[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6120422,"mediaKeyId","2707574-e05f5c745a16be9801fd96586f86d20a","parentId",2707574,"title","Town of Holland applies for state planning grant to study regional fire protection; Onalaska to participate","audioSeconds",106,"startMs",5882000,"endMs",5988000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2707574-e05f5c745a16be9801fd96586f86d20a&start=5882&end=5988","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2707574-e05f5c745a16be9801fd96586f86d20a/thumbnail_5882000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6120422/Onalaska/La-Crosse-County/Wisconsin/Town-of-Holland-applies-for-state-planning-grant-to-study-regional-fire-protection-Onalaska-to-participate","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6120422-3b85b5af0dafac9c1544b897968a93fb/orig.mp4?Expires=1772870813&Signature=Z9oLbeGHk7lHdDxtdJKaLgvDXEidRB2bZKQcjGiZOWa~wx~ctIKxJmOIjuBfW67wWGoVzgXZGJxa0FZnAVJmuZ4tIuyd~xb2X6lRos0j-9B8t9v7QpI5Fr4~8UDsGMiXJjI7GJTRgy~8wi0YBM4MxubzdlqdQIm32er-pVgcmSt-cB5BN-XdtTXLv93zpPFmyK661OSZYEALRW-F1UmOOuq6n8tYHyBhq5QiqWjUR-sWArzNXMexAnW3jfcEpCxsJEa0caggEduoSy8qjH8j3cFOIjyLGpGWXFbIzLOVj8Xe54PPFEAUdbYYwukNEAKXRvl~iezJGroGFYrmLv4xmw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","City of Onalaska, WI","date","2025-03-20T09:05:07.787Z","article","During the March 17 meeting City staff informed the Common Council that the Town of Holland has applied to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue for an Innovation Planning Grant to fund a regional study of fire protection services involving the City of Onalaska, Town of Onalaska, Village of Holmen, and Town of Holland.

The grant program and purpose: City staff said the Department of Revenue program includes a planning‑grant component intended to examine possible efficiencies in municipal services; SEH and city staff described the grant as a no‑cost study opportunity for Onalaska. The application is part of a larger state program with available funds for implementation if a study identifies demonstrable cost‑savings.

Details provided in the presentation:
- The program was described as part of Act 12’s Department of Revenue Innovation Funding; consultants said the overall program has broad funding and that about $3 million was initially carved out for planning studies of the sort under discussion.
- The planning grant is available to smaller municipalities (consultants said the carve‑out was for municipalities with populations of 5,000 and under for that planning tranche). The Town of Holland led the application process.
- If the planning study identifies at least a 10% cost savings through consolidation or shared services, jurisdictions could be eligible to apply for additional implementation funding from the larger program pool.

City Administrator Pete Floody (presenting the information item) told the council: \"The study won't cost us anything. It's not our study,\" and added that Onalaska staff would be asked to provide information if the grant is approved.

Council members asked clarifying questions; no formal council action was taken on the item. SEH and staff characterized the grant application as an opportunity to explore shared regional service options that could reduce duplication of resources and potentially unlock state implementation funds if the study shows savings.

Ending: The application is pending; council members and staff said they would participate should the grant be awarded and the study proceed.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Special Common Council - March 17, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","Council heard an informational update that the Town of Holland applied for a Department of Revenue Innovation Planning Grant to study regional fire protection across several municipalities; the study would be cost‑free to participating jurisdictions and could open access to additional state funds if it demonstrates efficiency gains.","taxTitle","Onalaska, La Crosse County, Wisconsin","taxId",72067,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6120427,"SEH recommends new southeast station, two‑station/three‑station model; estimates Phase 1 at about $11.9 million",941,4069000,5010000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2707574-e05f5c745a16be9801fd96586f86d20a&start=4069&end=5010","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2707574-e05f5c745a16be9801fd96586f86d20a/thumbnail_4069000.jpg","/articles/6120427/Onalaska/La-Crosse-County/Wisconsin/SEH-recommends-new-southeast-station-twostationthreestation-model-estimates-Phase-1-at-about-119-million","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6120427-10393cde3a08d6787fecf96e7746aff9/orig.mp4?Expires=1772870813&Signature=XsTmiBzc3AaFVojuFjnODAW2--ks8YQM3IYu5DzpGtVOELTd~30JP2hGeLQF7hq7sPvv6nbBYrFrfXOCqcNOofup9VknnQ52gv1c31yrC~tI4kYWVc9FLk4tCJLJFS-HtGNk-BXfJ-8aanZf4eLZTdR6gl4u27PWvABUmOFIrczWBCsw9TaebNjXJVS872L4wPRpxD5WikATWZg-xDSoGnLBjnq6AR0MPP-x~wvSVMJWSswqx82PFO990aQBTAd6kydH5Z73VbomXbNd1t29SG19E1CP0vRwzqoNkeDextuZ1nCgt1P2wPd6I7ENM5XtXTa6Q0db~bXXrXx3jB86zw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","At the March 17 Onalaska Common Council meeting SEH presented a long‑term facility assessment that linked operational staffing needs to physical station design and offered phased options for expanding the fire department’s facility footprint.

Why it matters: SEH said building design, station siting and turnout logistics materially affect how quickly firefighters can get on apparatus and reach emergencies. Consultants showed test‑fit designs for new stations, highlighted health‑and‑safety shortcomings at the current facility, and gave construction cost estimates and a property size recommendation for future stations.

Facility observations and deficiencies cited by SEH:
- Lack of clear separation between police and fire vehicle storage and shared spaces used by multiple city departments.
- No dedicated decontamination area for turnout gear, which SEH said increases cancer‑exposure risk by allowing contaminants into living quarters.
- Exercise equipment and training storage placed near apparatus bays and public space; a workout area was described as a radio dead zone that impairs turnout notification.
- SCBA compressor intake located near the apparatus apron, drawing potentially contaminated vehicle exhaust into breathing‑air equipment.
- Limited accommodations for nursing mothers and constrained gender‑equity features that SEH said should be addressed in modern station designs.

SEH’s space and siting recommendations:
- Test‑fit station footprints: SEH presented a roughly 25,000‑square‑foot model for a primary new station and a roughly 22,000‑square‑foot model for a later station in a multi‑station scenario. Both models incorporated decontamination space, gender‑balanced living quarters and improved adjacency between bunks and apparatus bays to reduce turnout time.
- Parcel recommendation: SEH advised seeking sites of approximately 2.0 to 2.5 acres for each new station to allow apparatus parking, training area, and event parking.
- Near‑term accommodation: SEH said the existing building has “good bones” for current staffing levels but recommended modest short‑term accommodations if the council moves to add full‑time heads; large investments in the current facility were discouraged pending long‑term decisions.

Cost estimates and timing:
- SEH presented a 2025 cost model showing an estimated construction cost for Phase 1 of about $9,000,000 and a total Phase 1 project budget including soft costs of about $11,900,000 (2025 dollars). A Phase 2 station was estimated at about $10,600,000 (2025 dollars). SEH warned of inflation risks and said delays could increase project cost materially; the consultants used a higher post‑pandemic escalation assumption in their model.

SEH architecture lead Trevor Frank summarized the turnout‑time benefit of an optimized layout: \"The average turnout time based on a person walking 3 miles an hour, from all points of the station is roughly 37 seconds,\" he said, and added that the test‑fit designs reduced the farthest distance from bunks to apparatus to about 23 seconds.

Next steps recommended to council included beginning property‑search conversations for preferred southeast locations, planning modest interim accommodations if staffing is increased before construction, and prioritizing staffing actions concurrently with land acquisition to ensure facilities match operational needs.

Ending: SEH urged the council to view the facility and staffing recommendations as complementary: land, staffing and station design should be coordinated rather than pursued in isolation.","SEH’s facility assessment for the Onalaska Fire Department recommended land acquisition in the southeast, test‑fit station designs with decontamination and gender‑equity features, and advised against large investments in the current station while planning for phased expansion.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6120432,"Consultant: Onalaska Fire Department does not meet NFPA staffing targets; study recommends hiring and reallocation of paid-on-call funds",814,1203000,2017000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2707574-e05f5c745a16be9801fd96586f86d20a&start=1203&end=2017","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2707574-e05f5c745a16be9801fd96586f86d20a/thumbnail_1203000.jpg","/articles/6120432/Onalaska/La-Crosse-County/Wisconsin/Consultant-Onalaska-Fire-Department-does-not-meet-NFPA-staffing-targets-study-recommends-hiring-and-reallocation-of-paid-on-call-funds","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6120432-f80939f52a232dd89305878b5db51ebb/orig.mp4?Expires=1772870813&Signature=Ye4Bp~~c-UM7eeTpWkvC-S8KJtsCqEcXOln9RKWHFI2j~czXwUulqeCOuv9C-3X0PfURmuxM4GxFnkAMDL~pH2~yZWu2pClxXwHn0ytsS5iChKGs-woQT9iIJSaYDSvRsf3CPDvwXkGoaOeF8nilQKxHOFuRW9-Vi-QghUUJX2~uMSTZj36UQOjWsSzjsiyPlHvpAveZz-0XyUGlNn~zyBOBd0lpe9DkSCkqpRLgCdymY-R0AZPpPuWq5~rMM4pCqWCHwoB9pwIEP4SOgwwXzvQyOmS1FBUHxU0535h7MIB4Q7sUNx9AOdt0Egcho4eJEIbDoJvSiVq9c3uggtrcmQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","On March 17 the Onalaska Common Council heard a staffing and operations briefing from Short Elliott Hendrickson (SEH) that found the Onalaska Fire Department frequently responds with fewer personnel than national standards recommend and recommended several staffing and policy changes.

SEH analysts told the council the department logged about 2,227 calls in the most recent year reviewed and that call volume has increased substantially since 2013. The consultants said overlapping incidents—when crews are committed to one call while another arrives—nearly doubled from 2020 to 2021 and reduce the department’s ability to meet NFPA 1710 staffing benchmarks for initial structure‑fire response.

Why it matters: SEH said NFPA 1710’s initial‑attack build‑out for a working single‑family structure fire can require about 17 personnel (attack lines, search and rescue, water supply, rapid intervention and safety functions). The firm’s review found that, over a three‑year period, most fire responses in Onalaska involved two to six personnel and the department had only rare instances of larger surges of staff on scene. That gap, SEH warned, creates health‑and‑safety and operational risks for firefighters and for people inside burning structures.

Key findings and numbers cited by SEH:
- The city employs 20 full‑time people (two administrative staff and 18 operational personnel) and maintains a three‑platoon schedule; minimum daily staffing is four per shift, with six assigned when available.
- Last year’s call total was about 2,227; SEH said average annual call volume rose roughly 5.3% per year on average since 2013 (a non‑linear increase the consultants described as an accelerating trend).
- Overlapping incidents rose notably between 2020 and 2021, increasing the frequency of times when no in‑house unit was available to answer a new call.
- SEH’s tally of personnel on fire incidents over three years showed many responses with only two or three people assigned and only two incidents that had 13 personnel present; SEH contrasted that with the 17‑person initial response that NFPA 1710 recommends.

SEH’s recommendations presented to the council included near‑term and long‑term steps: capture complete dispatch and unit‑level time data from La Crosse County and Gundersen Tri‑State Ambulance, consider terminating the paid‑on‑call program and reallocating those funds toward full‑time staffing, raise the part‑time administrative assistant to full time to relieve chiefs of clerical work, and negotiate or update mutual‑aid/automatic‑aid agreements to improve ALS/transport response in the city’s higher‑demand zones. On a longer timetable SEH recommended acquiring property in the city’s southeast to station a second unit, adding a captain position to manage multiple companies, and hiring nine additional firefighters (three per shift) as part of a 15–20 year build‑out that could include three stations.

At the meeting SEH operational planner Chuck Leipzig said: \"Staffing is a big part of that. We need staff in order to develop some of these plans and prevent some of the injuries and accidents that happen as part of emergency delivery.\" Leipzig also told aldermen that mutual aid can supplement a response but \"you can't rely on them for staffing.\"

City and council comments focused on causes of rising calls and feasibility. Alder Dan Stevens noted recent population growth and new higher‑density housing as factors. Alder Mike Milkey asked if mutual aid counts toward NFPA staffing numbers; Leipzig replied that mutual aid can be relied upon for an automatic buildup but not for guaranteed staffing on every initial response. Chief Pete Floody described how often off‑duty full‑time staff return to answer calls and said the department is using refusals and triage agreements with ambulance partners to reduce unnecessary transports.

No formal council action was taken at the meeting on SEH’s recommendations; the presentation was an informational briefing to inform future budget and policy decisions.

Ending: SEH and city staff urged the council to prioritize staffing steps—capturing better data, reallocating paid‑on‑call funds to hire career personnel, and negotiating clearer agreements with ambulance providers—to reduce response times and improve firefighter safety as call volume continues to rise.","A March 17 presentation to the Onalaska Common Council by Short Elliott Hendrickson (SEH) flagged staffing shortfalls, rising call volume and overlapping incidents that limit response capacity, and recommended shifting resources from paid-on-call to full‑time staffing while pursuing regional agreements to improve response times.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Town of Holland applies for state planning grant to study regional fire protection; Onalaska to participate

SEH recommends new southeast station, two‑station/three‑station model; estimates Phase 1 at about $11.9 million

Consultant: Onalaska Fire Department does not meet NFPA staffing targets; study recommends hiring and reallocation of paid-on-call funds