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1. FIRE
STATION LOCATION – PHASE 2 - EFFICIENCY REPORT EMPLACEMENT
DES CASERNES DE POMPIERS – PHASE 2 – RAPPORT SUR L'EFFICIENCE |
Committee RecommendationS
That Council approve:
1. The operating
pressures for the new Barrhaven Fire Station be offset within existing
resources as outlined in this report resulting in $1.9M in savings in 2010.
2. The ladder trucks to
be implemented at the new Kanata station and Barrhaven Fire Station be deferred
until 2011 as outlined in this report resulting in cost deferral of 3.0M in
2010.
3. The Ottawa Fire
Services (OFS) pursue investment in technology (traffic pre-emption, AVL, GPS)
to ensure that the OFS can meet target response time in Orleans until the new
station is constructed in 2015 while enhancing emergency response throughout
the City.
4. Direct Real Estate
Services staff to research, negotiate and report back to Committee on the
purchase of land for the three growth areas approved pursuant to the Fire
Station Location Study – Phase 1 report (ACS2008-CPS-OFS-0001).
RecommandationS du Comité
Que le Conseil approuve:
1. l’atténuation des pressions relatives à
la nouvelle caserne de Barrhaven, et ce, à même les ressources existantes,
conformément à ce qui est énoncé dans le présent rapport, ce qui entraînera des
économies de 1,9 millions de dollars en 2010;
2. le report à 2011 de la mise en
service des voitures d’échelles portatives des nouvelles casernes de Kanata et de Barrhaven,
conformément à ce qui est énoncé dans le présent rapport, ce qui entraînera des
économies de 3,0 millions de dollars en 2010;
3. la poursuite par le
Service des incendies d'Ottawa (SIO) de l’investissement dans la technologie (système de modification du
cycle des feux de circulation, localisation automatique des véhicules (LAV), système mondial de localisation
(GPS)) afin que les délais de réponse cibles puissent être atteints à Orléans
jusqu’à ce que la nouvelle caserne soit construite, soit jusqu’en 2015, et que
l’intervention d’urgence soit améliorée dans toute la ville;
4. la consigne aux employés de Services
immobiliers de chercher et de négocier des terrains pour les trois secteurs en
croissance qui ont été approuvés dans la foulée du rapport Étude sur
l’emplacement des casernes de pompiers – phase 1 (ACS2008‑CPS‑OFS‑0001)
et de rendre compte au Comité de leurs démarches en vue de l’acquisition de ces
terrains.
Documentation
1. Deputy
City Manager's report, City Operations, dated 30 October 2008
(ACS2008-COS-OFS-0002).
2. Extract of Draft Minutes, 6 November 2008.
Community and Protective Services Committee
Comité des services communautaires et de protection
and Council/et au Conseil
30 October 2008 / le 30 octobre 2008
Submitted by/Soumis par:
Steve Kanellakos, Deputy City Manager/Directeur municipal adjoint,
City Operations / Opérations municipales
Contact Person/Personne ressource : Rick Larabie, Chief
Ottawa
Fire Services/Service des incendies d' Ottawa
(613)
580-2424 x 29411, Rick.Larabie@ottawa.ca
SUBJECT:
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OBJET :
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emplacement des casernes de
pompiers – phase 2 – RAPPORT SUR L'efficiencE |
That the Community and Protective Services Committee recommend that Council approve that:
1.
The operating pressures for the
new Barrhaven Fire Station be offset within existing resources as outlined in
this report resulting in $1.9M in savings in 2010.
2.
The ladder trucks to be
implemented at the new Kanata station and Barrhaven Fire Station be deferred
until 2011 as outlined in this report resulting in cost deferral of 3.0M in
2010.
3.
The Ottawa Fire Services (OFS)
pursue investment in technology (traffic pre-emption, AVL, GPS) to ensure that
the OFS can meet target response time in Orleans until the new station is
constructed in 2015 while enhancing emergency response throughout the City.
4. Direct Real Estate Services staff to
research, negotiate and report back to Committee on the purchase of land for
the three growth areas approved pursuant to the Fire Station Location Study –
Phase 1 report (ACS2008-CPS-OFS-0001).
RECOMMANDATIONS DU RAPPORT
Que le Comité des services communautaires et de
protection recommande au Conseil municipal d’approuver :
1. l’atténuation
des pressions relatives à la nouvelle caserne de Barrhaven, et ce, à même les
ressources existantes, conformément à ce qui est énoncé dans le présent
rapport, ce qui entraînera des économies de 1,9 millions de dollars en 2010;
2. le
report à 2011 de la mise en service des voitures d’échelles portatives
des nouvelles casernes de Kanata et de Barrhaven, conformément à ce
qui est énoncé dans le présent rapport, ce qui entraînera des économies de 3,0
millions de dollars en 2010;
3. la poursuite par le Service des
incendies d'Ottawa (SIO) de l’investissement dans la technologie (système de modification du cycle des feux de
circulation, localisation automatique des véhicules (LAV), système mondial de localisation
(GPS)) afin que les délais de réponse cibles puissent être atteints à Orléans
jusqu’à ce que la nouvelle caserne soit construite, soit jusqu’en 2015, et que
l’intervention d’urgence soit améliorée dans toute la ville;
4. la
consigne aux employés de Services immobiliers de chercher et de négocier des
terrains pour les trois secteurs en croissance qui ont été approuvés dans la
foulée du rapport Étude sur l’emplacement des casernes de pompiers –
phase 1 (ACS2008‑CPS‑OFS‑0001) et de rendre compte au
Comité de leurs démarches en vue de l’acquisition de ces terrains.
As part of the 2008 budget process, City staff were directed to find productivity savings to achieve total savings of $100M over 3 years with the Ottawa Fire Services tasked to find $3.15M of the $100M.
In November of 2008, a memo was sent to Members of Council advising that a Fire Station Location Study was being undertaken that opportunities for efficiencies would be identified in the context of the Fire Station Location review.
At its meeting of October 22, 2008, Council approved the Fire Station Location – Phase 1 report, which outlined a methodology to assist with planning the location and resourcing of fire stations in the future. Through that report, three growth areas, Kanata, Barrhaven and Orleans, were identified which would form the next priority areas for the Ottawa Fire Services requiring additional resources.
Ottawa Fire Services had originally identified capital funding in 2010 to begin building a Barrhaven station with anticipated operating funds required in time for an opening in 2012. Given the results of the Phase 1 Fire Station Location Study, this time frame has been moved up to build the station in 2009 with an anticipated opening in 2010. The Ottawa Fire Services proposes to offset the operating pressures by staffing the station primarily within existing resources from the current Barrhaven station resulting in a cost avoidance to the City of approximately $ 1.9M.
Ottawa Fire Services has also identified the need to begin building a station in Kanata in 2009 with an anticipated opening date in 2010. Ottawa Fire Services proposes delaying the implementation of ladder trucks at the new Kanata station and Barrhaven Fire Station until 2011 for a cost deferral of $ 3.0M.
The final growth area identified by the Fire Station Location Study is the area of Orleans bordered by Innis Road, Trim Road, Navan Road and Renaud Road with a new station proposed to open in 2015.
With respect to all identified growth areas, as well as all existing response areas throughout the City, the Ottawa Fire Services is investigating the benefits of implementing technologies such as traffic pre-emption, in-vehicle mapping, GPS/AVL, and out-of-station vehicle dispatching – to mitigate against future growth and to improve response times throughout the City.
Details of the Ottawa Fire Services efficiency strategies are provided in the attached report.
Dans le cadre
du processus budgétaire de 2008, le personnel municipal a été chargé de trouver
des moyens de réaliser des gains d’efficience en améliorant la productivité
pour économiser 100 millions de dollars en trois ans; la part d’économies
assignée au Service des incendies d'Ottawa s’élève à 3,15 millions de
dollars.
En novembre 2008, une note
de service a été envoyée aux membres du Conseil pour les aviser qu’une étude
sur l’emplacement des casernes était entreprise et que des moyens de réaliser
des économies seraient cernés dans le cadre de cet exercice.
À sa réunion du
22 octobre 2008, le Conseil municipal a approuvé le rapport intitulé
Étude sur l’emplacement des casernes de pompiers – phase 1, dans
lequel était présentée une méthodologie visant à faciliter le choix de
l’emplacement des casernes de pompiers dans l’avenir et l’attribution de
ressources à celles‑ci. Ce rapport cernait trois secteurs en croissance
nécessitant des ressources supplémentaires – Kanata,
Barrhaven et Orléans –, auxquels le Service des
incendies d’Ottawa accorderait désormais la priorité.
Au départ, le
Service des incendies d’Ottawa comptait sur les crédits d’immobilisation qu’il
recevrait en 2010 pour construire une caserne à Barrhaven; il aurait obtenu les
fonds de fonctionnement nécessaires à temps pour l’inauguration, prévue pour
l’année 2012. Compte tenu des résultats de la phase 1 de l’étude sur
l’emplacement des casernes, le SIO a modifié cet échéancier : la
construction du bâtiment se fera en 2009 et son inauguration devrait avoir lieu
en 2010. Le Service des incendies d’Ottawa se propose d’atténuer les pressions
liées au fonctionnement de la caserne en dotant tout d’abord celle‑ci à
même les effectifs existants de la caserne actuelle de Barrhaven, ce qui
permettra à la Ville d’économiser environ 1,9 million de dollars.
Le Service des
incendies d’Ottawa a aussi reconnu la nécessité de commencer à construire en
2009 une caserne à Kanata, dont l’inauguration aurait lieu en 2010. Il propose
de reporter la mise en service des voitures d’échelles portatives des nouvelles
casernes de Kanata et de
Barrhaven et en 2011, ce qui entraînera un
report de coûts de 3.0 millions de dollars.
Le dernier noyau de
croissance cerné par l’étude sur l’emplacement des casernes de pompiers est le
secteur d’Orléans bordé par les chemins Innes, Trim, Navan et Renaud, où une
caserne devrait être inaugurée en 2015.
Le Service des incendies
d’Ottawa tient compte de tous les secteurs de croissance cernés ainsi que des
zones d'intervention indiquées aux quatre coins de la ville pour étudier les
avantages de la mise en œuvre de technologies comme un système de modification
du cycle des feux de circulation, la cartographie à bord du véhicule, les
systèmes GPS ou LAV et la répartition des véhicules hors caserne pour pallier
la croissance future et accélérer le temps de réponse dans toute la ville.
Le compte rendu ci-joint
fournit des détails sur les stratégies d’efficience adoptées par le Service des
incendies d’Ottawa.
At its meeting of October 22, 2008, Council approved report ACS2008-CPS-OFS-0001, which outlined a methodology for identifying both growth areas and associated fire risk throughout the City of Ottawa for the purposes of planning for the location and resourcing of fire stations in the future. Through that report, Ottawa Fire Services in conjunction with staff from the Ontario Fire Marshal’s (OFM) office, identified three growth areas in the city; namely Kanata, Barrhaven and Orleans, which would form the next priority areas for the Ottawa Fire Services requiring additional resources.
Efficiencies to date
Overall staffing levels for Ottawa Fire Service suppression has remained virtually unchanged since 1992 while the population of Ottawa has increased from approximately 720,000 to 890,000 - an increase of 24%.
In 2001, when additional resources were required to address deficiencies in Kanata, resources were reassigned from other areas of the City. Similarly, in 2002 existing resources were reallocated to meet additional requirements at the Charlemagne fire station in Orleans. In 2005, Ottawa Fire Services managed to reallocate existing resources to staff a brand new station in Riverside South. Finally in 2006, Fire Services reallocated more existing resources to staff a second vehicle in Riverside South to meet demands. These efficiency practices have saved the city approximately $9M since amalgamation as the Ottawa Fire Services has absorbed growth pressures within existing resources while providing effective service to the Ottawa community.
As part of the 2008 budget process, City staff were directed to find productivity savings to achieve total savings of $100M over 3 years. Ottawa Fire Services was tasked with finding $3.15M of the $100M. Given the growth pressures that exist for the Ottawa Fire Services as identified in the first Station Location Study report presented to Council, the OFS has been tasked to offset those growth costs using existing resources to realize its productivity savings. Given the number of resources that have already been rationalized and realigned since amalgamation, it will be difficult for Fire Services to continue to reallocate resources in a static environment much less in a growing City. However, Ottawa Fire Services has managed to identify some “cost avoidance” savings that can contribute to its productivity target while managing to meet the demands in the identified growth areas.
Growth Areas
Ottawa West (Kanata)
As identified in the first station location report, Ottawa West, particularly the areas bordered by March Road, Eagleson Road, Huntmar Road and Huntley Road has seen significant growth since 2006 and will continue to see significant growth over then next 2 years. In fact, the growth is projected to be approximately 27,000 residents between 2006 and 2011 – a significant proportion of which has already occurred. Ottawa Fire Services currently faces challenges meeting the need in the growth area with initial response times reaching between 8 minutes and 4 seconds and 9 minutes and 9 seconds at the 90th percentile depending on the location of the fire. This exceeds the 7 minute initial response time target for suburban areas highlighted in the first station location report and illustrates the immediate need for resources. In the Long Range Financial Plan (LRFP) Ottawa Fire Services has identified the need to begin building a station in Kanata in 2009 with an anticipated open date in 2010. A pumper truck and a ladder truck are planned for this new station requiring a total of 7 firefighters per shift – 4 on the pumper truck and 3 on the ladder truck per the collective agreement. Based on existing resources at neighbouring stations and the financial pressures facing the city, Ottawa Fire Services proposes delaying the implementation of the ladder truck until 2011 for a cost deferral of $ 1.5M.
Ladder truck capability currently exists at the Teron Road station, which is centrally located in Kanata and able to respond to the growth area in the interim. In addition, that area of Kanata will receive ladder capability from the neighbouring Stittsville Fire station. With this capacity in existence, the real pressure facing Ottawa Fire Services in Kanata is in delivering the initial response in the time standard of 7 minutes as approved by Council at its meeting of October 22, 2008. A new station with one pumper truck will address this need allowing the Fire Services to delay the implementation of ladder capability for a minimum of at least one year yielding the savings noted.
Ottawa
South Fire Station (Barrhaven)
Ottawa East Fire Station
(Orleans)
The final growth area identified by the Fire Station Location Study was the area of Orleans that is bordered by Innis Road, Trim Road, Navan Road and Renaud Road. While the growth in this area is approximately half of that expected in the other two areas identified, the growth will begin to present significant challenges to the Ottawa Fire Services soon given that the Ottawa Fire Services is presently struggling to meet its initial response time targets with an initial response of 7 minutes and 7 seconds at the 90th percentile in this area. Ottawa Fire Services has identified the need for a new station in this area to open in 2015. In the interim, Ottawa Fire Services is looking at technology as a potential solution to address response time targets until a station is built.
Technology
While development is in the early stages, Ottawa Fire Services has hired a consultant to complete a comprehensive technology strategy that will investigate the benefits of implementing technologies such as traffic pre-emption, in-vehicle mapping, GPS/AVL, and out-of-station vehicle dispatching and its corresponding impact on service delivery. Preliminary research, of other municipalities in Canada, indicates that these technologies can improve response times by as much as 60 seconds on a 6 minute response time.
Although these savings would not be sufficient to defer the construction of new stations in Barrhaven, Kanata or Orleans, they would be sufficient to ensure that the Orleans station meets its first vehicle response standard of 7 minutes in anticipation of the new station being built 2015 while improving response times, and resulting in improved safety for firefighters and the community they serve, as outlined in the following sections.
Traffic pre-emption uses GPS technology and wireless connectivity to send data from responding fire apparatus to the City of Ottawa’s traffic signal control system. The traffic control system then determines the direction and speed of the responding apparatus and controls the traffic system to provide the best possible traffic flow for the response. This technology will turn the lights red in all directions to allow fire vehicles to manoeuvre through the intersections without having to stop. Again, a preliminary benchmark exercise indicates that the implementation of this technology could reduce response times by up to 5%. Not only would response times improve, but also this technology will assist in reducing accidents involving fire vehicles thus improving safety for firefighters as well as the population at large. A pilot project using this technology is planned for 2009 in the three identified growth areas in an effort to improve service pending new fire stations.
In-vehicle mapping is “enroute direction assistance” that makes use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) to determine where a vehicle is with respect to where it needs to go using the Geographic Information System (GIS). This would be a great advantage to the fire responders as they would have the most accurate and accessible routing information for an incident thus facilitating the best route and as a result the best time for response and improve service.
While Fire Services is still completing the financial implications and the potential return on investment of such technologies, it is anticipated that the implementation of some or all of these technologies can improve service in existing areas while potentially delaying the need for additional resources in future growth areas.
Direction to Real Estate to Research, Secure and Purchase Land
Real Estate to research, secure and report back to Committee on the purchase of land with respect to the three growth areas (Barrhaven, Kanata and Orleans) approved pursuant to the Fire Station Location Study – Phase 1 report approved by Council at its meeting of October 22, 2008.
Ottawa Fire Services has done its best to be efficient since amalgamation. To date, the service has managed to address pressures using existing resources despite a growing city. Through a comprehensive Station Location Study, Ottawa Fire Services has identified growth areas requiring additional resources immediately as well as in the near future. Again, Ottawa Fire Services is proposing a solution to avoid some of the costs associated with growth by utilizing existing staff in Barrhaven to off set an operating pressure associate with a new station. Likewise, Fire services propose the delay of implementing a ladder truck in the new Barrhaven and new Kanata stations allowing the associated staff to be deferred for one year. Implementation of a traffic pre-emption pilot project is planned for 2009 and is anticipated to improve response times in Orleans so that it can continue to meet response times in anticipation of the new station to be built in 2015.
Additional technologies are being investigated for implementation which will improve service and could contribute to further efficiencies by improving response times by as much as 10%.
While Fire Services has managed to provide effective and efficient fire response since amalgamation through the realignment of existing resources, it has become clear that there are no additional opportunities to reallocate existing resources to address growth and avoid costs beyond the strategies that have been identified in this report. While there may be some efficiencies to be realized out of technology, future growth will require additional resources.
There was no public consultation associated with the development of this efficiency report.
The 2009 Draft Capital Budget includes the associated expenditure increases identified by
this report for the Ottawa South and Ottawa West fire stations. The forecasted year 2010 included in the
Draft 2009 Operating Budget reflects the additional 20 FTEs and the related
vehicles (pumper) and equipment for the Ottawa South fire station, as well as
the additional 20 FTEs and related vehicle (pumper) and equipment for the
Ottawa West Fire Station.
The forecasted year 2011 included in the Draft 2009 Operating Budget reflects the additional 15 FTEs and the related vehicle (aerial) and equipment for the Ottawa South fire station and the additional 15 FTEs and the related vehicle (aerial) and equipment for the Ottawa West fire station.
The Ottawa Fire Services will action any direction received as part of consideration of this report.
FIRE STATION LOCATION – PHASE 2 -
EFFICIENCY REPORT
EMPLACEMENT DES CASERNES DE POMPIERS
– PHASE 2 – RAPPORT SUR L'EFFICIENCETRANSLATION
ACS2008-COS-OFS-0002 CITY WIDE / À
L'ÉCHELLE DE LA VILLE
Chief Larabie thanked staff for
all their hard work in the preparation of this report and was joined at the
delegations table by Deputy Chief, Bruce Montone, Education and Prevention
Services Division, Captain John Burke, Education and Prevention Services
Division and Chief Rural Sector, Gerry Pingitore. They provided a summary of the presentation about to be given and
stated that on October 22, 2008, City Council approved Phase 1 of the
study. He said three growth areas were
identified, those being Kanata, Barrhaven and Orleans. He stated that staffing levels since 1992
has been virtually unchanged yet the City has grown approximately 24%. Other efficiencies have attained since
amalgamation. He and Deputy Chief
Montone gave a PowerPoint presentation and a copy is held on file with the City
Clerk.
Chair Deans stated the Committee
had directed Fire Services to come back with a report on residential sprinkler
systems in new housing starts and asked when the Committee might expect to get
this report and would this system have an on response times if it were approved
by Council.
Deputy Chief Montone responded
by saying the report is scheduled to be brought back to the Committee during
the first quarter of 2009. In terms of the impact, this would depend on the way
Council was to go but it would have zero impact on response times but would
provide an opportunity to review the service standards and a possibility of
cost deferral.
Councillor Feltmate thanked
staff for the report. Her question
dealt with the new station for the Stittsville area since it has become quite
urbanized and what tax rate would these residents have since some of the
services are still on volunteer fire services and the rate is different. How would it be implemented?
Chief Larabie sited the example
of former Cumberland when the boundaries were redrawn there for response and
deployment, and how the career part of the service was used for a larger area
and the new redrawn area was provided to the taxation department and they
determined which areas received a new rate
Councillor Feltmate wanted to
know the procedure for notifying the residents of the new coverage area near
Stittsville so that they can realize that their tax rate would be changing.
She wants to ensure that those
residents are paying the fair rate and not being subsidized by urban residents
and still paying rural rates.
Chief Larabie is unsure of the
mechanism used but will check with the taxation department.
Councillor Feltmate feels that
this is a critical question and needs to be resolved.
Chair Deans followed up further
on the question of who resolves this issue.
Mr. Steve Kanellakos, Deputy City Manager, City
Operations stated that the last time it was the Fire Service working with Mr.
Hughes in Revenue to determine the area right down to the street and then there
was a tax rate adjustment based on what side of the street the residence was
located. Therefore in this instance,
before the deployment model is implemented, discussions will take place with
Mr. Hughes regarding new rates.
Councillor Feltmate does not want to see a
situation where the information is provided at the last minute to residents and
this creates a problem with regards to their taxation level. She believes that Councillors need to be
aware of the communications strategy and what kind of dollars this will mean to
the residents before voted on at Council. The new area gets a new station,
which must be paid for, as well as a different level of service.
Chief Larabie believes that the cost difference for
the residents in the new deployment area would be an increase of about $100.
Councillor Qadri wanted further clarification on
Station 81 and the services it would provide especially for back up to Station
41.
Chief Larabie stated that the Councillor’s assumptions
were correct that the surrounding stations provide backup service for the
primary response station.
Councillor Qadri asked if Station 41 was a composite
station made up of volunteer and career fire fighters.
Chief Larabie stated that yes it was a composite
station and the tax rate is based on the urban tax rate.
In response to Councillor Qadri’s question on new Station 110 and the area it would serve, Chief Larabie responded by stating that it would service the growth area but also service some of the existing areas as well and the rate would be based on the urban tax rate.
That the Community and Protective Services Committee recommend that Council approve that:
1. The operating
pressures for the new Barrhaven Fire Station be offset within existing
resources as outlined in this report resulting in $1.9M in savings in 2010.
2. The ladder trucks to
be implemented at the new Kanata station and Barrhaven Fire Station be deferred
until 2011 as outlined in this report resulting in cost deferral of 3.0M in
2010.
3. The Ottawa Fire
Services (OFS) pursue investment in technology (traffic pre-emption, AVL, GPS)
to ensure that the OFS can meet target response time in Orleans until the new
station is constructed in 2015 while enhancing emergency response throughout
the City.
4. Direct Real Estate
Services staff to research, negotiate and report back to Committee on the
purchase of land for the three growth areas approved pursuant to the Fire
Station Location Study – Phase 1 report (ACS2008-CPS-OFS-0001).
CARRIED