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CHALLENGES The challenges faced by the department are not all specific to the Lake Johanna Fire Department. Many departments around the country compete for their membership's time with a myriad of other commitments many of them have in their personal lives. Nearly all of our part-time members have full-time jobs away from the area, and many work for other fire departments. The time commitments needed to stay current on training, certifications and the required shift hours within each quarter can be challenging. For those who have families, the needs at home often limit the amount of time they can commit to the fire department. With the shiftto 24/7 staffing, the department continually assesses shift schedules, training and participation requirements to balance organizational needs with member retention, recognizing the long- term investment in their equipment and training. Forrecruitment,the number and quality of applicants applying for fire department positions has slowed, a trend that affects other departments as well. While the number of part-time positions we have has remained stable, keeping them filled has been a challenge. Onboarding a new member can take one to two years to have a fully competent and trained member to replace someone who leaves the department. There is also significant cost, not only in turnout gear, equipment and training, but in time dedicated to training and oboarding new staff. Full-time Captains have added some stability to scheduling and staffing, but it remains clear we need to continue to do cities wi on ou tin 30 on more Discussions around full-time staff have always relied on a plan to help assure staffing at ourthree stations to handle the current and increasing call volumes (see Appendix A). Additional full- time staff needs were always based on the membership's ability to fill open shifts. Pre -incident planning and fire inspections are vital for both the departmentandthe communities we serve. We remain committed to meeting inspection schedules for existing properties while aslo conducting plan reviews and inspections for new construction. New development of the Rice Creek Commons area, as well as expansion of multi -family housing projects in all of the 11 continue to put pressure r inspections program. Full- e Captains play a key role n these efforts, though high call volumes and staffing demands can sometimes limit their availability for these essential tasks. As our department continues to grow and mature, the need for administrative support 1 grows along with it. As an independent organization, our department does not have the same human resources, finance and payroll support that may be present in a municipal department sized or structured like ours. Staying compliant with current laws, maintaining policies and assuring our timekeeping and payroll services function well and meet the needs of the department are vital. As Technologies continue to evolve and solutions to improve upon practices, make them more efficient or integrate services into unified platforms are all areas the department knows it needs to address to maintain compliance and give our staff the proper tools to safely and effectively perform their duties. We continue to evaluate those tools and software to identify solutions that will meet our needs and potentially streamline our 10