MINUTBS OF THE SHENANDOAH COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS SPBCIAL PRESENTATION MEETING: FEBRUARY 25, 2025, 4:00 PM A Special Presentation of the Board of Supervisors was held beginning at 4:00 p.m. in the Board Room of the Government Center at 600 N. Main Street, Woodstock, Virginia on February 25, 2025. The following Board Members and staff were in attendance: Chairman Josh Stephens, Vice Chairman Dennis Morris, Supervisor Tim Taylor, Supervisor Karl Roulston, Supervisor David Ferguson, Supervisor Steve Baker, County Administrator, Evan Vass, Deputy County Administrator Mandy Belyea, and Director of Finance, Amy Dill. Chairman Stephens called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. TOPIC OF DISCUSSION: Special Presentation regarding Fire and Rescue Study ChiefJoe Pozzo with the Center for Public Safety Management presented findings from a recent study on fire and EMS. He stated that this is a gap analysis to provide suggestions on a service plan. He said to gather this information they met with stakeholders, visited all fire stations, met with the Board members and County Administration, attended a Chief and Captains meeting, and visited the ECC. Chief Pozzo said this report is very data heavy to help understand the service levels provided and needed. Chief Pozzo stated that he was not suggesting more facilities since there are currently stations all along the County and that he would instead focus on covering the service gap with a combination of volunteer and career providers. He added that the County is not ready or able to provide an all-career staff. He explained that the infrastructure and vehicles needed to provide services are very expensive in this industry and cannot be supported alone by fundraisers. Chief Pozzo said that many of the stations are also aging and will require funding for updates and renovations. Chief Pozzo explained that although there are eight stations along Route 11 and three located in rural areas of the County, it takes awhile to travel between them, and this can cause service delays. He added that at the time of the report there were 319 total volunteer members with 145 combat ready and 81 released to practice EMS, and that the SCFR department deploys 75 operational staff in six stations. He included maps with the SCFR response network, a three-year capture of call data and demand, population and census data, and calls by station. He added that 75% of calls need transport, which stretches the resources and causes stations to shift their coverage areas and that this is more difficult in rural areas due to increased travel times. He shared data on average transport duration for each station. Chief Pozzo said that the County was deficient in ALS services and that SCFR is focusing on putting their ALS services in the northern and southern ends of the County. He explained how this strains coverage and response time on calls. He said that there is a stipend to incentivize people to take ALS training but this is not mandatory and that this level of service should be available to the citizens. Chief Pozzo provided data on fire response times by call type and said that he has no concerns, and that response time is quick. He broke down EMS response times by call type and said that these do not concern him either but that you also have to consider that each station is traveling outside their immediate area to respond to calls. He added that Conicville, Fort Valley, and Star Tannery are slightly longer travel time due to the rural area. Vice Chairman Morris asked Chief Pozzo to explain why he was comfortable with these travel times and Chief Pozzo said that it was due to understanding the community, layout, and service expectations. He said that the issue drills down to geographic challenges and gaps in coverage and that he is trying to help prioritize their resources to run more efficiently. Chairman Stephens pointed out that there were no brick and mortar infrastructure changes but that there are gaps in travel time. He said adding more people in Conicville will result in the same travel time to Mount Jackson for example and asked why not build a new EMS building. Chief Pozzo explained that Toms Brook and Edinburg are two places with gaps and have facilities. Chairman Stephens asked how an ALS chase vehicle will help. Chief Pozzo said that the County is deficient in ALS and instead of sending two ambulances on an EMS call you have an ALS chase vehicle to alleviate one of the ambulances. Chairman Stephens stated that this comes down to not enough ALS providers. Chief Pozzo said that if you have a career force that 1S doing primarily EMS work, but that station also does fire services, you have to promote your department as doing such. He said for example; Mount Jackson puts EMS first and goes by Mount Jackson Rescue and Fire Department. Vice Chairman Morris asked for the best incentives that a locality can give and Chief Pozzo said that the County is offering incentives that are in line with others. Chief Pozzo explained that they can take a unit from Strasburg and place it in Toms Brook, same with New Market and Edinburg to cover the gaps and maintain the same number of units without hiring providers. He added that ambulances would need to be purchased. He stated that this will stay status quo and alleviate the leap frogging up and down Route 11. He suggested that Toms Brook and Edinburg would need some infrastructure renovations. He also said that hiring staff for both of these stations is an option. Supervisor Taylor asked about current ALS infrastructure and how many providers are able to cover this and Chief Williams said 10% of staff can provide coverage. Vice Chaiman Morris mentioned incentives and competing with Northern Virginia and Chief Pozzo said they will not be able to match salaries in that area. Chief Pozzo said the more active volunteers that you have the less career you require but that volunteerism is on the decline. He said that today's generation of recruits are all about work and life balance and that 44% oft the work force is traveling outside the area for work. He stated that with a commute eating into their day, there is not much time left for extra trainings and volunteer work. He added that a lot of the volunteer force is an older generation. Chief Pozzo said that on the career side, everyone is competing for the same workforce. He said there is a recruitment and retention issue and volunteers need to be incentivized. Supervisor Taylor asked how often ALS is being sent out on low priority calls and Chief Pozzo referred to the previous data charts and suggested that they come up with a system to filter the calls. Vice Chairman Morris asked if a locality can monitor how much savings this would be, personnel and mileage. Chief Pozzo said with being able to filter low acuity calls they can decide on if ALS is needed or an ambulance for transportation. He said this would mostly be a software investment. ChiefPozzo continued with other key findings of the study and stated that Shenandoah County does not have a Local Emergency Planning Committee and that there are limited Community Wildlife Protection Plans in place. He added that both of these can help keep the towns and citizens informed. He said that there are resistance resiliency challenges with EMS units as they respond to fire calls and organic resistance challenges at fire units due to being predominantly volunteer. Chief Pozzo said that the Triplett Tech program is a good short-term solution to recruitment and retention but this can still be improved. He said that he met with the recently hired recruitment and retention employee and stressed the importance of being close with the volunteers. He said on average SCFR is losing ten providers every year for various reasons and that this 1S a large number for a staff of 75. He mentioned that volunteers provided input of a more flexible training schedule. Chairman Stephens asked why the volunteer instructors are not being utilized more and Chief Williams explained their process. Chief Pozzo continued with key findings and suggested a regional training academy with other localities, suggestions for the Fire Marshal's office, taking care of the aging fire facilities, funding for volunteer companies for purchase of apparatus, and funding for SCFR self-contained breathing apparatus which needs replacements. Chief Pozzo broke down times when SCFR is having to work overtime to include leave and vacancy backfills, late emergency calls, emergency backfills, instruction of classes, professional development, administrative work, and the Fire Marshal's Office. He provided data from the previous year's overtime amounts and the operational staffing factors. Chief Pozzo said that the 48- hour work week and the 24-hour Kelly Day are great retention pieces. He provided a formula and example of how to staff each shift which helps plan for fiscal needs but that there are factors you cannot control such as sick leave, FMLA, and vacancies. He said overtime is going to happen because you can not guarantee anything. Vice Chairman Morris asked if other localities also have high overtime and Chief Pozzo said yes, this is not a unique problem. He suggested filling vacancies as quickly as possible, complete a staffing factor every budget year, consider service plan levels and goals, and manage career develop, committees, and other administrative work that is completed off- time. He presented recruitment and retention service plan considerations. Chief Pozzo stated that they need a unified system for SCFR. Vice Chairman Morris agreed that they need a more unified system. Chief Pozzo said that currently there is no logo or a website and that these things can help advertise. He provided suggestions on streamlining trainings, community risk reduction, different levels of fleet and apparatus needs, and facility funding. Supervisor Ferguson asked about similar communities and what their operational budget is for fire and rescue. Chief Pozzo said that public safety in general is usually around 40%-50%. Supervisor Ferguson asked if there were funding numbers suggested for each level to meet status quo and SO forth. Chief Pozzo said the mid-range includes training and increase ALS availability, but he cannot provide funding numbers due to the economy. Supervisor Ferguson said that one thing that needs to be communicated is the cost of the service that the community wants. Chief Pozzo said that putting new people at Toms Brook, Edinburg, and Fort Valley, it would be 21 staff at $60,000 salaries each. Supervisor Ferguson agreed that they should have one operational system but getting requests from local volunteer departments and keeping their identity is useful for recruitment and getting fundraising. Chief Pozzo said that there needs to be one operational system in regards to training and administration. Supervisor Roulston pointed out that some stations need new roofs, expensive repairs and equipment and he feels the County should help provide funding. Supervisor Baker said the cost of equipment and vehicles has increased at a staggering amount. Supervisor Taylor asked if he was available after this study for additional questions and Chief Pozzo said he will be available for general questions and will not leave them hanging. Supervisor Taylor asked about what part of the study needs to be addressed urgently and Chief Pozzo said SCBA and prioritizing Toms Brook and Edinburg. Chairman Stephens said he agreed with stepping up fiscal support for volunteers and that the County is there as a system. With no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 6:23 pm. Josh Stephens, Chairman ATTEST: Evan Vass, Clerk of the Board