The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About2023 08_09 Lasning Fire Board Minutes1 Please contact Board Secretary, Jules Overfelt if you cannot attend the meeting or, need special accommodations. 517-483-4564 or email jules.overfelt@lansingmi.gov Lansing Fire Department 120 E. Shiawassee, Lansing MI 48933 CITY OF LANSING BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS 120 E. SHIAWASSEE ST., LANSING MI 48933 (517) 483-4200 |LANSINGMI.GOV/FIRE Brian Sturdivant, Fire Chief 1. Call to Order – Establish Quorum - 5:32 p.m. 1.1. Present: Barbara Lawrence, Jarrod LeRue, Gina Nelson, Steven Purchase, Rodney Singleton, Kris Singh 1.2. Absent: Kathleen Tobe, Charles Willis 2. Additions to Agenda: None 3. Approval of Minutes: 3.1. July 12th approved with minor grammatical corrections. 4. Public Comment – Agenda Items (Time Limit: 3 Minutes): 4.1. None 5. Review Communications 5.1. None. 6. Comments from Chair 6.1. Chair Purchase states that it will soon be time to start looking ahead at the annual report. 6.2. Chair Purchase states that the information distributed regarding the City Council Meetings may not be accurate and encourages Board members to double check information before planning to attend meetings. 7. Presentations 7.1. None 8. Fire Administration Report – Chief Sturdivant 8.1. The final invoice for CPSE has been paid. The strategic plan will be available for distribution soon. The next step for the plan is to identify subject matter experts and create a GANTT chart. All of the division heads were involved with creating the strategic plan, so they all know what is upcoming and it will be simpler to hold them accountable. 8.2. The strategic plan focuses on staying competitive with recruitment, leveraging tech on a higher level, increasing communication in and out of the organization including the community, and increasing public safety initiatives. 8.3. Chair Purchase inquires after the distribution of the strategic plan to the board members and asks after the cadence of the plan. 8.4. Chief Sturdivant states that a copy of the strategic plan will be distributed to board members. Some of the objectives for the strategic plan need to happen sequentially and some of them simply need to be spread out over the 5 year lifetime of the plan. The strategic plan will include monthly check in as well as quarterly check-ins. The 3/4 schedule is a little disjointed and he is hoping the new teams update will allow us to remain more flexible. The Fire Commissioners 1st Ward Barbara Lawrence – Vice-Chair 2nd Ward Jarrod LeRue 3rd Ward Kathleen Tobe 4th Ward Gina Nelson At-Large Steve Purchase –Chair At-Large Rodney Singleton At-Large Charles Willis At-Large Kris Singh REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING MINUTES WEDNESDAY, August 9th, 2023, | 5:30 PM | TRAINING CENTER |3015 ALPHA ACCESS DR | LANSING MI 2 Please contact Board Secretary, Jules Overfelt if you cannot attend the meeting or, need special accommodations. 517-483-4564 or email jules.overfelt@lansingmi.gov Lansing Fire Department 120 E. Shiawassee, Lansing MI 48933 bulk of the work of the strategic plan can't just be done by the administrative 40 hours a week staff. Lansing Fire will need to engage with engineers and firefighters to distribute administrative work outside of 40 hours a week to support the strategic plan. The strategic plan is a live document; It is able to evolve with the needs of the organization. 8.5. LFD will soon begin company level inspections in businesses and residences for life safety issues, ingress and egress, and inspections for fire and safety hazards. 8.6. LFD 's developing programs to enhance professional development and training. Training is currently overworked and under supported. Chief Sturdivant is working to redistribute the workload to ease that burden. 8.7. Training Chief Rivet is promoted. Chief Sturdivant is excited to have him officially at the head of this department, after some time as interim training chief. 8.8. The week of August 14 HR and LFD will be approximately firefighter candidates with varying levels of education training. The next step will be scheduled discussions with the Chief in the office for fit with the culture and engagement with division and community. Chief is looking beyond just qualifications to find individuals that are a good fit for LFD. LFD is planning on hiring approximately 25 new firefighters and will establish an eligibility list with any remaining candidates that are not originally offered positions. If any additional positions need to be filled within 90 days of the original interviews, LFD will pull from the eligibility list rather than starting from scratch with new candidates. 8.9. LFD will ensure that incumbent training will not be neglected in favor of a new hires. 8.10. 8 captains are retiring this year. LFD is looking for creative ways to focus on recruiting Academy and incumbent employees to fill those positions. The current model is somewhat outdated and does not appropriately protect the city organization or community. Some of these updates are reflected in the strategic plan, but not all. The updated union contract says that individuals can be promoted after 7 years instead of 15. The new system of formatting needs to reflect these changes. Chief start event is excited for new ideas and new processes. Captains and Battalion Chief test are on October 11th. Review of test scores and challenges will be due by the 17th of that month. There will be an orientation for the assessment center on the 23rd for battalion chiefs and at the beginning of November for captains. November 6th through 7th will be when the assessments are scheduled. Promotions will happen beyond that. These are currently rough dates. Eligibility last will last for 25 months. 8.11. There was one termination the first week of August, for inappropriate language. This was documented and processed under previous policies as the new Lexipol disciplinary policies were not yet implemented. 8.12. LFD released request for proposal for a firefighter physical and cancer screenings. The posting comes down August 22nd and then vendors will have a chance to present to LFD. 8.13. Chief had a meeting with River Caddis about the significant need for storage for both LFD and LPD at the new building. They both need climate control storage, and the developer is working on making appropriate accommodations. River Caddis will do ride a longs to see what is priority for LFD members. The new building will be a regional state-of-the-art center that can be leased out, or host trainings to generate income. The Fire Board of Commissioners will be notified with official ground break. The city has hired a project manager for the bond proposal that is funding the new building. 8.14. The ISO assessment is coming up period last assessment LFD was only 9 points away from class one, the highest class. The chief is confident that we will be able to gain those points and become a level one this time. 8.15. Commissioner Lawrence inquires if there has been any thought on bringing in a consultant on helping training assess their needs. 8.16. Chief Sturdivant states there was a good discussion just that morning, but some limitations include the budget. The conversation needs to continue to understand the long-term goals of restructuring training. Chief has a meeting scheduled with the mayor and once that meeting has happened, he will be able to share more information with the board and the community. 9. Old Business 9.1. None. 10. New Business 3 Please contact Board Secretary, Jules Overfelt if you cannot attend the meeting or, need special accommodations. 517-483-4564 or email jules.overfelt@lansingmi.gov Lansing Fire Department 120 E. Shiawassee, Lansing MI 48933 10.1. Lexipol Policies 102 and 103 10.2. Discussion on the charter and duties of the board on policies. Includes information on how other department conduct review and institutional understanding of previous reviews. It was brought up that a wholesale review of policies is atypical in the city. The Board and Chief agree that updated policies are a priority and important for LFD. They agree that the policies need to be updated and maintained, and that the Board can offer insight to those updates. The Board appreciates the work that Chief has done to do the needed updates. There is a discussion on how the policies can be distributes and reviewed. It is agreed that the Board will review the disciplinary processes next month and then will return to working through them sequentially. 11. Request for Commissioners to be Excused. 11.1. Kathy Tobe is excused unanimously. 11.2. Charles Willis is excused unanimously. 12. Commissioner Comments 12.1. Commissioner Singh shares that he has no problem coming in every other week to spend time on policies. States that he understands a rule is a rule and they are in place for organizations to flourish. He wants to ensure that the individuals of LFD are covered. 12.2. Commissioner Lawrence shares her experience with attending the first ward council meeting the previous Saturday. Community members had 5 minutes of time to speak with the council member that was shared amongst all public. She hopes that her experience at the council meeting will help other commissioners be more productive at their City Council meetings. 12.3. Commissioner LaRue shared his intention to attend the second word meeting the week of August 14. 13. Public Comment 13.1. None 14. General Order 14.1. None 15. Adjournment 7:23pm Minutes submitted Monday, August 21st by Jules Overfelt Jules Overfelt (they/she) Administrative Specialist Lansing Fire Dept 120 E. Shiawassee St. | Lansing MI 48933