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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORKSESSION - March 17,2008 2 Commissioner Holden asked for the status of the Arden Hills Fire Station 1 assessment. Fire Chief Boehlke stated that the RP was completed before the Assistant City Administrator left. He explained that the Board began a discussion to look beyond Station 1 for the entire fire district. Discussion ensued regarding consideration of a needs assessment for Station 1. Fire Chief Boehlke stated that the fire service is frequently involved in responding to medical calls with the EMS instead of police who are stretched with other calls. Councilmember McClung reviewed that the assessment samples of three area cities in the council packet can be used as a guideline. He explained that they need to decide what specifically they want to look at before starting the process. He commented that the cost involved needs to be determined. He suggested that a professional company should be used for the assessment. Councilmember Holden stated that money will be needed for trucks, staffing, and building which will take time to plan. Discussion ensued regarding future needs and funding of the stations and staffing. Fire Chief Boehlke stated that a goal should be to respond to a fire in four to six minutes and it is currently a six to seven minute response time. Public Works Director Hoag explained how the Roseville fire department handles their shifts. He explained that cost savings may be seen with paid on-call staff and by not having a fulltime paid staff because help is available only when needed. He explained that 95 percent of the Roseville runs are handled by five people staffed at one fire station. Discussion ensued regarding how to meet staffing needs of the fire department. Councilmember Holden asked for more details on what the financial impact is of reducing the response time. Councilmember McClung stated that they would work to add this in to the RFP. Councilmember McClung requested that the Board work with Fire Chief Boehlke to refine their request for City Council later this year and bring it back up in January, 2009. It was the consensus of the City Council to direct Staff to initiate a needs assessment on all issues to be completed in early 2009. Councilmember Holmes asked about nuisance fire calls at Bethel. She explained that Northwestern College is considering converting the Holiday !un to dorms and asked for some suggestions.