05-03-2021 Council Work Session Packet

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Staff has conducted research on the options articulated above to provide daytime fire response and found that there are currently no private outside vendors that would be able to provide daytime fire response to Lino Lakes. Staff spoke with the Spring Lake Park, Blaine, Mounds View (SBM) and Forest Lake Fire Departments and determined that further collaboration with these departments for daytime fire response is not viable at this time. Potential collaboration with CFD may be a viable option and further details are provided below. If a daytime fire duty crew is implemented in Lino Lakes to provide daytime fire response, staff recommends a duty crew be staffed with 4 firefighters during the hours of 6 AM to 6 PM Monday through Friday. These hours of operation will ensure that we have fire responders available when our POC Firefighters are working their full-time jobs. In order to reduce costs for the daytime fire duty crew, staff proposes utilizing part-time firefighters for the duty crew. One cautionary note that Council should consider is many jurisdictions have had trouble recruiting and retaining part-time firefighters; therefore, some of these jurisdictions have migrated from part-time firefighters to full-time firefighters. The personnel cost (wages and associated benefits) to staff a daytime duty crew with part-time firefighters during the staff recommended hours of operation is estimated to be $300,000. As noted above, collaboration with CFD may be a viable option and discussions thus far have focused on: 1. CFD would staff two firefighters and Lino Lakes would staff two firefighters during the recommended hours of operation and the 4 firefighters would provide daytime fire response, Monday through Friday, in the cities of Lino Lakes, Centerville, and Circle Pines. In order for such a collaboration to be successful, there would need to be a comprehensive operational plan with leadership of both departments. 2. CFD has requested a proposal from Lino Lakes to provide daytime fire response in the cities of Centerville and Circle Pines. If the Council is supportive of this, staff recommends that we utilize the cost sharing formula currently used by the Anoka County Fire Protection Council to determine what CFD’s portion of the personnel costs would be for a duty crew. Staff would further recommend establishing a fee for consumables, apparatus and equipment usage. Staff has previously communicated to Council that CFD is currently considering an agreement with SBM Fire Department to provide administrative oversight for CFD. Staff believes that it is crucial for the individual (or organization) that would implement any collaboration agreement to be part of the discussion to ensure the collaboration efforts are a successful joint venture; therefore, further discussion regarding a jointly staffed fire duty crew should wait until CFD has made a decision on this point.