Assistance to Firefighters GrantTHE CITY OF
Dui
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: Assistance to Firefighters Grant Application
DATE: March 21, 2014
Dubuque
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AI -America City
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2007 • 2012 • 2013
Fire Chief Dan Brown recommends City Council approval of the submission of the
Assistance to Firefighters Grant Application in the amount of $19,067 for 9 tablet
computers (IPad type) and software to be used for building inspections by inspectors in
the Fire Marshal's office and each of the fire companies in the six fire stations. The
local match for this grant is $1,003. There are recurring costs associated with this
project that will need to be considered in future budget preparations.
The grant application was filed electronically in order to meet the deadline; however, it
may be retracted at any time, if necessary.
I concur with the recommendation and respectfully request Mayor and City Council
approval.
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Mic ael C. Van Milligen
MCVM:jh
Attachment
cc: Barry Lindahl, City Attorney
Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager
Teri Goodmann, Assistant City Manager
E. Daniel Brown, Fire Chief
THE CITY OF
Dui
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
TO: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
FROM: E. Daniel Brown, Fire Chief
SUBJECT: Assistance to Firefighters Grant Application
DATE: March 20, 2014
Dubuque
band
AI -America City
r
2007 • 2012 • 2013
INTRODUCTION
The Assistance to Firefighters Grant for fire prevention and life safety activities are
available. This grant has a 5% cost share with 95% provided by the U.S. Fire
Administration under FEMA. This grant application is submitted by electronic format
and can be retracted if it is determined to not be feasible in the future. Award of this
grant will probably not be made until the FY15 budget year and then 1 year to spend the
funds after the award is announced.
DISCUSSION
The grant application was filed electronically in order to meet the deadline; however it
may be retracted at any time if necessary.
The grant application project will provide for the purchase of 9 tablet computers with
carrycase (IPad type) and software for building inspections and will be used for
inspections of commercial properties and downloaded into the database for record
keeping. This will reduce paper usage and recording time by personnel and increase
the amount of inspections each year.
The tablets will be used by inspectors in the Fire Marshal's office and each of the fire
companies in the six fire stations and their respective districts.
Attached is the narrative from the grant application that was prepared by Assistant Chief
Rick Steines that explains the project and the need along with the expected outcomes.
There are recurring costs associated with the project that will need to be considered in
the future budget preparations. Following are costs and recurring costs anticipated:
9 tablet computers w/carrycase @ $1,000 each $9,000
9 FH Inspector software license @ $750 each $6,750
9 Connectivity Fee (1 year) @ $480 each $4,320
$20,070
(95/5 cost share)
Local cost share $1,003
Recurring Cost:
9 Annual FH Inspector License @ $150 each $1,350
9 Annual table connectivity fee @ $480 each $4,320
9 Tablet replacement (2-4 years) @ $1,000 each $9,000
The Department will continue to work with Information Services to explore connectivity
options that will reduce or eliminate the connectivity fee in the future.
RECOMMENDATION
I am recommending moving forward with the grant application. I have visited with Chris
Kohlman and she supports this project.
ACTION REQUESTED
I respectfully request Mayor and City Council approval to proceed with the grant
application.
Attachment
EDB/jl
2
Ipad project
Vulnerability Statement:
Over the past five years our city has successfully made great advances in developing old
industrial buildings into commercial space. This expansion is happening in a large area of the
downtown that consists of large buildings (many over 100 years old) that are now home to
stores and businesses with residential space above. The conversions have obviously
significantly altered the original structures and are now highlighted as an economic development
success. This of course has led to a fast obsolescence of any building information, data or pre -
fire plans that existed. Additionally many more new occupancies that we classify as
"businesses" have been added to the number operating in our city.
Based on our informal analysis using fire company district patrols, available city GIS information
and a member listing from the Chamber of Commerce we have identified 2249 business
occupancies. Of this number our personnel were able to perform inspections on 350 last year.
This rate of inspections puts us on course to inspect a business every 5 to 6 years. We feel that
this is too long a gap in the inspection cycle, especially considering that pre -fire planning is also
part of this inspection.
We believe that these properties are vulnerable to catastrophic Toss from fire. Because of the
emphasis placed on the economic development and resurgence of prosperity in the downtown
area, a Targe fire loss in one of the many historic buildings would create a resounding negative
impact on the property tax loss, job loss, and ongoing development efforts. Additionally, the
United States Fire Administration has reported that firefighter injuries in non-residential
structures occur much more frequently, about 44 injuries for every 1000 fires. The threat to
firefighter safety in non-residential structures is well documented.
Implementation Plan
Goal — Grow the fire inspection program to enhance fire safety in all business occupancies,
including assembly, education, institutional, and commercial.
Objective — Increase the number of business inspections to reduce the business inspection
cycle from five years to three (approximately 750 inspections per year).
Steps to achieve the goal
1. Establish a data base of occupancies in the new FHnet software program. This will
be accomplished by the records management team already in place.
2. Train all personnel on use of new inspection software and hardware. This will be
done by the department training division assisted by the records management team.
3. Assign inspections to fire companies and fire marshal division inspectors based on
the three year cycle goal. This will be done by the Fire Marshal with the help of
district captains.
4. Review the inspection progress monthly to check against the stated objective of
reaching 750 inspections per year. Review to be done by Fire Marshal and Assistant
Chiefs of each Division (shift).
5. Assure the transfer of building information and pre -fire plans to the mobile computer
terminal system delivered by the CAD software. This affirms that up-to-date
information is available to responding apparatus. This check will be done by the pre -
fire plans team member assigned to each division.
Evaluation Plan
We expect to evaluate this grant project by tracking the number of inspections completed. This
will be accomplished using the FHnet software to track all inspections done by fire companies
and fire marshal inspectors on a weekly basis. In addition we will be cross-checking any fires in
non-residential properties against the list of inspections. This will provide information as to the
effectiveness of the inspection program. Again the software program will assist greatly in this
respect as this check can be made while completing the NFIRS report.
Cost/Benefit
Like any fire department we are pressed for time to complete all the work we have. Our
responsibilities include answering 5000 plus emergency calls each year; flushing of 2289 fire
hydrants; maintaining our training requirements (including paramedic certification) and
inspection of non -section 8 rental housing and fire inspections for 2249 businesses.
The benefit of this project would be in the time saved by using this equipment and programs for
inspection. Currently captains at each fire station spend many hours compiling lists of the
businesses in their respective district. Each works independently to build a list for inspection but
missed properties and overlap occurs. This process is also difficult to keep accurate. Fire
companies then use this list to select which properties to inspect and take time to print hard
copies of the property information and latest pre -fire plan to take along on the inspection. After
the inspection the crew then spends more time entering their findings into the records
management system and updating the pre -fire plan. Use of the FHinspector program on tablets
will cut both pre and post inspection times significantly. We expect to double the number of
inspections completed while simultaneously improving the service to the business owner by use
of this grant project.
Our 911 center has recently installed new CAD software that is capable of pushing pre -fire
plans out to our mobile computers. This grant would allow us to input the data without entering
it multiple times or holding it in another program as we currently do. The new CAD program and
the new FHnet installation were costly, but will be maximized when coupled with this grant
project.
Sustainability Plan
This grant project is very sustainable over the long term. Because of the ability of the
software it will not only improve our inspection program but can expand and perform as
the number of businesses grows. We are prepared to continue the software licensing
over the long term which of course will include updates. Once incorporated into the city
system, the hardware (tablets) is included in the replacement schedule according to the
city budget guidelines.
The City of Dubuque is also committed to be a sustainable community (viable, livable,
and equitable). The "green" component of our sustainability commitment will be
enhanced as less paper, printing and natural resources are expended as we convert to
a more paperless inspection process.
Financial Need
The City of Dubuque is unable to fund this project for the following reasons.
Since the fiscal year 2012, the City has raised property taxes each successive year for the
average homeowner for their City share of property taxes. The fire department budget will
require an additional 6.4% increase in property tax support for FY2015. The Municipal Fire and
Police Retirement System of Iowa contribution from the City has increased for the fifth
consecutive year amounting to an increase of over $774,000 to the fire department budget in
that time. Increases in health insurance will impact the City for all employees and the fire
department specifically by an additional $307,800 in FY15. In addition, the fire department has
incurred an increase in injury costs (the city is self-insured) of over 5% this past year.
The City of Dubuque is also experiencing a decrease in gaming revenue from the Dubuque
Racing Association (DRA) lease due to the economic downturn. From FY 2009 thru FY 2017,
the City's lease payments have been reduced a total of $19 million. This is a major source of
revenue for operating and capital expenditures. The current FY2014 budget has recently been
modified to reflect an unexpected downturn in this revenue source beyond that mentioned
previously. The result is hiring freezes for non-public safety employees the remainder of the
current budget. Additionally, the fire department has been asked to limit operating budget line
item purchases that are non-essential.
During the past year the city has also invested in a new computer-aided dispatch system
(over $1 million project). And the fire department has replaced our aging mobile data terminals
($70,000). Because we are a career department we are not eligible to receive funding from the
State of Iowa Volunteer Training Fund. This fund is the major source of training aid in the state;
we are forced to spend more for training because we cannot ask for any of this funding. In
addition the Dubuque Racing Association grant program contributes over $1,000,000 each year,
much of it to area fire departments. However because the City owns the casino and dog track
and receives revenue from the DRA our fire department is not eligible for this grant program.
Besides the increased personnel costs the fire department is also burdened with
increased costs for supplies and services. These additional cost increases will total $108,484.
We have seen increases in protective clothing inspection and repair per NFPA 1851 ($7655),
property insurance ($2332), utilities ($3211), telephone ($2201), property maintenance ($3981),
motor fuel ($19208), data processing ($3650), and records management software ($11595). In
addition the past year we have experienced several major costs including an aerial ladder
repair, fire pump overhaul and a major diesel engine rebuild. These items have contributed to
an increase in vehicle maintenance expenses of $54,651.
Additional Comments
Our inspection program has not keep pace as the number of properties needing inspection has grown.
Part of this problem is due to the inadequacy of our methods. Realizing this was our first step,
implementing this grant project is the next. By providing modern-day methods and tools to the new
tech -savvy firefighters we find on our crews we believe more and better inspection and pre -fire planning
can be realized.
Our city is at a crucial point in the re -development of a large contingent of commercial properties.
These businesses provide vital jobs and economic growth locally. The fire department's responsibility is
to provide protection to these properties. The most efficient and safe method to do that is with a
quality and timely inspection program. The grant requested will be a tremendous help in assisting our
firefighters to protect the well-being of the community while also protecting the lives and livelihood of
citizens occupying these properties. Finally it will also serve to protect the firefighter by providing
accurate information that is available when needed.