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HomeMy WebLinkAbout911 Tech Services Staff Request Deschutes County 9-1-1 Service District Staff Report DATE: January 29, 2015 TO: Board of County Commissioners FROM: Steve Reinke, Director THROUGH: Tom Anderson, County Administrator SUBJECT: Request for Two FTEs for the Technical Services Division ISSUE: An increase in a District’s employee count requires Board approval. BACKGROUND: In late 2014 Rick Silbaugh conducted analysis which concluded the Technical Services Division’s two current employees (Rick and Barry Allen) are available for work 3,184 hours a year, yet the Division’s day to day system administration and maintenance tasks require 6,561 hours a year. Prior to the adoption of the strategic plan (attached), a new FTE was hired in December 2014 to partially address this shortfall. (A second FTE was hired at the same time. That FTE will replace Barry Allen when he retires in May 2015.) DISCUSSION: The District completed a strategic planning process in December 2014. Analysis of the Division conducted during that process showed that to completely address the remaining system administration and maintenance shortfall not addressed with the December 2014 FTE hire, a second new Public Safety Systems Specialist should to be hired. (Strategic Plan Objective 3.1.) In addition, to tackle the large number of internal and external projects which have been stalled for months, a second Public Safety Systems Specialist should to be hired. (Strategic Plan Objective 3.2.) Once the project backlog is relieved the Division may have excess capacity, although experience indicates new projects are constantly in the pipeline. As an example, several equipment replacement projects are on the horizon for FY 2016, including the replacement of the 9 -1-1 phone system, which is five years old and at the end of its service life. Regardless, to address the possibility of excess capacity, the District plans to transition one of the Public Safety Systems Specialists hired in December to oversee radio replacement project. Staff will then review the Division’s workload to determine if the vacant Public Safety Systems Specialist position should be filled. FISCAL IMPACT: As discussed during the District’s recent strategic planning process, these hires will drawdown District cash reserves, but those reserves will still be positive at the end of the current levy period, which ends in June 2018. Also noted in the District’s strategic plan is the need to obtain stable, permanent funding before the end of the current levy period to maintain these new positions and to avoid substantial service level cuts. ACTION REQUESTED: Consider authorizing the District to hire two Public Safety Systems Specialists. If approved, the District’s FTE count will increase from 50.5 to 52.5. Deschutes County 9-1-1 Strategic Plan for 2015 – 2018 1 Primary Goals 1.1 Determine the District’s intermediate and long term operational and capital needs including planning, construction, maintenance and oversight of a countywide, multi-jurisdictional, multi- disciplinary communications system. (April 2015) 1.2 Assist the Board with determining the level of public support for the District’s strategic initiatives; assist with the development of a communications plan and informational materials. (October 2015) 1.3 Obtain approval from the Board of County Commissioners to submit a ballot measure to the public for a maximum levy amount, with a commitment the initial levy rate will begin at a specific (lower) level which will be raised in the future only if absolutely necessary. (October 2015) 1.4 Obtain voter approval for permanent funding for the District which supports its ongoing operations and long-term capital needs, including a county-wide communications system. (May 2016) 2 Objectives – Line Operations 2.1 Law enforcement dispatchers should only answer 9-1-1 calls as a last resort. (September 2015) Hire, train and deploy call receivers for when call volumes are forecast to be highest. Establish a clear order of priority for answering emergency and non-emergency calls. 2.2 Staff two fire dispatchers 24 x 7 x 365. (January 2016) Hire, train and deploy telecommunicators to achieve this objective. 2.3 Law enforcement data channel should be staffed 12 hours per day. (April 2016) Hire, train and deploy telecommunicators for when data requests are forecast to be highest. 2.4 Staff for 24 x 7 x 365 supervision. (January 2016) Promote an eligible and qualified person into a new, sixth supervisor position. 2.5 Deploy staff to align with forecasted activity levels. (January 2016) Utilize past data to forecast future activity and staff accordingly. 2.6 Achieve Oregon Accreditation Alliance accreditation. (April 2016) The Operations Manager will lead this initiative. 2.7 Improve the retention rate for new line employees. (Now and ongoing) Continually evaluate and improve the entire entry level hiring process. 3 Objectives – Technical Division 3.1 Address unmet maintenance and system administration needs. (March 2015) Hire, train and deploy a Public Safety Systems Specialist. 3.2 Address unfinished projects. (March 2015) Hire, train and deploy a Public Safety Systems Specialist to work through the backlog. Expect to transition at least one Specialist to the radio project. At that time, determine whether there is a need to backfill the transitioned em ployee(s). 3.3 Value engineer and cost a county-wide communications system. (October 2015) Retain a qualified engineer to lead stakeholders to consensus on system design, coverage and reliability and forecast its cost. Develop relationships with potential partners and secure written commitments for participation, first for the concept, then financial. Obtain all available grant funding. Develop and adopt communications system governance and operating agreements. 3.4 Facilitate full CAD / RMS integration. (April 2016) Determine user needs and whether HiTech’s RMS can meet those needs. Obtain commitments from participating agencies to assist with deployment and ongoing funding. Develop and adopt an agreement which details funding allocations; required data entry standards; user responsibilities; and system administration and security requirements. Hire a CAD/RMS System Administrator to serve as project manager and after go -live, as the system’s administrator and inter-agency coordinator. 4 Objectives – Administrative Services 4.1 Meet the increased demand for records from the public and criminal justice agencies and staff the front counter during business hours, including the noon hour. (January 2016) Evaluate options for coverage and recommend a re-organization if necessary. 4.2 If the radio project goes forward, hire an office manager to supervise the front office staff, assist with grant applications and management, vendor management, contract administration, agreements, purchasing, inventory tracking and administrative duties. (July 2016) Contingent on communications project funding.