2010-03-05 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Flynn Park Tennis Courts We opened the bids for the this week and they were under budget. We will proportionally reduce the contribution from the school district and the University City Park Foundation to reflect the cost savings. This is excellent news for the project, the City and our partners. Due to continual and accelerating changes in vehicle technology, we adopted a proactive fleet technician-training program , which is essential for maintaining the viability of our in-house fleet maintenance programs. In this budget cycle, with Council’s support, we were able to earmark funds to provide training for our technicians. Each mechanic targeted 40 hours of formal technical training. As of this week, two more of the five mechanics hold a valid CDL License, increasing our number of CDL licensed mechanics from one to three. All five mechanics have registered for modules of the National Institute of Automobile Service Excellence (ASE) Medium/Heavy Duty Truck Certification Test. This training investment should yield dividends in technician effectiveness and efficiency. ASE-certified automotive technicians and other service professionals can be identified in several ways. All ASE-certified professionals are proud of their achievement and are more than willing to show their credentials. Most ASE-certified shops place a sign on the facility, display the ASE certificates earned by their technicians in their office or waiting rooms and the technicians may wear an ASE patch on the shoulder of their uniform. Soon we hope to be able to proudly place a sign on our facility indicating that all of our technicians are ASE certified. Congratulations to our mechanics and the Public Works Department for their continued improvements in fleet! On November 9, 2009 University City, Maplewood, Clayton, Olivette and Richmond Fire Service Feasibility Heights Fire Departments received the final Cooperative Study completed by Emergency Services Consulting International. On November 19, Mr. Phil Kouwe presented his findings to a working group of Fire Chiefs, City Managers and City Council representatives in the University City Council Chambers. Once this presentation was complete it was decided that each entity would work on correcting their shortcomings outlined in the document and would also work together to cooperatively see what operational, financial and administrative functions could be combined to make the Fire Service more efficient between our departments. The report outlined several deficiencies in University City Fire Department’s dispatch abilities, which we were aware of through our ISO assessments and preliminary drafts of the study. The switch to North Central Fire Alarm for all Fire/EMS related emergencies corrected all concerns identified in the report. On January 13, 2010 the five Fire Chiefs and City Managers met at Maplewood City Hall to identify the most crucial points of the study for focus by staff. The minutes of this meeting are attached for your consideration. On February 2, 2010 the Chiefs held a meeting at University City Fire Department to continue the process of identifying operational benchmarks between each agency. We are currently working on these operational goals and plan to meet again in April. Greater St. Louis Area Fire Chiefs Association; Special I am proud to announce the Programs Committee has recognized our Fire Department for the ongoing training we provide. This award acknowledges the dedication and discipline of our fire service staff to further their knowledge and skills in the field fire fighting. With this advanced training, we are able to provide state-of-art care and teamwork to our community. Congratulations to Chief Olshwanger and the crews on this accomplishment.