Board Of Commissioners Approves Strategic Plan For The Upper St. Clair Volunteer Fire Department
The Board of Commissioners at its Regular meeting on Monday, October 3, 2022 took action to unanimously approve a strategic plan for the Upper St. Clair Volunteer Fire Department. The strategic planning process commenced in October 2020 when the leadership of the volunteer fire department and township agreed that an outside assessment to provide recommendations and guidance for improvements along with new initiatives would be helpful in charting a sustainable path forward for the organization.
The study, conducted by Robb Consulting, incorporated document review, operational assessment, and one-on-one and group interviews with the fire department personnel, Township staff, the Board of Commissioners and general public. Following a nearly two year process, the report was released with 11 recommendations to provide a stronger, more resilient model for volunteer fire service delivery for the Township of Upper St. Clair. Immediate areas of focus involve initiating revisions to the Township Code with respect to the Department of Fire Protection, commence the process to establish and fill the position of Township Fire Chief and work with the volunteer fire department leadership to assist with the revision and restructuring of their bylaws as set forth within the report.
In addition to the strategic plan approval, the Board authorized establishing the Ad Hoc Strategic Assessment Implementation Advisory Committee made up of representatives from the Board of Commissioners, the Fire Department and the Township staff to assist in supporting the implementation of the plan’s objectives. The expectation is for the Ad Hoc committee to convene in the near term.
The Board of Commissioners wishes to thank the partnership and participation of the volunteer fire department leadership and members, Township staff and public throughout this multi-year process. The "Organization Assessment and Strategy Recommendations for the Upper St. Clair Fire Department” is available for anyone wishing to review the approved fire department strategic plan.