Finance Committee - 11/20/2019 Page 5
Chief Rhodes
| greatly appreciate that.
Alderman Klee
Thank you though.
Chairman O’Brien
If | may Chief, you are saying your “response data” from what | remember, you do have as part the
Commissions do receive a monthly report or a timely report on what the response status for the apparatus to
particular calls. | know that was done in the past correct?
Chief Rhodes
We do that but the problem that we have now is we have transitioned to our new records management
software so we are kind of in a little bit of a flux. But the good news is this is a very robust software platform
that we just put into play. So instead of having to ask our Superintendent of Fire Alarm to pull this data up and
correlate it and put it into a report, you can come to my office and | can show it to you at a moment's notice.
Alderman O’Brien
| Know when | was on the Department my concern was not so much the people within one mile radius of the
Fire Station, they can make it there timely but also you have a situation of an apparatus that may be in a
remote location, what’s the second apparatus that is going to get there in a timely manner. | know we did have
sometimes 8 minute responses for the second — that’s a long time. That's what | used to refer to as “John
Wayne time” until the rest of the cavalry came. So | am hoping out of this report, we will look as you
mentioned the traffic Alderman Klee, that would help to address that and give us a target point of maybe
answering that question, where we should put future stations.
Alderman Laws
| apologize in advance for the question | am about to ask you and | 100% support this and | think it’s great
idea. However, everything that | am hearing so far just seems like this may be validating the precept position
that we need more staff, administrative staff, things that sound expensive to me. Do you anticipate that there
is anything that we are going to find out in this Master Plan that may actually save money for the taxpayers?
Chief Rhodes
| certainly hope so.
Alderman Laws
Yeah.
Chief Rhodes
But | think it is important to realize that twice we’ve been named the Number 1 City in the United States to live
in. | believe we were just named the Number 1 Community in the State of NH to live in. If we don’t plan for
this, if we don’t prepare for this, then that is all for naught. And it’s just a heading in a 24 hour news cycle.
This study is not for today; it is going to look at today. This is going to help this organization move forward and
help us provide the best service we can to the citizens at the most economic price.
