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Council Meeting Minutes for April 1, 2024 <br />Page 2 of 5 <br /> <br />There was little or no increase in call volume over the past three years; however, calls were <br />expected to increase with the growing population, and they expected to see more fires due to the <br />dry weather conditions. Compton reviewed call data that showed February and May to be their <br />busiest months with most calls coming in during daytime hours. Sundays were the busiest, and <br />Saturdays were the least busy. Department personnel participated in 3,272 hours of training that <br />included a propane simulator, helicopter rescue, auto extraction, entanglement, and animal and <br />water rescue. Operational improvements in 2023 included the hiring of the City’s first full-time <br />Fire Chief. Three firefighters had completed probation, and two new probationary firefighters <br />were hired. The Department was awarded a 50/50 grant from the DNR for wildland gear, and a <br />new grass firetruck was expected to be in service for the Spring 2024 grassfire season. <br />Community involvement included blood drives, toy drives, rodeos, parades, CPR training, and <br />Good Neighbor Days. In 2023, the department had received a total of $31,851 in donations. <br />Some of the money went into the AED program to help maintain 28 AEDs throughout the <br />community. The goals for 2024 were to recommend changes to the operation and structure of <br />the department, continue discussions on daytime staffing, and hire more paid on-call firefighters. <br />They were accepting applications, and the deadline to apply was June 28, 2024. <br /> <br />Klein asked about AEDs in the schools and about training on electric vehicle fires. Compton <br />replied that schools have and maintain their own AEDs, and some EV training was available at <br />Century College. Compton said those types of fires take more water, and sometimes the vehicle <br />needs to be completely submerged. Compton said they have had a handful of small electronic <br />fires. <br /> <br />Mayor Weidt thanked Chief Compton for the report. <br /> <br />M Health Fairview EMS Annual Report <br /> <br />M Health Operations Manager Kevin Kane was in attendance to present the 2023 M Health <br />Fairview EMS Annual Report. Kane presented data on the overall 911 responses during the year <br />and explained how this information was shared with the Hugo Fire Department at their monthly <br />meetings. Within their region, they responded to 465 mutual aid calls, and requested help 216 <br />times. Kane talked about how they categorized different types of calls according to severity, and <br />he provided data on response times. In 2023, the response time in Hugo was eight minutes and <br />ten seconds. In 2023, M Health received 990 requests for service. Forty-one of them were in <br />Hugo. He presented a heatmap that showed where the calls came from, and said they used that <br />information to determine where they station people. Kane talked about the community events <br />they participated in that included the Tough Mudder, live burns, Fridays with Firefighters, and <br />Good Neighbor Days. He said Clayton the dog also attends those events. <br /> <br />The Mayor said he appreciated their involvement and partnership. <br /> <br />Yellow Ribbon Network Update – Chuck Haas <br /> <br />Hugo Yellow Ribbon Board President Chuck Haas presented information on recent activities of <br />the YRN. He began by thanking Council and staff for their support which helped the YRN get <br />their volunteer needs met. Care packages had been sent to Japan, and Haas shared a photo he <br />received as a “thanks”. He said there were currently 600 soldiers being deployed to Kuwait and <br />Afghanistan, and the YRN would continue to send care packages. He shared photos of the <br />Welcome Home Pheasant Hunt that was held at the end of March, and a photo of the grand prize