Item 2: Functional Consolidation of Fire Departments

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ATTACHMENT A from the merger could be captured and used to reduce the ambulance funding shortfalls that both jurisdictions are currently experiencing. In a merger, little else would change for firefighters in the future, except that they would be as- signed at any of the fire stations in either city, according to need. This would provide for a mar- ginal decrease in overtime by allowing any excess staffing capacity, on a limited number of days, to be shifted back and forth between the two cities. The current system with two work units, op- erating under separate city policies and labor agreements, does not allow for this. Fire Marshal’s Office – Staff in the two Fire Marshal’s Offices have already engaged in consol- idation discussions and are prepared to proceed. As envisioned, a combined Fire Marshal’s Of- fice headed by a Fire Marshal of Deputy Chief rank would be headquartered at Eugene Down- th town Fire Station (13 & Willamette), where the Eugene Fire Marshal’s staff currently has offic- es, including office space sufficient to accommodate additional personnel from Springfield. If functional consolidation is authorized, this physical move would be the first. The Springfield Fire Marshal and two Springfield Deputy Fire Marshals would relocate. A satellite office staffed by two Deputy Fire Marshals would remain in Springfield City Hall, and two Eugene Deputy Fire Marshals would continue to serve in a plans review capacity, with their positions funded by the Building and Permit Services Division, at Eugene’s Permit and Information Center. The Eugene Fire Marshal position is currently vacant. Springfield’s Fire Marshal position is filled and Springfield has the capacity to provide management oversight for the combined sys- tem. In a functional consolidation, this position vacancy could be continued for a savings of ap- proximately $146,000 per year. Emergency Medical Services – This is an area where there is a clear relationship between the consolidation discussion and the inter-jurisdictional study of future ambulance service funding being studied by a JEO Task Force. For purposes of consolidation, we envision the formation of a single Ambulance Service Area (ASA), under a merged organization, serving the ASAs now served by Eugene and Springfield (a total of 2,436 square miles and over 70% of Lane County’s population as currently configured, roughly the central and northeastern half of Lane County). At the same time, however, we propose to work collaboratively with Lane Rural Fire/Rescue and Lane County Fire District #1, to study further ASA reconfiguration such that the ASA served by Lane Rural Fire/Rescue might be extended to the south so as to provide service to rural and semi-rural areas west of Eugene, including the Veneta, Elmira-Noti and Walton areas. This would create a larger service area for Lane Rural, while preserving Eugene response resources for greater availability in the city and the fire protection contract areas currently served by Eu- gene. Redeployment of Springfield’s ambulances further to the west would also assist in this process. An EMS Officer position is currently vacant in Springfield. Eugene has the management capaci- ty to absorb this function and save an estimated $126,000. To improve coordination of training functions between fire and EMS, it is proposed that the EMS Training Instructor now on Eu- gene’s EMS staff be transferred to the combined departments’ Training Section staff. 4 ATTACHMENT 1