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City Council Minutes Page 11 <br /> September 4,2018 <br /> ----------------------------- <br /> Mr. Cunningham added there is an expectation that the fire chief is a leader. Even if <br /> the fire chief is not there,a senior officer takes charge to maintain a balance of the <br /> senior leadership team. <br /> Mr. Portner added it was impossible to compare the City of Brooklyn Park fire <br /> department with Elk River's fire department. He took the first response portion out <br /> of the job description so the role could be more management focused. He hopes Elk <br /> River could be a place to develop these types of skills in future chiefs. <br /> Mayor Dietz wants the incident commander role to be added back to the job <br /> description. <br /> Councilmember Wagner is neutral on the issue. <br /> Councilmember Ovall did not see any harm in including it. <br /> Councilmember Olsen agrees it should be added back in. <br /> The Council asked Ms. Wipper to reword the job description. <br /> Councilmember Westgaard pointed out the job description doesn't cover every <br /> scenario that could come up on the job. <br /> Councilmember Wagner suggested adding the phrase "when appropriate". <br /> Ms. Wipper pointed out the job description currently says "Ability to provide <br /> leadership" and showing up at a fire scene would be providing leadership. <br /> Mr. Portner asked who determines when an incident is "appropriate"to respond to <br /> and what are the repercussions if the Fire Chief does or does not respond? <br /> Mayor Dietz asked Ms.Wipper to work with Acting Fire Chief Surratt to come up <br /> with a sentence to clarify the job description. Once this change is made, and the <br /> addition of 25 minute distance is added,the interviews can proceed. <br /> 10.3 Vacation and Paternity Leave <br /> Ms. Wipper presented the staff report. She proposed changing the current vacation <br /> policy to increase number of days off sooner in the employment instead of waiting <br /> for the five year anniversary to increase. There would be no financial impact but <br /> department productivity may be affected. <br /> Councilmember Ovall asked if bereavement was separate. <br /> Ms. Wipper responded it was. <br /> Mayor Dietz asked if there were complaints from employees regarding the current <br /> vacation accrual. <br /> POWERED 9r <br /> UREJ <br />