SPECIAL BOARD OF ALDERMEN MARCH 23, 2021 6:30 p.m. Meeting is being conducted remotely in accordance with Governor’s Emergency Order #12 pursuant to Executive Order 2020-04 Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89888514603?pwd=SmR4ajJiRWNNUGZadjRpUkE5Sy9yZz09 Meeting ID: 898 8851 4603 Passcode: 347707 Join by phone: 1-929-205-6099 Meeting ID: 898 8851 4603 Passcode: 347707 If there is a problem accessing the meeting, please dial 603-821-2049 to advise. PRESIDENT LORI W ILSHIRE CALLS ASSEMBLY TO ORDER PRAYER OFFERED BY CITY CLERK SUSAN LOVERING PLEDGE TO THE FLAG LED BY ALDERMAN ERNEST A. JETTE ROLL CALL PRESENTATION Master Plan Study for Nashua Fire Rescue ADJOURNMENT • P Nashua Fire Rescue M ASTER New Hampshire P LAN 202 August 2019 1 Master Plan Nashua Fire Rescue, NH Table of Contents Table of Contents .................................................................................................................... i Executive Summary ................................................................................................................ 1 Background ......................................................................................................................................... 1 Summary Findings .............................................................................................................................. 1 Section I. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 4 Acknowledgments .............................................................................................................................. 4 Emergency Services Consulting International Team ........................................................................... 4 Project Methodology .......................................................................................................................... 4 Stakeholder Input ............................................................................................................................... 5 Section II. Community Profile and Risk Identification ................................................................. 6 Nashua, New Hampshire ..................................................................................................................... 6 Nashua Fire Rescue ............................................................................................................................. 7 Community Risk Assessment ............................................................................................................ 10 Community Risk Priorities ................................................................................................................. 38 Section III. Evaluation of Fire Department Current Conditions ................................................... 50 Internal Customer Assessment .......................................................................................................... 50 Financial Analysis .............................................................................................................................. 53 Management Components ............................................................................................................... 58 Personnel Management .................................................................................................................... 66 Staffing ..............................................................................................................................................71 Capital Improvement Programs ........................................................................................................ 93 Section IV. Analysis of Service Delivery and Performance ........................................................ 102 Service Demand Analysis ................................................................................................................ 102 Population Density and Geographical Demand ............................................................................... 108 Resource Distribution ...................................................................................................................... 110 Resource Reliability ......................................................................................................................... 119 Response Performance ................................................................................................................... 121 Section V. Future System Demand Projections ....................................................................... 133 Population Projections ..................................................................................................................... 135 Service Demand Projections ........................................................................................................... 136 Section VI. Recommended Future Delivery System Models ..................................................... 137 Short and Mid-Range Deployment Options ..................................................................................... 137 Long-Range Deployment Options .................................................................................................... 153 i Master Plan Nashua Fire Rescue, NH Section VII. Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 156 Appendix A: Internal Customer Assessment ........................................................................... 157 Appendix B: Development of Response Standards and Targets ............................................... 164 Appendix C: Table of Figures ................................................................................................. 170 ii Master Plan Nashua Fire Rescue, NH Executive Summary BACKGROUND On December 13, 2019, the City of Nashua, New Hampshire, contracted Emergency Services Consulting International (ESCI) to produce a Long-Range Master Plan for Nashua Fire Rescue. The purpose of the study was threefold: 1. Evaluate current operational service delivery. 2. Identify future service delivery needs. 3. Provide recommendations for operational service delivery. SUMMARY FINDINGS Nashua Fire Rescue is a historically proud and very traditional New England Fire Department. Operationally, the fire department meets most of the national standards for the provision of fire and rescue services. Staffing and deployment are adequate in the Emergency Services Division, however there are a number of administrative and support functions that are woefully understaffed. The staffing evaluation is included within the Staffing section of this plan. Fire department infrastructure will require significant financial investments in the coming years. While the city has done a good job maintaining and replacing the apparatus in its fleet, four of the six fire stations are more than 40-years-old. Many of these fire stations have outlived their useful life and some are no longer located in the optimal location to meet the current service demands in the City of Nashua. Consideration should be given to relocating some of these stations as they come due for renovation. GIS Models for Fire Station Optimization are included within the Long-Range Deployment Options Section of this plan. While the number of staff and fire department infrastructure are both critical components of Nashua Fire Rescue’s ability to serve the city, this plan would be doing the fire department a disservice if it didn’t identify that Nashua Fire Rescue has a very significant and deeply embedded morale problem. ESCI’s interviews and survey both revealed five common themes that stood out within Nashua Fire Rescue. These themes were: 1. Nashua Fire Rescue members are proud to be part of Nashua Fire Rescue. 2. Nashua Fire Rescue members almost unanimously agree that the people that make up the department are the department’s biggest strength. Members repeatedly cited the “manpower” and “aggressive firefighting” as specific examples of this strength. 3. Morale is a problem. Members overwhelmingly believe that communication (or a lack thereof) is the biggest contributor to the department’s poor morale. 1 Master Plan Nashua Fire Rescue, NH 4. Members very directly stated a desire for consistent accountability within Nashua Fire Rescue. They went so far as to request that chief officers hold the members accountable from the top-down while the union holds the members accountable from the bottom-up. There were repeated concerns voiced that not everyone was being held equally accountable. 5. Training was repeatedly identified as one of the biggest weaknesses within Nashua Fire Rescue. While this report includes 41 specific recommendations, the critical issues of morale, communication, accountability, and firefighter training must be addressed before Nashua Fire Rescue will be capable of working toward implementing any of the other recommendations in this report. ESCI suggests that the most effective and immediate way to address these issues is to restructure the Administrative Division to include an Assistant Chief of Uniform Professional Standards. This Assistant Chief would report to the Chief of Department and be tasked with: ▪ Investigating all internal affairs type activities, thus removing this work from the Chief and existing Assistant Chief. The single point of contact within the fire department as well as close collaboration with Human Resources