HomeMy Public PortalAboutResolutions-2023-036RESOLUTION NO. 2023-036
A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE POLICIES, GUIDELINES, AND PROCEDURES
FOR THE CITY OF TIFFIN FIRE DEPARTMENT AND DESIGNATING AND
APPOINTING CITY STAFF AND FIRE DEPARTMENT MEMBERS FOR THE
ADMINISTRATION, MANAGEMENT AND COORDINATION OF THE 2021 SAFER
GRANT AWARD AND ACTIVITIES AND ALSO AUTHORIZING ACTIVITIES RELATED
TO THE OPERATIONS OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT ALONG WITH THE
RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION OF VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS FOR THE FIRE
DEPARTMENT
WHEREAS, the City of Tiffin (hereinafter "City") is a municipal corporation under Iowa
law; and,
WHEREAS, the City maintains a fire department pursuant to Iowa Code section 364.16;
and,
WHEREAS, the City provides fire, rescue, and non -transport emergency medical
services; and,
WHEREAS, the City accepted the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response
(hereinafter "SAFER") grant award in the amount of $604,470.00 for recruitment and
retention of volunteer firefighters over a four-year period of performance pursuant to
Resolution No. 2023-023; and,
WHEREAS, the objectives of the SAFER program are to assist local fire departments
with staffing and deployment capabilities to respond to emergencies and ensure that
communities have adequate protection from fire and fire -related hazards and to fulfill
traditional missions of fire departments by assisting local departments with improved
staffing and deployment capabilities, increasing the number of trained and certified
firefighters to help communities meet industry minimum standards (NFPA) and attaining
24 -hour staffing to provide adequate protection. With enhanced staffing levels, recipients
should experience a reduction in response times and an increase in the number of trained
personnel assembled at incident scenes; and,
WHEREAS, the City wishes to meet the SAFER program objectives and goals, including
meeting industry standards (NFPA) for the fire department; and,
WHEREAS, Council Person Skylar Limkemann serves as a member of the volunteer fire
department and planned, prepared, and wrote the 2021 SAFER application on behalf of
the City; and,
WHEREAS, Council Person Limkemann is experienced with writing and administering
grants, including with prior SAFER grant awards for the recruitment and retention of
volunteer firefighters, and has education, training, and certifications in the fire service;
and,
WHEREAS, FEMA, in offering the City the SAFER grant award, modified or changed
some grant activities, including modifying or reducing the funding for certain grant
activities, including stipends and PPE for new recruits; and,
WHEREAS, it is anticipated that some grant activities may need supplemental funding
from the City due to unforeseen and uncontrollable increases in costs, inflation, and
supply chain and manufacturing issues, including products being unavailable; and,
WHEREAS, since the 2021 SAFER application was submitted to FEMA, the City has
grown and continued to evolve, including in the fire department, rendering the intended
plan with grant activities as obsolete; and,
WHEREAS, after the 2021 SAFER application was submitted to FEMA the City hired Bill
Erb as the Fire Marshal/Code Enforcement Officer (hereinafter "Fire Marshal"), who
started on or about January 3, 2023; and,
WHEREAS, the Fire Marshal has experience in recruiting volunteer firefighters, including
advertising and marketing for volunteers, pre -employment physicals (medical
evaluations), onboarding, orientation, budget and finances, purchasing, documentation,
training, and managing volunteer applicants, recruits, and firefighters; and,
WHEREAS, the Fire Marshal has the education, training, and certifications, including
Instructor II and Fire Officer II, to serve as the Program Manager; and,
WHEREAS, it is necessary to amend the Fire Marshal's job description to add additional
duties and responsibilities as a result of the 2021 SAFER grant award; and,
WHEREAS, it is anticipated that a variety of factors will contribute to the fire department's
performance under the 2021 SAFER grant award, including changed circumstances since
the grant application was submitted in 2021, and that changes, modifications, and
amendments to the attached policies, guidelines, or procedures, or adoption of new
policies, guidelines, or procedures, or amendments to the grant, may be needed from
time to time, and some trial and error will occur; and,
WHEREAS, flexibility with changes, modifications, and amendments to policies,
guidelines, and procedures is appropriate and in the interest of efficiency and innovation;
and,
WHEREAS, trained fire department members who are on call, on standby, on special
assignment including department business or training, and who staff the station or
apparatus, benefit the public by improving the fire department's deployment capabilities
and reduce turnout or response times to fire, rescue, hazmat, and emergency medical
calls; and,
WHEREAS, the Tiffin Emergency Responders Association (TERA) purchased car wash
supplies and has agreed to periodically donate additional supplies to enable the
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department members to maintain a car wash program at the fire station for department
members; and,
WHEREAS, the City has purchased apparatus and equipment to enable the fire
department to carry out its mission and which will be used to assist the department in
meeting the objectives and goals of the award, including NFPA 1720, and has future
investments in the fire department planned; and,
Now, therefore be it resolved by the City Council of the City of Tiffin, Iowa, as follows:
1. The City previously established the goal of meeting or exceeding NFPA 1720:
Standard for Organization and Deployment of Fire Suppression Operations,
Emergency Medical Operations, and Special Operations to the Public by Volunteer
Fire Departments, 2020 edition, and reaffirms this goal.
2. A recruit is a candidate for membership in the fire department as a Firefighter
and/or EMS Provider. Recruits are either non -certified or certified. A non -certified
recruit shall serve a probationary period of at least one (1) year of service but not
more than two (2) years. A non -certified recruit shall not be released from
probationary status until the recruit is certified as Firefighter 1 for Firefighter
membership or EMT for EMS Provider membership. A certified recruit shall provide
proof of certification, serve a six (6) month probationary period, and shall meet any
requirements established by the fire department before being released from
probationary status. While a recruit is in probationary status, they may be released
from the department for any reason.
3. The fire department is hereby authorized to establish residency requirements for
the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters. In recruiting and retaining
applicants, the department will weigh factors and considerations, including
applicants who reside in the City of Tiffin, applicants who work in the City of Tiffin
and are able to leave work for calls, applicants who are certified as Firefighter I,
Firefighter 11, or EMT or above, the distance the applicant lives outside of the city
and potential response time for calls, the applicant's availability, including for
station staffing and standby, and other factors as permitted or required by law.
4. The City designates Skylar Limkemann as the Grant Administrator and primary
point of contact for the 2021 SAFER Grant, Fire Marshal Bill Erb as Program
Manager and secondary point of contact for the 2021 SAFER Grant, and City Clerk
Abigail Hora as the Finance Officer and third point of contact for the 2021 SAFER
Grant.
5. City Administrator Doug Boldt will serve as an alternate point of contact for the
2021 SAFER Grant and will monitor the grant and all staff or volunteers.
6. The 2021 SAFER grant award activities and the draft policies and procedures for
the grant activities and fire department be approved.
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7. The City Administrator is hereby authorized to review, modify, deny, or approve
changes or amendments to any policy, guideline, or procedure of the fire
department or the City on an as needed basis without further approval from the
City Council to implement or carry out the 2021 SAFER grant award for the fire
department. It is the City Council's intent to provide flexibility and support to adapt
to the circumstances and allow for innovation within the fire department and under
the 2021 SAFER grant.
8. The City authorizes the City Administrator, Grant Administrator, Program Manager,
and/or Finance Officer to communicate with FEMA on behalf of the City and to take
all steps to carry out and implement the 2021 SAFER grant award. The Grant
Administrator will prepare and submit any amendments under the grant award to
FEMA subject to review by the City Administrator.
9. The Grant Administrator is hereby authorized to administer, oversee, and
coordinate the 2021 SAFER grant award and its activities. In addition, the Grant
Administrator will ensure data collection practices and procedures are
implemented, measure the performance and effectiveness of the grant activities,
and review, evaluate, and make changes to grant activities and fire department
operations to meet program and activity goals and objectives, including NFPA
1720. The Grant Administrator will be responsible for preparing and submitting
any amendments to FEMA, including requesting FEMA changes the start date of
the Period of Performance to June 1, 2023. The Grant Administrator will oversee
and evaluate the Program Manager's performance for grant related activities,
prepare periodic grant reports to FEMA, or will cause said performance reports to
be prepared, and will provide analysis of goals, objectives, and benchmarks,
including as requested or required by FEMA.
10. The City hereby authorizes Fire Marshal/Code Enforcement Officer Erb to serve
as the Program Manager for the 2021 SAFER grant award and amends his job
listed duties to add the following:
a. Manages recruitment of volunteer firefighters for the fire department, including
print and media marketing, onboarding, and orientation;
b. In conjunction and coordination with the City Clerk/Finance Officer and Fire
Chief, manages payroll for the fire department's volunteers and documentation;
c. Manages and schedules NFPA 1582 compliant physicals (medical evaluations)
for applicants to the fire department and manages documentation and all
records related to the same;
d. Manages and maintains confidential personnel records and medical records for
the fire department;
e. Manages, purchases, and issues new NFPA compliant personal protective
equipment (PPE) to new recruits who meet the recruitment requirements in
coordination with the Grant Administrator;
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f. Manages training for the volunteer fire department, including establishing and
implementing documentation and record keeping practices, training programs
and schedules, and manages and evaluates all non -certified instructors and
Instructor I certified personnel pursuant to NFPA 1041;
g. Manages the tuition assistance for higher education program and its grant
activities.
h. Other duties as assigned related to the 2021 SAFER Grant Award.
These duties will remain with Fire Marshal/Code Enforcement Officer Erb and are
specific to the person, not the position.
11. The Grant Administrator, Program Manager, City Clerk/Finance Officer, City
Administrator, and fire department are hereby authorized to proceed as needed
with all grant activities and operations including expenditure of grant funds to be
reimbursed by FEMA or to be supplemented by the City.
12.The City will not supplant city funds with federal funds under the grant award.
13. Funds awarded for the employee salary activity under the grant award will be used
to pay for the Program Manager (Fire Marshal Erb) who will perform additional
duties as a result of the 2021 SAFER grant award.
14. The City will advance funds for the grant activities. The Grant Administrator,
Program Manager, City Clerk/Finance Officer, and City Administrator are
authorized to expend funds for purchases related to grant activities. The Program
Manager will prepare reimbursement requests to FEMA monthly, or as needed, in
coordination with the City Clerk/Finance Officer, and with review by the Grant
Administrator. The Program Manager and City Clerk/Finance Officer will maintain
and provide records and documentation in accordance with federal and state law,
rules and regulations, including the 2021 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO),
and generally accepted accounting practices.
15. Stipends will be considered by the City Council pursuant to a separate resolution.
16. The fire department is hereby authorized to establish a duty officer program to
provide for the periodic staffing and take-home use of the department's command
vehicle by volunteer members at the rank of Fire Chief, Assistant Fire Chief or
Deputy Chief, or Captain. Minimum qualifications shall include IS/ICS 100, 200,
300, 400, 700, and 800, EMT, and Fire Officer I in accordance with NFPA 1021 or
certification as a Fire Officer I within two (2) years of June 1, 2023, and a minimum
of five (5) years' experience as a fire officer in the fire service. If a duty officer is
on duty or on call and insufficient trained personnel or no personnel respond for a
call for service in the fire department's district, the duty officer will respond or, if
unavailable, will request mutual aid to respond if another agency is not responding.
The fire department will implement and maintain a duty officer guideline not
inconsistent with this resolution and consistent with the goals of the grant award.
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17. The fire department is hereby authorized to establish recruitment and retention
activities in addition to those awarded by the 2021 SAFER grant award. The fire
department is encouraged to implement activities that are intended to improve the
fire department's deployment capabilities and reduce response times of trained
and certified members, including a station car wash program. The fire department
may implement and maintain recruitment and retention activities outside of the
2021 SAFER grant award, including those supported by donations through the
Tiffin Emergency Responders' Association, Inc.
On the 30th day of May, 2023, at a special meeting of the Tiffin City Council, Tiffin, Iowa,
Councilperson Limkemann introduced RESOLUTION NO. 2023-036, A RESOLUTION
APPROVING THE POLICIES, GUIDELINES, AND PROCEDURES FOR THE CITY OF
TIFFIN FIRE DEPARTMENT AND DESIGNATING AND APPOINTING CITY STAFF
AND FIRE DEPARTMENT MEMBERS FOR THE ADMINISTRATION, MANAGEMENT
AND COORDINATION OF THE 2021 SAFER GRANT AWARD AND ACTIVITIES AND
ALSO AUTHORIZING ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THE OPERATIONS OF THE FIRE
DEPARTMENT ALONG WITH THE RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION OF
VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS FOR THE FIRE DEPARTMENT
and made a motion for approval. Motion seconded by Councilperson Schnedler.
Ayes: Orris, Olney, Schnedler, Limkemann, Havens.
Nays: None.
Absent: None.
Whereupon five Council members were present and voted approval and Mayor Berner
declared that RESOLUTION NO. 2023-036, A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE
POLICIES, GUIDELINES, AND PROCEDURES FOR THE CITY OF TIFFIN FIRE
DEPARTMENT AND DESIGNATING AND APPOINTING CITY STAFF AND FIRE
DEPARTMENT MEMBERS FOR THE ADMINISTRATION, MANAGEMENT AND
COORDINATION OF THE 2021 SAFER GRANT AWARD AND ACTIVITIES AND ALSO
AUTHORIZING ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THE OPERATIONS OF THE FIRE
DEPARTMENT ALONG WITH THE RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION OF
VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS FOR THE FIRE DEPARTMENT
to be adopted and signified his approval of the same by affixing his signature thereto.
Passed by the City Council on the 30th day of May, 2023.
City of Tiffin
ATTEST: (,)\j
Abigail Hord, City Clerk
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even L. Berner, Mayor