The City of Lacombe invites the submission of Proposals from consulting firms or contractors with the capability and expertise to complete a comprehensive Fire Services Review of the Lacombe Fire Department. The City’s primary goals with this project are to define the appropriate level of service for the municipality and surrounding areas, determine an ideal location for future fire hall(s), financial recovery options, and to consider the various structures of governance for the for the fire service reflective of the surrounding area.
Explore optimal governance models and compare to the current structure in place.
Examine different governance structures for mutual fire services within the province, (i.e. Regionalization, pay for service, sole agreement, etc.)
Consider how different structures are corporately controlled.
Inspect how the organizations are financially impacted.
Determine the impacts on operations.
Discover any impact on the residents of the municipalities.
Explore relationship models with neighbouring municipalities including Lacombe County.
Apply the different governance models to the relationships the City of Lacombe has with its neighbouring partners.
Consider financial, operational, and corporate impacts that would incur if implemented.
In determining various governance models, consider the forecasted growth trends of the area and how the models will fulfil the needs of the communities over the next 20 years.
Determine of the effectiveness of the current bylaws, policies, and agreements that the Lacombe Fire Department currently utilizes.
Review the current bylaws, policies, and agreements to ensure they meet all legislative and operational requirements for the City of Lacombe and the surrounding area in Lacombe County.
Determine any gaps, overages or inconsistencies within the bylaws, policies and agreements.
Create/edit a set of documents that has consistent wording and definitions, is common language and completely encompasses the intent of the governance model that the City of Lacombe moves forward with, which may include bylaws, policies, or agreements to move forward with neighbouring municipality(s).
Consider the growth rate of the community and its surrounding area, determine the staffing models that are required for the next 5 to 25 years, in five year increments, reflecting on required full time and paid on call staff.
Review of the City’s current Fire Service for all customers (citizens, businesses and mutual aid partners) for cost effectiveness, response time, service level and appropriate resources/staffing.
Review of current Fire Hall location and make recommendations of future Fire Halls to reflect the growth of the service area.
The City of Lacombe’s Geographic Information Services staff have created heat maps for response times for the current fire hall. The City’s GIS services can be utilized to create additional heat maps and analysis for other locations identified.
Equipment (engines, pumpers, trucks, gear) analysis and recommendations.
Determine future apparatus and equipment needs for the next 5 to 25 years to reflect the growth of the service area.
Review any current gaps in equipment or services that the City could provide if the appropriate resources were acquired.
Comment on areas that are being done well; as well, make recommendations on areas that could be improved upon or areas where gaps have been created in the fire service.
Recommendation for improving value for service, sustainability, and cost effectiveness.
Cost recovery through fees.
Explore potential cost recovery or fee for service models.
Create key performance indicators (KPI) for the City of Lacombe to evaluate the fire service over time.
Develop an implementation plan including recommended targets, options for further evaluation and estimated costs.
