependent on the City. Gary added the timeline is ultimately dependent on how quickly the City would like to move. Narayanan asked how many additional full time personnel are needed to achieve a five minute travel time. Gary confirmed the number of full time personnel needed is in the low-thirties range. Nelson stated the part time firefighters are essential and the City can’t afford to lose them. All four fire stations must be staffed, especially with changing demographics in the population. The City must move as quickly as practical to implement the recommendations. Narayanan asked if the part time duty crew staff is on call 100 percent of the time. Gerber answered there are certain types of events where the department issues an all call. Usually six to ten off duty firefighters respond, in addition to all firefighters on duty. Getschow asked if there is a combination of full and part time employees recommended by Citygate. Gary noted if a department can maintain the amount of part time firefighters needed to fill shifts it may continue the part time duty crew model. Departments are increasingly losing part time firefighters, forcing the shift to full time for reliability. As long as shifts are filled there is no benefit to utilizing full or part time firefighters. Case asked how many duty crew firefighters have been hired in the past year. Gerber said that information could be assembled. Toomey asked if the City can apply for Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant funding. Gary noted while the SAFER grant is an option available for Staff to decide, it is funded by congress and the grant may not be funded into the future. Case summarized next step including discussing timing, staffing, costs, and what comparable cities are doing. Getschow stated multiple options can be assembled for council consideration. The Council thanked Staff for their time. Open Podium - Council Chamber (6:30) II. OPEN PODIUM III. ADJOURNMENT