Vancouver City Council |
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: June 19, 2003
Author/Local: Sophronia Ho/604-654-0605
RTS NO. 03535
CC File No.
TO:
Vancouver City Council
FROM:
General Manager/Fire Chief VFRS
SUBJECT:
Computer Systems Support: Staffing Requirement
RECOMMENDATION
THAT Council approve the addition of two regular full-time technical positions to support Fire and Rescue Services' computer systems at an annual cost of $128,500, subject to job evaluation by the Director of Human Resources, source of funding to be $60,000 from the existing Fire Department budget and the balance of $68,500 to be funded from Contingency Reserve in 2003 and added to the departmental budget in 2004 without offset.
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager of Fire and Rescue Services RECOMMENDS approval of the foregoing.
CITY MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The City Manager RECOMMENDS approval of the above recommendation.
COUNCIL POLICY
Council has adopted a policy whereby departments and boards are required to identify expenditure reductions or related revenue increases in non-tax revenue, to offset the costs associated with requests for increased staff or enhanced programs.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is to seek Council's approval for the addition of two technical positions to support the computer systems implemented for the department in the areas of computer aided dispatch, fire incident record management, fire safety inspection and other specialized operational needs.
DISCUSSION
Since June 1990 the Fire and Rescue Services has utilized a Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) and Records Management System (RMS) implemented, maintained and supported solely by the Vancouver Police Department (VPD). In September 2001 the Fire and Rescue Services migrated the Fire's CAD to the E-Comm regional system. Fire's RMS is still maintained by the VPD, though current planning calls for the transfer of the Fire's RMS to the newly proposed regional system at E-Comm planned in January 2004.
Personal computers have been introduced to twenty fire halls since April 1999 as part of the initiative for better communication and operational requirement to run software on the City's computer network. Fire halls currently operate with two to five personal computers at each site.
Since the separation of some of the computer system functions from VPD, Fire and Rescue Services has funded one temporary network specialist for the past two years to cover the computer support work evolved from the migration away from the old VPD CAD system. The departure from the VPD RMS system will also require an additional programmer position to assist in the system development, implementation and maintenance tasks which have become a new responsibility of Fire and Rescue Services.
PERSONNEL IMPLICATIONS
The approval of the two positions will increase the civilian staffing in Fire and Rescue Services by two technical support staff. As with other Information Technology Personnel, these positions would be included with other IT staff in Corporate Services and be seconded to Fire and Rescue.
The positions will be subject to classification by the Director of Human Resources.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
Costs of these two positions are as follows:
1 Network Support Specialist I p.g. 23 (highest step) $50,000
1 Programmer/Analyst p.g. 26 (mid-Range) $52,100
Fringe Benefits @ 20% $29,400
Support Costs $4,000
Auto Allowance $2,000
Sub-Total $128,000
Funding from current Fire & Rescue Budget $(60,000)
Balance Required $68,500CONCLUSION
Computer systems will require qualified technical skills to implement and maintain effectively and efficiently. A lack of adequate support will result in productivity losses, interruptions in services and undesirable returns on computer system investments. The need for two additional technical positions has been recognized and supported by the management of the Fire and Rescue Services and by the Corporate Services Department.
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General Mgr./Dept. Head: | |
Date: July 14, 2003 | |
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This report has been prepared in consultation with the departments listed to the right, and they concur with its contents | |
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Report dated: |
July 14, 2003 |
Author: |
Sophronia Ho |
Phone: |
604-654-0605 |
Concurring Departments | |
Budget Office | |
Information Technology | |