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<br />WS – Item 5 <br /> <br />WORK SESSION STAFF REPORT <br />Work Session Item 5 <br /> <br /> <br />Date: June 3, 2019 <br /> <br />To: City Council <br /> <br />From: John Swenson, Public Safety Director <br /> <br />Re: Fire Division Staffing <br /> <br /> <br />Background <br /> <br />Fire Station 1 is currently not staffed adequately with Paid On-Call (POC) Firefighters. <br />At this time we have a total of 7 POC Firefighters assigned to Station 1 and 12 assigned <br />to Fire Station 2. The fire staff study commissioned by the City Council in 2014 <br />recommends that each station be staffed with 20 POC firefighters. <br />Our POC Firefighter recruiting effort is on-going and has a included direct mailing to <br />every address in Lino Lakes, recruiting videos, open houses, social media posts, and <br />continuous posting on the City website. We are currently seeking a permit from <br />Community Development to place signage in front of each fire station seeking POC <br />Firefighters. <br />The current staffing shortage is a direct result of a medical leave, a current POC <br />Firefighter moving for employment reasons, and lack of applicants. <br />In an effort to address this staffing shortage in the most cost effective manner, I would <br />like to discuss the Residential Police/Firefighter position with Council. This idea was <br />presented to Council in June of 2016 (staff report attached). At that time, the Council <br />was not supportive of moving forward with a MOU regarding Residential Police/ <br />Firefighters. <br />We currently have 4 Police/Firefighters that reside within the required drive time to our <br />fire stations. Three of the four are within the required drive time to Fire Station 1, which <br />is the station with the greatest POC staffing need. <br />Utilization of Police/Firefighter staff in this manner reduces cost with respect to training <br />and fire suppression PPE. <br />Staff worked with staff from the Public Employee Retirement Association (PERA) who <br />administers the Lino Lakes Statewide Volunteer Firefighter Retirement Plan (SVFRP). <br />As you know currently all state fire aid is deposited directly into the Lino Lakes SVFRP <br />and there has been no City funds used to support the plan since 2016. PERA staff <br />performed a projection of the Lino Lakes SVFRP at its current benefit level ($5,000 per