Agenda Item #12.4
For Council Meeting of: December 12, 2023
CITY OF SANTA ROSA
CITY COUNCIL
TO: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
FROM: SCOTT WESTROPE, FIRE CHIEF
FIRE DEPARTMENT
DOMINIQUE BLANQUIE, HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR
HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT
SUBJECT: AMENDMENT TO THE CITY CLASSIFICATION AND SALARY PLAN TO ADD 12.0 FTE FIREFIGHTER POSITIONS IN THE FIRE
DEPARTMENT PER THE FEMA SAFER GRANT AWARD
AGENDA ACTION: RESOLUTION
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended by the Human Resources and Fire Department that the Council, by resolution, amend the City’s Classification and Salary Plan to add 12.0 FTE firefighter positions per the FEMA SAFER grant award.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This item relates to City Council Goal # 3 – Ensure a healthy and safe community for all. The Human Resources department and Fire Department request approval to amend the classification and salary plan to include the 12 FTE Firefighter positions per the SAFER Grant application and award.
BACKGROUND
On August 22, 2023, the City Council approved Resolution No. RES-2023-151 that authorized staff to submit a grant application to FEMA, authorizing the Fire Chief to accept and execute the documents related to the award and authorized the Chief Financial Officer to appropriate the funding.
Upon further review by staff, the language necessary to authorize the Human Resources to amend the salary plan to add the 12 FTE firefighters was not in the resolution. The 12 firefighter positions will be charged to JL 05121 for the period of performance, upon which time the positions will be absorbed into GL 060200, or eliminated.
PRIOR CITY COUNCIL REVIEW
On August 22, 2023, the City Council approved Resolution No. RES-2023-151 that authorized staff to submit a grant application to FEMA, authorizing the Fire Chief to accept and execute the documents related to the award and authorized the Chief Financial Officer to appropriate the funding.
ANALYSIS
A Staffing Needs Assessment conducted by Emergency Services Consulting International (ESCI) from 2019, found that due to increased call volumes, engine companies in high service demand areas of Santa Rosa are unable to meet NFPA 1710 response times requirements 61% of the time due to overlapping incidents and minimal staffing. Seven (7) out of the ten (10) fire stations are minimally staffed daily with only three firefighters.
The squads will allow the department to improve compliance with NFPA 1710 initial full assembly fire suppression requirements, which will lead to a safer firefighting environment for staff and the public. During non-peak hours, the ALS squads will join single engine companies to make up a 4 firefighter engine company, to continue to reduce response times for ALS calls.
FISCAL IMPACT
Years 1 through 3 of the grant funding are fully funded by the grant program, and after the period of performance the City of Santa Rosa intends to retain these employees through attrition. Once grant funding expires after year 3, no funding currently exists for these positions or is included in current financial projections for the General Fund. The City will need to allocate General Fund funding at that time, or reduce positions accordingly. The department will continue to explore other funding sources as well.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
This action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it is not a project which has a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15378.
BOARD/COMMISSION/COMMITTEE REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Not Applicable.
NOTIFICATION
Not applicable.
ATTACHMENTS
Resolution
PRESENTER
Scott Westrope, Fire Chief
Dominique Blanquie, Human Resources Director
AMENDMENT TO THE CITY CLASSIFICATION AND SALARY PLAN TO ADD 12 FTE FIREFIGHTER POSITIONS IN THE FIRE DEPARTMENT PER THE FEMA SAFER GRANT AWARD PAGE 3 OF 3