Fire Station Staff Report

COUNCILDATE

4/01/08

AGENDA ITEM

6B

CITY COUNCIL MEETING

Olympia, WashingtonApril 1, 2008

Approval of Fire Station 4, Training Center, andFire Apparatus Funding Process & Timeline __________________________________________________________________

CITY MANAGER’SRECOMMENDATION: Option 1. Move to place a voted excess levy of $16.5 million for a 20year term on the August 19, 2008 ballot to fund a Fire Station,Training Center, and Fire Apparatus, and,Authorize the use of Council Goal monies to pay for the $40,000 inelection costs.Staff will bring the necessary ordinances on consent calendar at alater date.COMMITTEE OF CHAIRS

RECOMMENDATION

Committee members asked that this matter should be brought to thewhole Council for discussion. Also, there should be a meeting set-upwith a few members of the Lacey Fire District board and some Councilmembers to discuss how both entities could develop and maintain atraining center. _________________________________________________________________________________________

STAFF CONTACT

: Larry Dibble, Fire Chief 790.2720ldibble@ci.olympia.wa.us George Ziesemer, Asst. Chief 753.8472gzieseme@ci.olympia.wa.us

ORIGINATED BY

: Larry Dibble, Fire Chief

PRESENTERS ANDOTHERS NOTIFIED

: Steve Hall, City ManagerLarry Dibble, Fire ChiefMike Simmons, President IAFF Local 468Jim Broman, Fire Chief Lacey Fire District

ATTACHMENTS

BUDGET IMPACT/SOURCE OF FUNDS

: Election Cost is estimated at $40,000 which is not currently budgeted.Council goal monies could be a possible funding source. Currentbalance is $145,000

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Project cost $16.5 million in 2009 dollars through a citizen vote.The impact of an excess levy on a $250,000 home assuming today’sinterest rates and 2008 Assessed Value (AV) would be $53.55 per yearfor 20 years.

PRIOR COUNCIL/COMMITTEE REVIEW

: July 9, 2002, June 14, 2005, February 28, 2006, February 5, 2008,March 4, 2008, please see “attachments section” for detailedinformation on each Council and Committee review.

BACKGROUND:

Introduction

The Fire & EMS Master Plan was created through the cooperativeefforts of the Olympia Fire Department’s staff, City Manager, CityCouncil, neighborhood and business representatives, and officials fromother government and emergency response agencies with which theDepartment works. The planning process incorporated a comprehensiveanalysis of the City’s response data, economic data, and growthprojections within the community. In order to ascertain appropriateservice and performance levels, the plan used comparisons from peerjurisdictions and comparable communities. The plan also examinednational standards and best practices to ensure that its performanceobjectives were appropriate.Historically, the Olympia Fire Department has substantially metincreasing demands for its emergency services. The Department hasalso attempted to meet increased demand for non-emergency servicessuch as public education programs. The Department has done thisthrough its dedicated workforce. However, increasing demands forservice has taken its toll on the Department’s ability to providesufficient, timely and economical services.The Plan was forward-looking, projecting future service demands.Projected service demands were developed using trend analysis of calldemand, growth projections in the Urban Growth Management Area,demographic analysis of the City, economic analysis of the City andsurrounding areas, and the need for specialty services. Projectedservice demands were then compared with available resources in orderto develop future resource needs.Because the Department’s response times are increasing, the trainingcenter is in essence non-existent and fire apparatus fund is underfunded, the Plan includes additional resources to help ensureacceptable emergency response times – getting the right resources toan emergency in a timely manner, a standard of the industry trainingcenter and adequate fire apparatus.

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Links to Other Projects or Facilities

Integral part of the current emergency response system as detailed inthe Fire Master Plan and the City Council Goals of Sustainability andEffective Government.

Description/Cost

Fire Station including Fire Apparatus estimated cost is $11.2 millionbased on 2009 cost.Fire Apparatus purchased would be two Engines and a Ladder Truck.This action would insure current and future funding requirements forFire Apparatus. The standard service life of Fire Apparatus is 25 yearswhich is a combined period serving frontline for 13 years and reservestatus for 12 years.Staffing Cost for the Fire Station is an estimated $1.3 million annuallybased on 2008 cost.Fire Training Center estimated cost is $5.25 million of a $10.5millionoptimal Center based on 2009 cost. This amount is 50% of the total costfor the Fire Training Center that will be built in a module approach.The Center would be a cooperative effort with the Lacey Fire Districtwhich would contribute the remaining modules for the total TrainingCenter. The Olympia contribution would allow for construction of thenecessary module to conduct fire suppression skills and rescue skillstraining in structures which would be a significant improvement overcurrent conditions that training is conducted.

Location

Fire Station location in the vicinity of Lilly & Stoll Road -District 4.Fire Training Center in the vicinity of Fones & 5

th

.

Justification (Need/Demand)

The Fire Department delivers service to citizens in distress byresponding directly to the scene of an incident or an emergency. To beeffective, firefighters must:

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Arrive at the scene of the emergency quickly.

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Be well-trained professionals.

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Be well equipped.

Arrive at the scene quickly:

The Fire Department response time iscurrently 11 minutes 19 seconds City wide 90% of the time. In NortheastOlympia it is 12 minutes 5 seconds. Response time City wide isimpacted by the fact that units are drawn to the high call volume areaof the Northeast creating a void in the unit’s primary response district.Optimal response time for both fire and emergency medical incidents is6 minutes 90% of the time as adopted by City Council. The goal is tointervene before a fire reaches flashover point, or a patient is no longerable to be resuscitated.Please refer to Chapter 4 of the Fire Master Plan for a detailedexplanation and clear justification.

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