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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BFC-1998 - Report to B & A Committeei CITY OF ITHACA 310 WEST GREEN STREET ITHACA, NEW YORK 14850 OFFICE OF BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS MEMORANDUM To: Dominick Cafferillo From: Robert Romanowski Re: Fire Department Funding Needs Date: 21 JAN 98 ,f € TEL (607) 272 -1234 FAX (607)272 -2793 The financial issues facing the community are immense; so are the needs of the fire department as it works to provide an increasing level of service to meet community demands. As the Council settles into the new year, I would like the opportunity to address, with the Fire Chief, the B & A Committee on some of the more pressing concerns in front of the Fire Department right now. It is my intent to have this be a discussion item only. Thank you. CITY OF ITHACA 310 WEST GREEN STREET ITHACA, NEW YORK 14850 OFFICE OF TEL (607) 272 -1234 BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS FAX (607) 272 -2793 January 27, 1998 COMMENTS FROM THE DESK OF THE CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS, R.S. ROMANOWSKI Tonight, in my remarks, I would like to address the Public Safety Budget as it relates to the Ithaca Fire Department. In this comparison, I do not want to give the impression that I am criticizing any other department's budget nor be presumptuous in asking they be changed. It is not the Fire Department's intent to ask for additional funding by reducing any other department's budgets or priorities. Our requests for funding will stand on their own merits. The goals and priorities of the Fire Department have always been to better serve the public good. The Fire Department's mission is way beyond fire suppression. It also includes: 1. Fire prevention programs and code enforcement such as the sprinkler and fire alarm ordinances; 2. Technical rescue and hazardous materials response; 3. EMT services 4. Public education programs such as Lt. Burbank's school visit initiate. Add to that the department's administrative responsibilities and duties: 1. Record keeping; 2. Personnel deployment and oversight: career, bunker, volunteer - including labor contracts (4) administration; 3. Budget decisions and oversight; 4. Training; n "An Equal Opportunity Employer with an Affirmative Action Program" +i1r Recycled Paper TO: B &A COMMITTEE FROM BFC CHAIR R.S. ROMANOWSKI January 27, 1998 Page 2 5. Equipment and Buildings - maintenance and procurement 6. Leadership. Ithaca is fortunate, in my opinion, to have a combination fire department (a mix of career and volunteer firefighters). Consider the impact on the City of Ithaca's budget of these facts. The starting salary of a career firefighter is in the neighborhood of: $24,300, plus $11,700 in benefits - for a total of $36,000. A volunteer costs the taxpayer approx. $600 per volunteer for training. For this contribution to the City's well being, Common Council and the Mayor's office saw fit to cut back the City stipend from $2,000 to $1,500 per company int he 1998 budget. Individual companies, who also support the City's bunker program, are still expected to provide supplies, dishes, furniture, TV's, etc for the personnel bunking at individual stations. They were barely able to support this function on the $2,000 per year. In spite of this set -back, the individual volunteer companies still signed a commitment contract to improve accountability and communication with both the Fire Chief's office and City government. They also pick up uniform and some equipment costs. The issues of enlisting volunteer firefighters and, equally important, the problems of retaining these volunteers: consider: people who have other commitments with family and employment are being asked to put in over 100 intensive hours of training, give up sleep, family life, and personal recreation for community service, yet, are told that incentive money, any City funding for volunteer instructors, or company funding is fair game for cutting or elimination. Don't you think this makes it harder to keep these people - you bet it does! A parallel situation also exists with the career staff. As you are all aware, the City of Ithaca has a fire protection contract with the Town of Ithaca. This contract requires the same level of protection and service as the City, yet, we have a situation TO: B &A COMMITTEE FROM BFC CHAIR R.S. ROMANOWSKI January 27, 1998 Page 3 where the West Hill Station ( #6) is only staffed part -time due to both career and volunteer shortages. In your fact sheet you will note that for full staffing, a total of 70 firefighters are needed. If you're wondering why an additional 10 people are needed, it's because this is a 24 hr /day, 365 days a year business, so it takes 5 people to provide 1 /shift. The situation at #6 station is a major focal point of concern for the Town of Ithaca who have questioned the Fire Department on its level of service commitment. In addition, in all of this concern for increased personnel levels, the number of fire alarms (3,320 for 1997) show that the departments' work load is continually increasing. With the increase of record keeping requirements, training space (other than fire suppression training carried out at the Department's fire training center), equipment and storage of records spaces, E911 dispatch and equipment rooms, staff offices and volunteer fire company rooms - Central Fire Station is badly in need of expansion. If a proposed merger of the Building Department with the Fire Service becomes a reality, then the space requirements will be almost impossible to manage. In short, we need more room! How to achieve this goal, with budget constraints in place, will be the problem we have to solve. Further compounding this situation is our parking dilemma and Chief Wilbur will address this subject separately tonight. What can we do to help? The volunteer fire companies are stepping up their recruitment and retention efforts. The same goes for our Volunteer Coordinator, Marcia Lynch. Chief Wilbur is now pursuing revenue recovery programs, one of which you will be voting on later this evening relating to the Fire Department training center proposal. Secondly, the various program fees, permit fees, etc. listed below are either now existing or proposed for increased revenue due to services rendered. It's a fancy way of saying that if you need or want a service other than those having to do with fire TO: B &A COMMITTEE FROM BFC CHAIR R.S. ROMANOWSKI January 27,1998 Page 4 suppression or other specified emergency services, than you will have to pay for the cost of providing them. We now have in place: 1. Code inspection fees; 2. Permit fees. Proposed fees and charges: 1. Municipal Fire Alarm 2. Plan review 3. Acceptance testing (alarm and sprinkler) 4. Special services (fire investigation, technical rescue, juvenile intervention) 5. False alarm ordinance 6. EMT related fees. Our Bottom Line: 1. We need more staffing to better do our job safely and meet our obligations to the community. 2. We need more space so that we are able to support the delivery of these services. 3. We need an increase in monetary support of volunteer services. 4. We will work hard for revenue recovery for programs which are not of an emergency nature. I would, again, like to thank the Budget and Administration Committee for the opportunity to speak to you tonight. As Chairman of the Board of Fire Commissioners, it is one of my responsibilities to keep City government honestly informed on the needs and financial realities within the fire service. No matter what your decisions are on these matters, all firefighters, both career and volunteer, will do their utmost to serve this community. The Bottom Line for You and other City leaders to decide is: How much do you expect the Fire Department to do? How much responsibility do you want us to assume? How much risk is acceptable to you in addressing public safety? Lastly, if the money is no longer available to support existing programs - what services do you want to abolish? TO: B &A COMMITTEE FROM BFC CHAIR R.S. ROMANOWSKI January 27, 1998 Page 5 The Responsibility for answering these questions is all yours! Robert S. Romanowski, Chair Board of Fire Commissioners a B &A Committee Committee Meeting Ithaca Fire Department Fact Sheet January 28, 1998 FINANCIAL: 36m Total City Budget - 28m - General Fund Use 1998 Public Safety - 46% (13.2 m) Police: 6.5 m (23 %) Fire: 5.5 m (19 %) Bldg /Traffic: 1.2 m (4.0 %) Town of Ithaca Budget -1.2 m (1998) [3.18/1,000 asses. val] Cornell Univ. $300,000 Ithaca College -0- CAREER STAFFING LEVELS: 60 Duty Personnel 68 Total Employees VOLUNTEER PERSONNEL 60 Class I (34 Active, 26 probationary - (this includes 25 bunkers) 22 Class II - (16 Active, 6 prob.) (fire scene but not interior FF) 9 Class III - (6 Active, 3 prob.) (Admin., training, etc.) Territory Service: City of Ithaca /Town of Ithaca - 30 square miles Personnel Actually needed for full staffing: 70 Firefighting Equipment Facts: Volunteer and career - New Apparatus is between 1/4 to 1 million dollars per unit - capital projects - Pre -80's personal equipment - helmet, boots, gloves & coat - cost $150.00 - Min. OSHA Req. 1990's personal equipment - helmet, boots, bunk pants, gloves, coat, air -pack - cost $1,200.00 - Training - pre -80's "Essentials of FF Course" 40 hrs. & training tower and "on the job" training. Ithaca Fire Department Fact Sheet To: B &A Committee - January 28, 1998 Page 2 - 1990's -110 hrs. OSHA training - Essentials of FF Course ", Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) training, hazardous materials drills, Initial Fire Attack Training, Fire Ground Support Training (hydrant & hose work, truck & equip. familiarity, first aid, radio communications), Career firefighters - EMT training Training is mandated, intensive, continual and time consuming. This is the level of dedication it takes to be an active firefighter - even more so to a person with job and family responsibilities. DRAFT CRITERIA FOR NOTIFICATION OF BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS Type of Situation Notification Immediate' Monthly Casualty (transport to hospital) Firefighter X Civilian (fire- related) X Damage to Department Apparatus Less than $500 X Greater than $500 X Any accidental damage caused X to civilian property Any motor vehicle accident X involving departmental personnel while responding to an emergency in their personal vehicle or while operating a blue light Mutual Aid Received X Long term X Mutual Aid Given X More than 2 units sent X or major commitment of personnel Any major incident X Ex. More than 3 people transported to hospital; Any event with likely political or public consequences; (at discretion of officer in charge) Any structure fire: less than $500 loss X more than $500 loss X Any Manpower Call; X assumes a working incident Tt i-, a -,-,11med that all immediate notifications w11 1 be followed by a report from the Chief at the monthly BFC meeting.