Home Page	Fire Department Management Study Committee
Date:	October 16, 1997
Location:	Town of Billerica, Massachusetts

Town Meeting Report - Final Report and Recommendations

The Fire Department Management Study Committee respectfully files the following Final Report and Recommendations of the to the Fall 1997 Town Meeting and respectfully requests, with the approval of Town Meeting, that the Board of Selectmen and Town Manager present a specific and detailed report to the Spring 1998 Town Meeting relative to the disposition and status of remedial activities implemented or planned regarding each recommendation.

By unanimous vote, we are: David F. Delorey, Jr.- Chairman, Thomas J. Ferraro - Secretary, Thomas Conway III, Donald J. Flynn and Rino Moriconi; Town Meeting Representatives.

Priority #1

Move Insurance Certification Classification From "4" to "3"- Includes: All Aspects of Town Fire Protection.

Issue: The Town needs a documented Policy, promulgated by the Board of Selectmen, and Implementation Plans, promulgated by the Town Manager, to save Billerica taxpayers an estimated $3.6M in fire insurance costs by remedying enough fire department certification failures by moving our current certification rating from "4" to "3".

Recommendation: Produce a plan & funding to move the insurance classification from "4" to "3".

Priority #2

Consolidate Command, Control & Communications- Includes: E911 Emergency and Routine Calls (Police, Fire & Ambulance) and Inspections.

Issue: The Town needs an integrated and documented Policy, promulgated by the Board of Selectmen, and Implementation Plans, Operational Plans and Administrative Procedures, promulgated by the Town Manager, to integrate the fire department with key town emergency, inspection and compliance services (i.e. fire, police, ambulance, buildings, health, conservation, emergency management).

Recommendation: Create new Policies, Administrative Procedures and Operational Plans to produce an integrated and consolidated written and oral dispatch communications system (e.g., telephone, radio, computer, video, etc.) using civilian dispatchers needs to be implemented to provide a seamless communications network to ensure that the safety needs of the service providers and public are met with an appropriate and timely level of service.

Priority #3

Set Target Staffing- Includes Only Per Station Per Shift Levels for Emergency Services.

Issue: The Town needs a documented Policy, promulgated by the Board of Selectmen, and Implementation Plans, Operational Plans and Administrative Procedures, promulgated by the Town Manager, to manage and deliver emergency services in a consistent and effective five station fire protection topology, with appropriate staffing levels in each station.

Recommendation: Create a new department Policy and staffing Plan to implement an approach to establish specific staffing levels for emergency services, including plans for vacations, sickness, absence and training factored in, that generally maintains a predictable and consistent staffing level per station to ensure that the safety needs of the service providers and public are met with an appropriate and timely level of service. The committee makes a special specific recommendation to include in its policy statements a determination that indicates a minimum level of staffing per fire station per shift to be at least two (2) firefighters and one (1) supervisor per station per shift, or an alternative plan that results in this level of service for the delivery of emergency services (note: a 7 day per week, 24 hour per day schedule requires four shifts) .

Priority #4

Set Supervision Span Of Control Levels- Includes Overall Staffing, Promotions and the officers to firefighters ratio.

Issue: The Town needs a documented Policy, promulgated by the Board of Selectmen, and Implementation Plans, integrated Job Descriptions, Operational Plans and Administrative Procedures, promulgated by the Town Manager and Fire Chief, to govern promotional practices and specifically identify reasonable span of control levels for firefighters versus supervision, general supervision and administrative staff.

Recommendation: Include in the new department Policy and staffing Plan recommended in Item #3, to implement an approach to establish a clear promotional ascension plan, specific overall staffing levels, the span of control for all supervision and the duties and responsibilities of each administrative position.

Priority #5

Produce Long Range Plans- Includes: Capital, Expense & Cost Avoidance (strategic issues).

Issue: The Town needs a documented Policy, promulgated by the Board of Selectmen, and Long Range Plans (i.e., at least 25 years), promulgated by the Town Manager, that are specific and detailed, requirements oriented, to describe the full array of equipment (i.e., personnel and fire protection) to be replaced /purchased over the life cycle of the equipment needed to fully support the fire department.

Recommendation: Produce a detailed Long Range Year Plan and detailed matrix of requirements, by a committee composed of Town fire department professionals only, to include the full array of fire suppression equipment (including fire trucks, support vehicles, ancillary gear, life support, property protection, personal protection gear, etc.) needed to support the mission of the fire department. This matrix should be used as a decision making tool to add, replace and remove from service all non-conforming equipment. The decision to fund the equipment will ultimately rest with the administration and town meeting, but proposed equipment must first be subjected to requirements, rather than funding availability.

Priority #6

Manage Maintenance And Replacements Of Hydrants- Includes: New and Existing Hydrants.

Issue: The Town needs a documented Policy, promulgated by the Board of Selectmen, and Implementation Plans, promulgated by the Town Manager, to manage, maintain and deploy fire hydrants.

Recommendation: Produce a Policy and Plan to best manage fire hydrants (i.e., exercised, replaced, measured, etc.) to ensure the fire department's mission statement.

Priority #7

Efficiently Deploy Apparatus Consistent With Mission Statement- Includes: The Day-To-Day Operation of the Fire Department (i.e., tactical issues).

Issue: The Town needs a documented Policy, promulgated by the Board of Selectmen, and Implementation Plans, promulgated by the Town Manager, to ensure that tactical apparatus and asset deployment plans are consistent with the department's mission statement (note: the department mission statement may need to be updated to reflect current operating practices, or alternatively, to revise current operating practices).

Recommendation: The day-to-day apparatus deploy procedure needs to be improved to ensure that apparatus and asset deployment plans are consistent with the department's mission statement, reasonable safety requirements, funding limitations, etc. and is consistent with indications from the detailed tracking system to ensure results.

Priority #8

Document Training Standards and Certifications- Includes: All Internal & External Training.

Issue: The Town needs a documented Policy, promulgated by the Board of Selectmen, and Implementation Plans, promulgated by the Town Manager, to ensure that training is consistent with the aforementioned Items.

Recommendation: The fire department's training program needs to be better documented to help support Item #1, insurance certification. A plan needs to be established (i.e., equipment and funding) to keep training facility requirements in step with the department's mission statement