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Having a training group made up of members from each city would allow the entire group to standardize <br />the training schedule. A particular drill could be run several times at different locations. This would allow <br />firefighters several options to attend mandatory trainings depending on their schedules. <br />3. Capital Purchases- Buying Power. <br />The Joint Fire Service Area may see a cost savings by joining together. The recent purchase of Self <br />Contained Breathing Apparatus by the city of Oak Grove is an example of group buying power. The city <br />of Oak Grove joined Minnetonka, Eden Prairie, Hopkins, Brooklyn Park and other fire agencies to present <br />a Joint Purchase Agreement for the acquisition of air packs. By joining forces with this larger group, the <br />City of Oak Grove was able to reduce the purchase price for the air packs by approximately $40,000.00. <br />Another example is the purchase of turnout gear. Currently each department involved buys only a few <br />sets of gear per year. This creates challenges in getting sales representatives to do long term quotes for <br />only a couple of sets of fire gear. With multiple cities consolidating together, this Joint Fire Service Area <br />may have a large enough quantity to see a cost savings by buying multiple sets of gear with the <br />increased number of firefighters. <br />Along these lines, savings may also be seen in the need to potentially not have as much capital <br />equipment. Currently ISO requires that fire departments have back up apparatus. As this is a very costly <br />proposition, many cities do not have back up engines and tankers sitting in their stations. If the Joint <br />Fire Service Area were to form, some capital equipment could slide into this role. For example St Francis <br />would no longer need to have 2 engines at their station. However with ISO wanting a spare engine, this <br />other engine could be kept and used by all 5 cities as a "spare" engine per the ISO standards. This <br />"spare engine" would then benefit all the cities. <br />4. Human Resources: Employment Pool — increase in employment pool <br />With the exception of Ramsey, all the Cities involved in this study are considered bedroom communities <br />meaning that people live here but do not work here. This community dynamic makes it difficult for fire <br />departments to find people who are willing to serve and available during the daytime. The initial time <br />commitment required of new hires also limits the number of people available and interested for fire <br />departments to hire. A collaborative effort between the fire departments increases the geographical <br />area of service and may increase the employment pool by creating opportunities for people who may <br />live in one participating community but work in another. <br />Firefighters who work in one community and live in another could potentially report for duty in 2 to 3 <br />cities. This would lead to better service and possibly a reduction in fire personnel through a better use of <br />resources resulting in a reduced cost to taxpayers. By not being restricted by cities borders, more <br />firefighting equipment would be accessible and this could result in insurance benefits to business and <br />home owners as well as quicker response times. <br />4 <br />