Laserfiche WebLink
dollars. Should the communities decide to proceed with the next phase of this study, final projected <br />short-term and long-term costs will be determined. <br />4. Identity issues -Department names etc.: <br />If the Joint Fire Service Area is formed there may be some concern about loss of identity and heritage. A <br />fire department is made of many individuals but the core belief of any department is "Protect life first <br />and Property second, in the safest, quickest and most efficient way possible ". <br />We would have to emphasize the importance of the common goal while making all parties feel a part of <br />something bigger than what a name represents. We need to re -assure the group it's still the combined <br />efforts of all that make a difference, not the patch on the sleeve or the emblem on the truck. <br />5. Governance — people and structure <br />Should the product of this study be some type of a Shared Fire Service Area, than a governing entity <br />would need to be created. Two great challenges in this process would be determining the make-up of a <br />governing body and ensuring that each City is fairly represented on that governing body. There are <br />examples of Shared Fire Service boards ranging from a composition of elected officials to appointed <br />citizens to a mixture of both. After it is decided who the governing body will be comprised of the next <br />issue will be how much authority they have over personnel, budgeting and operations; as well as how <br />that relationship works with the individual Cities. These decisions will be the most challenging and <br />difficult for elected officials to make as they must not only be agreeable now, but sustainable for years <br />to come. <br />6. Benefits — Consistency of pay, etc. <br />There are obvious items relating to pay and benefits (if any) to move forward with any type of sharing <br />service. The communities in the group currently have different pay structures. For example some <br />communities may pay for each hour of service, whereas some communities may only pay on call. These <br />will need to be identified specifically, addressed in parts and then potentially as one. There may be <br />some inconsistencies that we are currently unaware of at this time. <br />7. Perception of loss of "Local" control: <br />We are all proud of our communities and may become very protective when we discuss not having a <br />"local" fire department with our community name on the door. For communities may not be as <br />concerned about the name on the emergency vehicle. Regardless, this could be portrayed as loss of <br />local control by some individuals. This perception must be managed with all of our communities <br />exploring these ideas to genuinely help our customers/citizens for the long term. Each community has a <br />financial responsibility which is a huge part of our decision making process; both now and in the <br />future. If some type of shared services is a reality, communities setting their budgets would need to <br />8 <br />