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CHANHASSEN CITY COUNCIL
WORK SESSION
MAY 13, 2013
Mayor Furlong called the work session to order at 5:30 p.m.
COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT:
Mayor Furlong, Councilman McDonald, Councilwoman
Tjornhom, Councilwoman Ernst, and Councilman Laufenburger
STAFF PRESENT:
Todd Gerhardt, Laurie Hokkanen, Paul Oehme, Kate Aanenson, Todd Hoffman,
and Greg Sticha
PRESENTATION OF FIRE STUDY, DAVID UNMACHT, SPRINGSTED, INC.
Todd Gerhard introduced David Unmacth and Pat Simpson from Springsted, Inc. before Mr. Unmacth
provided an overview of the fire study report detailing the baseline of the current scope of services, which
showed the city is providing very good fire service and is positioned well to move to Phase II of shared
services with other communities. He reviewed the study process which used 17 steps to review the fire
department’s mission and vision statement, equipment, dispatching emergency management plan and the
fire marshal’s office, the survey questions and observations which overall were very positive, noting areas
of improvement in communication and teamwork. Pat Simpson provided background information of his
work in the fire industry before reviewing the current condition of organizational management, noting he
will be using Chanhassen’s model of three assistant chiefs with specific authority in operations,
organization and safety and training with other communities. He reviewed the response chart
comparisons, OSHA, Insurance Services Office (ISO), Emergency Medical Services, noting special
operations are providing good service, and reviewed a figure showing population density of rural,
suburban and urban in Chanhassen. Mayor Furlong questioned the differentiation between suburban and
urban designations, asked for clarification of the figure showing incident density per square mile and
response time for the current and proposed new fire station. Councilman Laufenburger asked about first
arrival times used for response time and if there are breakdowns from first arrival to fully staffed. Pat
Simpson reviewed a figure showing where volunteers live in comparison to stations and discussed
scenarios using one headquarters station with duty crews versus the current volunteer system, similar to
what Minnetonka has been using for the past few years. Councilman Laufenburger asked if Station 1
could be outfitted for headquarters with duty crew. Chief Wolff discussed advantages of using duty
crews versus the current volunteer system. Pat Simpson reviewed response times for rural, suburban, and
urban calls. Councilman Laufenburger asked about mutual aid reciprocity. Councilwoman Ernst asked
for clarification of response time from station to scene versus calls for service and arrival at scene. David
Unmacth reviewed their recommendations regarding developing internal communication strategy with a
transition between city administration and fire department. Councilman McDonald asked for further
clarification on what is meant by better communication. David Unmacth discussed how to accomplish
meeting the need for more clerical work in relation to city administration assistance, and suggested
starting to establish a duty crews for overnight shifts to bring response times down in the overnight shifts.
Their recommendation for the best number of fire stations in Chanhassen would be acceptable with the
existing two for now and expanding into one centralized location in the future along with recommending
that a full time fire chief be established to go along with staffing of the two current fire marshals. He
explained that Chanhassen is in a good position to share services and resources with neighboring
communities and reviewed the paid on call and pension chart showing that Chanhassen is competitive
with key financial strategy cities. In reviewing training he noted Chanhassen is meeting training
benchmarks currently but emphasized the need to consider keeping safety and training as a priority into
the future. In discussing apparatus and equipment replacement, he recommended that the City should
initiate an apparatus replacement schedule for the CIP and review equipment annually to help with long
City Council Work Session – May 13, 2013
term planning. Mayor Furlong asked Chief Wolff to comment on the results of report. Chief John Wolff
thanked the council for doing this study for future planning efforts and stated he would make himself
available after the regular council meeting to discuss the recommendations. Todd Gerhardt noted the
study did a good job of showing that the fire department is doing a good job currently and what needs to
be done in the future before thanking David Unmacth, Pat Simpson, city staff and volunteer fire fighters
for their team effort.
The work session was recessed at 7:00 p.m. It was reconvened at 8:20 p.m. to continue discussion
on the results of the fire study.
Mayor Furlong asked for council feedback on the recommendation to use duty crew versus the addition of
a third fire station. Todd Gerhardt stated that based on the results of the study, he could not recommend
that a third fire station be built. Chief Wolff concurred that the use of duty crew is the most effective way
to get increased coverage without building an additional station and reviewed how other cities use duty
crews versus career crews. Laurie Hokkanen explained that the city probably doesn’t need 24 hour duty
crew at this point but with upcoming retirements may have to look at the use of duty crews in the future.
Mayor Furlong discussed the fact that at this time a third station is not needed because of other available
options, i.e. duty crews and mutual aid. In talking about response times, the study recommended duty
crew coverage during the overnight hours because of the current high response times. Councilman
Laufenburger asked if the fire department is able to capture where fires are occurring in the community.
Chief Wolff explained that a lot of fires are either kitchen or new construction fires and are spread all
across the board because most are human related. Mayor Furlong stated he was glad to see response
times are consistent across the city, appreciates resident comment cards, which wasn’t included in study,
and likes that this report gives the city a benchmark for things to watch into the future. Councilman
Laufenburger asked Chief Wolff to comment on the recommendation that the Chief come up with a
protocol to get information out in a timely manner. Chief Wolff explained changes he’s currently
implementing such as preparation of a newsletter. Councilwoman Ernst suggested options of adding
meetings where the Fire Chief can share feedback with whoever wants to attend to improve
communications. Councilman Laufenburger encouraged the Fire Chief to be consistent with whatever
protocol he comes up with and suggested installation of a suggestion box. Councilman McDonald
discussed the impact of merging with city staff (using existing personnel or having to hire additional
personnel) to help with administrative support items. Mayor Furlong asked for comments on the
recommendation of a full time fire chief. Councilman McDonald asked for additional research on costs
associated with a full time chief. Todd Gerhardt explained his belief that there should be a full time fire
chief hired by the City Manager as a part of the budget process. Councilman McDonald asked about the
need to look at who hires the fire chief versus being appointed by vote of fire fighters and concurred that
this should be looked at prior to the next budget cycle. The City Manager explained that he will bring
back a report on a full time fire chief job description for council review. Councilman Laufenburger asked
about the national average for fire inspections versus what the city currently does, which is less than the
national average. Chief Wolff explained that hiring of the second fire inspector was due to the rapid
growth in the 80’s-90’s. Mayor Furlong discussed the challenge of finding the right person to be a great
fire chief within limited resources of the City. He asked staff to report back prior to the budget cycle
regarding training, and the relief fund and pension with the possibility of looking into other defined
contribution plans i.e. 401K, etc. Chief Wolff asked to challenge advisors to come back with some
pension options, and discussed challenges involved with the use of duty crews, noting he will gather
information from surrounding communities that have already changed over to duty crews. Mayor
Furlong thank Chief Wolff and everyone involved with the study explaining this was good information to
start with benchmarking, trends moving forward, and the priority of looking at the possibility of a full
time fire chief. Councilman Laufenburger suggested the sign for the third fire station be removed. Mayor
Furlong concurred that a third station is not warranted at this time with the possibility of looking at a
centralized headquarters. Todd Gerhardt explained that this study is a working document that staff can
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City Council Work Session – May 13, 2013
pick items to work on as key financial strategies in the future. Councilman McDonald discussed why he
was not sure that the third fire station needs to go away at this point. Mayor Furlong directed staff to
work with Chief Wolff on prioritizing what needs to be done.
Mayor Furlong adjourned the work session at 9:25 p.m.
Submitted by Todd Gerhardt
City Manager
Prepared by Nann Opheim
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