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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Winter Park City Commission Work Session: Fire Rescue Strategic Plan – December 11, 2025

City Commission — Thursday, December 11, 2025

BodyWinter Park, Florida

SessionCity Commission

DateThursday, December 11, 2025

StatusFILED

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Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

0:04

Welcome to the City of Winnipeg War set work session, December 11th, 2025.

0:11

Welcome everyone.

0:13

I think today we're turning it over to Chief Haggard to give us his strategic plan.

Speaker 2

0:21

Well, thank you very much, Mayor and Commissioner, for this opportunity to sit with you one on almost one on one today, and of course, to uh city management for uh allowing this to take place.

0:32

So uh included in the packet was the um the version of our 2025 strategic plan for the for the department.

0:42

And um just a little background on this.

0:44

One of the reasons that we do this, aside from best practices, is that it's part of our accreditation model.

0:50

Um not really a surprise we've been doing, believe it or not.

0:53

Uh we're going to be up for our I'm sorry, her sixth re-accreditation um this next coming year, which will be uh we were the 61st agency in and uh it's an international accreditation, so internationally to be accredited.

1:06

There are some 450 or so now.

1:09

Uh and only maybe 40 or so are still accredited on their sixth go round.

1:14

So this is uh no pressure, but uh uh we're confident moving forward that uh the strategic plan uh will send us in the right direction.

1:23

And part of that is that um the model is requires me uh to present it to the legislative body.

1:29

So it's not an approval type thing.

1:32

Uh it is just for your review.

1:34

Any questions you may that you may ask, I'll be uh glad to um to answer.

1:41

Uh I know nobody here or everyone here is uh not new to the strategic planning model.

1:47

We didn't really reinvent the will or the wheel, so to speak.

1:50

Uh there is a definition of what uh uh a credit or the strategic planning is uh and how we utilize the uh planning.

2:00

Um the plan itself doesn't thank you very much.

2:03

You're gonna be my uh Vanna White.

2:05

There you go.

2:06

Um we we write this so uh and we post it on our our internet page for folks that have never read this before to understand how we do what we do.

2:16

We don't throw darts at the wall to say, okay, we're gonna we we feel like we're gonna do this and we're gonna ask for uh budgetary funds to do this type of program.

2:25

We do this very systematically, nothing happens by accident.

2:28

Uh there's a lot of support that starts at the city manager level, uh, comes through me, and then you know, my staff uh will be assigned as such.

2:38

We'll get into that a little bit more later on.

2:40

But uh again, this is uh a background of of how we are uh in the community, who we are in the community, and we'll land on uh the external stakeholders.

2:51

There we go.

2:52

I don't know if we can make that a little bit smaller so we could see the the names.

Speaker 3

2:57

Just gone above my pay grade.

Speaker 2

2:59

He can drive it from back there.

3:01

But one of the things that we start with was uh is to get a some input from our folks in the community.

3:09

Uh we bring in uh business, business owners, residents, uh, even uh partners with assisted living facilities.

3:17

Um you may recognize a lot of the names up there, uh development, uh representatives, again, business, a lot of business owners, chamber of commerce, uh, even a former elected official to come in and really tell us what what we're doing right, what we're doing wrong, what they want to see uh from their fire department.

3:36

So it was uh it was uh we met over about three or four hours, uh got a lot of great input, uh, which is on the next page.

3:46

This is the opinion of the external stakeholders of what's working well.

3:51

Um medical care.

3:53

That's to see that as number one uh is uh feather in our cat that they believe that we're offering the best uh EMS type care.

4:01

Um to all the residents and uh customers within you know the city uh equipment.

4:07

We're very well equipped.

4:09

That's everything from fire apparatus to EMS transport to all of the uh loose equipment, durable equipment that we that we buy and maintain.

4:18

Um believe it or not, fire marshal's office is uh what we're doing very well.

4:22

And um, I think they can they're nodding their head because years ago that

Unassigned speaker

4:25

was

Speaker 2

4:25

what we could do to get better, and we've elevated that through um over the years to what we're doing very well.

4:32

So I'm very proud of that as well.

4:34

So hats off to Jim Santoro, our fire marshal and his staff that uh have made that elevate to the to the high mark that it is today.

4:42

Uh folks in the, I don't know why, but folks in the community think we're professional.

4:47

And uh I think that's a great thing to hear that from our folks.

Unassigned speaker

4:51

Uh we strive very, you know, we strive to uh to maintain a professional image from uniforms to the way that we uh take care of the vehicles, the way that we execute things in the in the public eye.

Speaker 2

5:03

We're very aware of

Speaker 4

5:04

our

Speaker 2

5:05

presence in the community, and of course, community engagement, and we'll talk about that a little bit more uh later.

5:11

Um things that we could be uh that could be enhanced, and again, this isn't an attempt ever to hide from anything.

5:17

This is straight from the community's mouth, so to speak.

5:20

Um, they wanted uh more explanation of fiscal efficiency, um, dispatching, uh communications, engagement.

5:29

Um they want to meet

Unassigned speaker

5:31

Speaker 2

5:31

or I'm sorry, uh community engagement.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Public Safety█████████████████████████████████████37%

Public Engagement███████████████████████23%

Engineering And Infrastructure█████████████13%

Personnel Matters███████████11%

Community Engagement█████5%

Procedural███3%

Technology and Innovation███3%

Fiscal Sustainability███3%

Grant Funding██2%

Summary of Proceedings

Winter Park City Commission Work Session – December 11, 2025: Fire Rescue Strategic Plan Review\n\nThe Winter Park City Commission held a work session on December 11, 2025, at 3:30 PM to review the Winter Park Fire Rescue Department's 2025 Strategic Plan. Fire Chief Haggard presented the plan, which is part of the department's accreditation requirements and was developed with input from external stakeholders (residents, business owners, developers, etc.) and internal staff. The plan is structured around five pillars: Office of the Fire Marshal, Operations, Training, Administration, and Wellness. The session also covered updates on the new fire training facility, apparatus procurement, call volumes, station conditions, and community engagement initiatives. No formal votes were taken; the plan was presented for commission review and feedback.\n\n### Discussion Items\n- Strategic Plan Overview: Chief Haggard explained that the three-year plan (2025-2027) replaces previous five-year plans to remain more agile. External stakeholders identified strengths (medical care, equipment, professionalism) and areas for enhancement (fiscal efficiency, communication, community engagement, additional EMS transport unit). Internal SWOT analysis highlighted strengths (equipment, training, community relations) and weaknesses (rescue 64 staffing, officer development, succession planning).\n- Fire Training Facility: The department is constructing a four-story, multi-pitch roof training tower on a two-acre parcel acquired for a $75 recording fee from FDOT. The facility, a prefabricated structure arriving on six semis, is expected to be completed by June 2026. It includes two burn rooms, varied staircase designs, and will be used for internal training and potentially rented to other agencies. The property also allows for a future fire station.\n- Apparatus Procurement: A new engine (Engine 61) replacing a 2015 model is expected in January/February 2026, ordered in April 2023 (32-34 month lead time). A second engine (Engine 62) was ordered in September 2025 with delivery estimated for June/July 2028. Costs have escalated dramatically: a ladder truck delivered in 2020 cost $1.67 million; today it would exceed $2 million. The vehicle replacement fund is used for these purchases.\n- Call Volumes and Mutual Aid: Year-to-date call volume is slightly down from 2024 (6,027 calls as of Dec 10), a departure from post-COVID double-digit increases. The top 10 addresses for call volume are all assisted living facilities. Mutual aid requests have historically been above the 5% threshold (peaking at 6-7%), primarily for transport units. The addition of Rescue 64 helped reduce reliance on outside agencies.\n- Station 62 Condition: Station 62 on Lakemont (built 1962/63, remodeled 2000) is in need of major renovation or replacement. A heavy remodel is estimated at $4 million; new construction at $8-9 million. The station lacks storm-rated windows, fuel on site, and adequate space for patient treatment and community classes. A potential land swap with AdventHealth was mentioned.\n- Wellness and Recruitment: The state is considering mandating wellness programs and physical standards (NFPA 1582). Winter Park already has annual fitness physicals and a wellness pillar. Recruitment challenges were discussed: fewer candidates from fire academies, need for competitive pay to attract and retain staff. The new union contract (3-year, starting Oct 2025) focuses on wage increases offset by reduced overtime and improved presenteeism.\n- Community Engagement and Public Education: The department conducted nearly 700 CPR certifications, 20,000 community touches, and popular events like Santa on Duty and the tree lighting (4,000 s'mores distributed). Commissioners expressed high praise for the department's professionalism and community presence.\n- Grants and Funding: The department received grants for equipment (e.g., Life Pack 35 defibrillators, $700,000 half funded by grants). A fire services fee was discussed as a potential future revenue source but acknowledged as politically difficult. State appropriation for Station 62 has been unsuccessful.\n- Other Topics: The department does not use drones. QA/QC processes include call handling metrics (60-second processing goal), company officer debriefs, and medical director oversight (Dr. Mitchell Mulhair, a city resident). Mutual aid partners include Orange County and Orlando.\n\n### Key Outcomes\n- The strategic plan was presented for review; no formal approval required.\n- The commission expressed strong support for the department and gratitude for its community engagement.\n- Future considerations include exploring funding for Station 62 replacement (possible state appropriation or fire services fee), continuing to monitor call volumes and mutual aid, and leveraging the new training facility for regional partnerships.\n- The chief will incorporate any commissioner feedback into the final published plan.\n- No votes or formal actions were taken during the work session.

Meeting Transcript

Welcome to the City of Winnipeg War set work session, December 11th, 2025. Welcome everyone. I think today we're turning it over to Chief Haggard to give us his strategic plan. Well, thank you very much, Mayor and Commissioner, for this opportunity to sit with you one on almost one on one today, and of course, to uh city management for uh allowing this to take place. So uh included in the packet was the um the version of our 2025 strategic plan for the for the department. And um just a little background on this. One of the reasons that we do this, aside from best practices, is that it's part of our accreditation model. Um not really a surprise we've been doing, believe it or not. Uh we're going to be up for our I'm sorry, her sixth re-accreditation um this next coming year, which will be uh we were the 61st agency in and uh it's an international accreditation, so internationally to be accredited. There are some 450 or so now. Uh and only maybe 40 or so are still accredited on their sixth go round. So this is uh no pressure, but uh uh we're confident moving forward that uh the strategic plan uh will send us in the right direction. And part of that is that um the model is requires me uh to present it to the legislative body. So it's not an approval type thing. Uh it is just for your review. Any questions you may that you may ask, I'll be uh glad to um to answer. Uh I know nobody here or everyone here is uh not new to the strategic planning model. We didn't really reinvent the will or the wheel, so to speak. Uh there is a definition of what uh uh a credit or the strategic planning is uh and how we utilize the uh planning. Um the plan itself doesn't thank you very much. You're gonna be my uh Vanna White. There you go. Um we we write this so uh and we post it on our our internet page for folks that have never read this before to understand how we do what we do. We don't throw darts at the wall to say, okay, we're gonna we we feel like we're gonna do this and we're gonna ask for uh budgetary funds to do this type of program. We do this very systematically, nothing happens by accident. Uh there's a lot of support that starts at the city manager level, uh, comes through me, and then you know, my staff uh will be assigned as such. We'll get into that a little bit more later on. But uh again, this is uh a background of of how we are uh in the community, who we are in the community, and we'll land on uh the external stakeholders. There we go. I don't know if we can make that a little bit smaller so we could see the the names. Just gone above my pay grade. He can drive it from back there. But one of the things that we start with was uh is to get a some input from our folks in the community. Uh we bring in uh business, business owners, residents, uh, even uh partners with assisted living facilities. Um you may recognize a lot of the names up there, uh development, uh representatives, again, business, a lot of business owners, chamber of commerce, uh, even a former elected official to come in and really tell us what what we're doing right, what we're doing wrong, what they want to see uh from their fire department. So it was uh it was uh we met over about three or four hours, uh got a lot of great input, uh, which is on the next page. This is the opinion of the external stakeholders of what's working well. Um medical care. That's to see that as number one uh is uh feather in our cat that they believe that we're offering the best uh EMS type care. Um to all the residents and uh customers within you know the city uh equipment. We're very well equipped. That's everything from fire apparatus to EMS transport to all of the uh loose equipment, durable equipment that we that we buy and maintain. Um believe it or not, fire marshal's office is uh what we're doing very well. And um, I think they can they're nodding their head because years ago that was what we could do to get better, and we've elevated that through um over the years to what we're doing very well. So I'm very proud of that as well. So hats off to Jim Santoro, our fire marshal and his staff that uh have made that elevate to the to the high mark that it is today. Uh folks in the, I don't know why, but folks in the community think we're professional. And uh I think that's a great thing to hear that from our folks.

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