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Shakopee approves voluntary First Due Community Connection portal for residents and businesses
Summary
The council approved the Fire Department’s voluntary First Due Community Connection portal, a no‑cost resident/business profile system that lets users provide home layouts, occupant needs, pet info and emergency meeting locations to improve firefighter situational awareness.
Fire Marshall Tom Pitschneider presented the First Due Community Connection platform to the council on April 21 and asked the council to approve staff implementation and public outreach.
Pitschneider described the voluntary portal as a secure, resident‑driven profile that can store household layout (number and locations of bedrooms, front door location), utility shutoff locations, pet information and basic functional‑needs flags (under 18, over 65, mobility or medical needs). Businesses can add building access details, suppression systems and hazardous‑materials reference information. Pitschneider said only the fire department will see resident submissions while responding, and that residents can delete their profiles at any time.
Councilors raised questions about account authentication and data security; staff said sign‑up requires an email, phone number and address and that the system sends an e‑mail confirmation code on setup. Staff agreed to evaluate multi‑factor authentication options and verify address ownership procedures before broad outreach.
Council approved a motion to implement the platform and directed staff to proceed with marketing (postcards, event handouts and community presentations) and to follow up with additional security details for council review if needed.
Staff emphasized there is no additional cost to residents and that several neighboring jurisdictions already use the platform.
