Item 1. Emergency Services StudyC�PSTONE
November 2nd, 2021
Mayor & City Council Members
Adam Flaherty, City Administrator
City of Otsego, Minnesota
Public Sector Solutions
RE: November 8th Council Work session
Over the past few months, I have been working with staff to learn more about the emergency services
your community receives. We have met with the County Emergency Manager and his Deputy Director,
reviewed the community's emergency operations plan, and reviewed contracts for fire and law
enforcement services. We met with the contracted fire chiefs on three occasions to engage them in the
process, search for ideas, and collect facts about the services they provide. I met with each of you to
hear your thoughts and have prepared documents to consider now.
The first document gives details about each of your fire contracts. Each arrangement is different, and
the level of service provided to your community is determined by their City Council. Preparing this
document allowed the fire chiefs and staff to discuss fire services at a high level to see commonalities
and needed improvements.
During my meetings with all of you, the common theme was timing. Several of you mentioned that the
timing felt right to explore a different model. Others talked about community pride and the need to
build a fire station. The good news is as a city leader, the choice is yours. To assist you, I have provided
five fire service models for you to consider. Each one of them comes with its complexity and details.
Please consider the foundational models available in forming a fire department and what you feel would
work best for the City of Otsego. We will go over each of them in detail during the meeting.
This meeting will start clearing a path forward to better define the type of fire department model you
want to explore. I am hopeful we can start eliminating some of the options to outline the details, such
as process and cost for the ones you choose. I look forward to seeing you on Monday.
ief/Emergency Manager (Ret)
Capstone LLC - Anoka, Minnesota 763.286.0288
www. ca pstonepss. com
Item 1.
Albertville Elk River Rogers
Established 1943 1992 1981
Contractor total budget (2022)$909,980.00 $1,611,200.00 $922,704.00
Otsego Budget (2022) for services $463,439.00 $305,671.00 $129,243.00
Total # of Calls (2020)414 508 569
Budget Change from 2021 $29,781.00 $49,456.00 $50,317.00
Otsego Calls 158 92 28
Cost per call (#/Calls)$2,933.16 $3,322.51 $4,615.82
Percentage Change (+/-) from 2021 6.42%15.17%63.75%
Otsego Population Covered (+/-)8,175 9,141 1,100
Otsego Cost Per Capita $56.69 $33.44 $117.49
Full time Staff 1 5 3
Paid On-Call Firefighters Allotted 33 45 (increasing to 60)41
Paid On-Call Firefighters Current 29 40 36
Paid On-Call Firefighters Needed <4 yrs 3 16 14
Hourly Rate (+/- Cost of Living)$15 + COLA $15+ No COLA $12+ No COLA
# of Stations 1 2 (3 - 2022)2
# of Fire Engines 1 3 (1-Reserve)3
# of Aerial Trucks 1 1 1
# of Grass Trucks 1 ATV 4 Trucks 1 Truck/1 ATV
# of Boat 0 0 0
24/7 Duty Officer on-call No Yes Yes - Not required
Fire Call Types Yes (14 in 2020)Yes (23 in 2020)Yes (5 in 2020)
EMS Call Types All Types (86 in 2020)Limited Types (12 in 2020) Limited Types (20 in 2020)
Rescue Call Types Yes Yes Yes
Specialty Calls No Technical Rescue No
Hazardous Materials Operations Awareness Level Operations
Water Rescue Sheriff’s Office Sheriff’s Office Sheriff’s Office
Radiological No No Yes
Confined Space Operational Awareness Awareness
Low Priority Calls Single Station Single Station Duty Officer Calls
Inspections Upon Request / Noticed Violation Upon Request No
Investigations Yes/State Fire Marshal/County Yes/State Fire Marshal State Fire Marshal/County
Public Educaiton Upon Request Upon Request Upon Request
Dispatch Center (911)Wright County Sherburne County Hennepin County
Is there a delay? No Delay Yes - Transfer Yes - Transfer
Emergency Communication 911 Wright Sherburne Hennepin
Firefighter Level II Level II Level II
Hazardous Materials Awareness Awareness Awareness
EMS Training Level EMR/EMT EMR/EMT EMR/EMT
Training Day Thursdays Thursdays Tuesdays
Training Frequency 2 x Per Month 4 X Per Month 3 x Per Month
Forecasted Challenges Recruitment / Retention Recruitment / Retention Recruitment / Retention
Costs Formula Change “May need to request money for
capital expenditures.”
Albertville Council Control Exploring Duty Crew Model Exploring Duty Crew Model
Medical Response - Reduction Capital Costs
OTSEGO FIRE SERVICE COMPARISON
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Funding Formula Otsego Tax Capacity divided by
Total Tax Capacity = Otsego %
multiplied by total budget.
Otsego Calls divided by Total Calls
= Otsego % multiplied by total
budget = operations + depreciation.
Market Value multiplied by 0.00044
Emergency Management NO NO NO
Have you seen the Otsego Emergency
Operations Plan
NO NO NO
Guaranteed Service NO NO NO
Do you know the Otsego department heads
contact information?
YES NO NO
What can WE do better for you?Public Safety Committee Change Better Communication Better Communication
Known Expectations/Needs Known Expectations/Needs Known Expectations/Needs
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