Below please find a list of workplace adjustments and
savings that add up to over $2 million over the past few years. Taking these steps have helped reduce the
amount of additional revenue we are currently requesting from the taxpayers
through Issue 14. Because of the repeal
of the estate tax, a decline in the Local Government Fund from the State of
Ohio, and the expiration of federal stimulus grants funding safety forces –
Elyria must replace at least some of the $4.5 million will are losing to
maintain quality safety services.
Workplace Adjustments/Savings Totaling Over $2 Million
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2012
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2013
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2014
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Gen
& Enterprise Funds
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$19,000
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re-bid
life insurance contract savings
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Gen
& Enterprise Funds
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$52,660
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$60,188
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Reduction
in sick leave across multiple funds/depts
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Gen
& Enterprise Funds
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$58,206
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Fleet
management savings, storage savings in repair costs
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General
& Cem M & I
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$47,288
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$18,000
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increase
in cemetery fees & personnel reductions
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General
& Enterprise Funds
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$3,000
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elimination
of redundant cell phones
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General
& Enterprise Funds
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$5,000
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$12,000
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replacement
of paper forms, bldg dept in house savings on lumber, postage
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General
& Enterprise Funds
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$12,000
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elimination
of additional take home vehicles
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General
& Enterprise Funds
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$18,865
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rebid
copier contracts
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General
& Enterprise Funds
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$8,325
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$8,475
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$8,400
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Elimination
of Mayor's car mileage, based on IRS rates @ 15,000 miles per year
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General
& Enterprise Funds
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$5,000
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$4,200
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$5,800
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Donation
of Mayor's Salary back to the City of Elyria
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General
& Enterprise Funds
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$18,055
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$4,760
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$7,140
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elimination
of Senior staff vehicles, longevity
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General
& Enterprise funds
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$36,000
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$316,176
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$21,104
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Energy
Savings (ytd 2014, more savings anticipated)
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General
& Enterprise Funds
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$42,093
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$213,000
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Mid-year
health Insurance savings & 2013 Dependent Audit
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General
& Enterprise Funds
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$46,000
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$75,000
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Auction
Proceeds
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General
& Enterprise Funds
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$55,000
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$54,000
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Prescription
rebates received
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General
& Enterprise Funds
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$165,087
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Increased
employee health contributions
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Highway
Fund
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$79,375
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Savings
from Engineering Staff reductions
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Highway
Fund
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$20,000
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savings
on painting done on straight time vs. overtime
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Sanitation
Fund
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$52,000
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Sanitation
grant for public education
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Sanitation
Fund
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$120,000
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removal
of dumpter & discontinuation of commercial sanitation routes
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Water
& Wastewater Funds
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$106,420
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$104,000
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non-replacement
of FTEs
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Water
Fund
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$300,000
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Sale
of additional water to N. Ridgeville, Amherst - lowering production costs
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Water
Fund
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$68,723
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$25,000
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Staffing
reductions & savings from using dive team
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Worker's
Comp Fund
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$69,000
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$20,000
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Rebate
on claims & savings on equipment purchases through grants
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$1,002,713
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$890,789
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$470,838
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Grand
total YTD
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$2,364,340
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What Positions Have You
Left Unfilled?
The
following positions are unfilled.
4
---- Water Pumping – 4.0 FTES less – one service worker, one
maintenance operator, one electrician and one supervisor
2 ---- Parks –2 FTES -- One skilled maintenance
and one laborer
1 ---- Engineering
– 1 FTE – Traffic control technician
1 ---- Cemetery –
1 FTE, Clerk
4 --- WWPC, 4
FTEs, 3 laborer, 1 service worker
1 ---Water
Distribution, 1 FTE Foreman
1---Building
Dept, 1 FTE Inspector
Total = 14
How many front line firefighters do
we need in Elyria?
By Bruce Shade, Asst. Safety Service
Director
In
July 2009, a study, conducted by the McGrath Consulting Group entitled the Management & Operations Study of the
Elyria Fire Department for the City of Elyria Revised Administrative Report (commonly
known as the McGrath Report) was released.
According
to the report, “Response time is perhaps the most critical component in
determination of the resources needed and the deployment of those resources.[1]”
The most widely accepted standard for response time is reflected in the
document: National Fire Protection
Association (NFPA) 1710: Standard for the Organization and Deployment of Fire
Suppression Operations, Emergency Medical Operations, and Special Operations to
the Public by Career Fire Departments. In this standard, fire departments
are expected to arrive on scene of a fire emergency with an initial fire
engine, after having received the call, within 320 seconds (5.33 minutes), 90%
of the time. They are also expected to have the initial full alarm assignment
(all the fire trucks) on scene within 560 seconds (9.3 minutes), 90% of the
time[2].
The initial response time of fire department first responders to arrive on
scene of medical emergencies is 20 seconds less.
While the response time will depend on where the emergency
occurs (as some will occur in closer proximity to the open stations while
others will occur further away), it will also be increased when there are
multiple simultaneous calls which occurs in Elyria 1.7 times per day[3]
or an average of 15.7% between 2005 to 2008 (a high frequency)[4].
According
to the NFPA 1710: Standard for the Organization and Deployment of Fire
Suppression Operations, Emergency Medical Operations, and Special Operations to
the Public by Career Fire Departments document, “An early, aggressive, and
offensive primary interior attack on a working fire, where feasible, is usually
the most effective strategy to reduce loss of lives and property damage.” In a
residential fire, at approximately 10 minutes into the fire sequence, the room
where the fire starts flashes over (the very rapid spreading of the fire due to
superheating of room contents and other combustibles) and extension of the fire
outside the room begins. Two of the most
important elements in limiting fire spread are the quick arrival of sufficient
numbers of personnel and equipment to attack and extinguish the fire as close
to the point of its origin as possible[5].
In
order to meet the NFPA 1710 Standard, the McGrath report recommended the city
operate at least 3 fire stations[6]
and with a minimum of 3 engine companies, a ladder company and a shift
commander 24 hours a day, seven days a week[7].
The report also recommended reopening and maintaining a fourth station as a
long term goal[8].
As stated in the McGrath Report, in order to full fill the
recommendation, the minimum daily front line firefighter shift staffing needs
to be 13[9],
but serious consideration should be having a front line firefighter daily shift
staffing of 16[10].
In another report, the City of Elyria
Performance Audit, May 9, 2013, conducted by the Auditor of State’s Ohio Performance Team, they included a
recommendation from the Elyria Fire Chief to have a minimum daily front line
firefighter staffing level of 15 personnel[11].
While there has been great debate over the years about how
many personnel are needed to fight a fire the National Fire Protection
Association (NFPA) current recommended standards offer the most compelling
argument. As stated in the McGrath Report:
“As discussed previously in this study, the National Fire
Protection Association (NFPA) has developed standards designed to assist
communities in determining the necessary staffing level needed. Of particular
significance is NFPA 1710 Section 5.2.4.2.2 standard that requires a minimum of
14 firefighters are due on the initial alarm and one additional (total 15) if
the ladder/aerial truck is utilized. These numbers were based on a 2,000 square
foot residential dwelling...”
Each
of the fifteen positions listed in the standard are expected to perform
essential firefighting functions at a fire including but not limited to: shift
commander (provides direction to fire crews and looks out for changing fire
conditions that could threaten the lives of firefighters who are inside the
burning structure); driver of the fire engine truck (operates the pump
that supplies water to the firefighters); 4 firefighters (who maneuver
two fire hose lines ((two firefighters per hose as the pressure at the end
reaches up to 150 psi or higher)) into the structure to attack the fire), two
firefighters performing search and rescue for building occupants who may be
trapped inside; two firefighters to put up ladders around the structure
and to perform ventilation of the building including but not limited to cutting
holes in the roof (allowing dangerous heat and gases in the building to escape
and decrease the likelihood of flashover); two support firefighters –
one person for each attack and backup line deployed (responsible for connecting
the water supply hose from the fire hydrant to the fire engine and assisting in
laying of hose lines, utility control ((turning off gas and electrical lines)),
and forcible entry (getting through locked doors and windows) into the
structure); two firefighters to serve on the rapid intervention crew
(perform rescue operations of firefighters who become injured or trapped in the
fire); one driver of the fire ladder truck (operates the ladder that may
be used to rescue people from taller buildings or put water on fires that have
reached the exterior of the structure).
Adherence
to the NFPA 1710 standard is believed to be a step toward reducing the
likelihood of future civilian and on-duty firefighter deaths.
As
described in the standard, this is the minimum recommended number of personnel
that should be used to fight an average residential structure fire. A fire in a
business, hospital, shopping complex, restaurant or multi-dwelling structure
requires more fire personnel in order to safely fight the fire.
In order to have the 13, 16 or as recommended by the fire
chief, 15 front fire personnel on duty daily, there needs to be enough front
line fire fighters on staff. To determine the number needed, we use a formula
that includes how many shift hours must be filled with the number of benefit
hours each firefighter can take off for vacation, etc. factored in. Both the
McGrath Report and the State Performance Audit utilize recognized staffing
models to arrive at that number. The McGrath Report says there needs to be at
least 60 shift personnel to staff three fire stations (with 13 personnel)[12]
while the State Performance Audit says there needs to be at least 65.1
personnel to staff three stations (with 15 personnel)[13].
Both the McGrath Report and the State Performance Audit
speak of needing fewer personnel to staff the shifts if concessions are
achieved through labor management contract negotiations. While the Brinda Administration is making
every effort to negotiate a contract more favorable to the city, there is no
guarantee the amount of change proposed can be achieved before the city must
act to reduce staffing due to budgetary constraints that will result from
future losses of funding, more specifically the expiration of the Safer Grant
which currently funds 23 firefighter positions.
With Issue 14 being temporary, it allows the city the opportunity to
revisit this subject in 4.5 years to make adjustments resulting from contract
negotiations and available funding streams.
Address the questions
regarding the ISO Public Protection Classification and the comparable
communities stated by the former Mayor
By Richard Benton, Fire
Chief
In 2005 Elyria was a Class 4 on a scale from 1-10. (1 being
the best protection -10 no protection).
After our inspection that started in July of 2005, the city
was reclassified as a 5 in December 2005. This was due to a cut in daily
staffing, the closure of Station 2 at 330 East Broad, inadequate front line
pumpers and reserve pumpers. (Then the
city was inspected every ten years; now it is inspected every five years).
Once this report was received by Mayor Bill Grace he had 6
months to appeal and make the necessary adjustments to maintain our Class 4
rating. Mayor Grace did take advantage of the appeals process and was able to
maintain the city’s Class 4 rating. (The city never fell to a Class 5).
In a letter dated January 26, 2006 Chief John Zielinski
reported the following improvements to ISO inspectors.
1.
Daily Staffing levels were raised from 14 back
to 17.
2.
Station 2 on East Broad was reopened to cover
the Southeast area of the city.
3.
The City funded the purchase of 2 new pumpers to
be delivered is Sept.-October 2006
4.
After delivery of the new pumpers, the Current
Engine 2 and 4 would be used as reserves.
Taking this into account in March of 2006 the ISO inspector
approved these changes and in May we were officially allowed to maintain our
Class 4 Status. A major part of the Fire Department inspection is the ability to get the required resources (Firefighters and Equipment) to an emergency within nationally recognized standards. This is where some confusion comes in regarding surrounding communities PPC ratings as it relates to the number of Firefighters employed.
North Ridgeville, Avon, and Westlake have standing
agreements with their neighboring communities to automatically respond together
for structure fires (Automatic Aid). Their communities Fire Stations are in a
position where they can have the necessary resources on the scene of an
emergency within the nationally recognized standard. This is why they have
Classifications comparable to Elyria. It has nothing to do with the number of
Firefighters employed.
Community Risk/ Hazards are also taken into consideration
when inspected by ISO. Elyria has many more structures requiring a Fire Flow
greater than 3,500 gallons per minute, high rise buildings, hazardous materials
and so forth.
The ISO inspection is very thorough process and takes about
4 months to complete. It is not as simple as how many Firefighters a community
employs.
[1] Page 240
[2]
NFPA® 1710, Standard for the
Organization and Deployment of Fire Suppression Operations, Emergency Medical
Operations, and Special Operations to the Public by Career Fire Departments,
2010 Edition, page 1710-7, 4.2.1 (2)&(3)
[3] McGrath
Report, page 56
[4] Pages 39
and 40
[5] Page
1710-16
[6] Page
253, bullets 2 and 3
[7] Page 184
[8] Page
253, bullet 1
[9] Page
184, first bullet
[10] Page
184, second bullet
[11] Page
45, Table G-5
[12] Page184
[13] Page 45
