1A, Lake Johanna Fire Budget, Capital Facilities Need Study

Home Browse Search

technology. The primary IT need is to acquire and implement an electronic time and attendance system, which other city departments also need and can use. Comprehensive Management Study of the Saint Paul Department of Fire and Safety Services Final Report 5. Are there opportunities to improve the following areas: internal communications; structure, type, and number of support and administrative staff; command structure? Internal communications need to improve; they are a significant issue that affects the labor management problems being experienced. The fire department has an adequate number of civilian support staff; however, there are opportunities to reorganize them to improve effectiveness. For example, the two data analysts currently report to separate individuals. To improve planning, they should be under one supervisor who is responsible for overall planning and information management. Similar opportunities exist to streamline the uniformed command staff, such as removing one layer of management and creating functional specialists such as a chief of special operations, and a health and safety officer; these are important functions that allow the SPDFSS to accomplish its mlSSIon. 6. How effectively are other resources being used, given current and future demands for service? Resources include.-fire equipment and apparatus: light duty and alternative response vehicles; station and facility locations; and, computer technology. The apparatus fleet has improved in recent years but the replacement plan does not replace apparatus quickly enough to keep the fleet up-to-date. The types of apparatus purchased are appropriate for the city; however, there are opportunities to reduce the number of fire suppression vehicles and replace these with more EMS vehicles to meet the growing EMS demand_ Overall, station and facilities maintenance is excellent. To implement the proposed master plan there is a need to relocate two existing stations and rebuild one station on its present site. The city should also move ahead with its plan to build a new station that would merge Stations I and 10 as the new facility fits perfectly with the master plan developed in this study. ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT The SPDFSS has three major divisions: Human Services, Support Services, and Operations. The operations division is the largest and provides the direct services that citizens receive. Between FY04 and FY 07 the fire department's budget increased from $43.IM to $50.5M, an increase of 17 percent. Higher employee benefit costs have driven most of the increase_ Averaged over four years, employee benefits have increased approximately $.8M each year. TriData, a Division of System Planning Corporation 5 March 2007