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2002-12-10 Regular MeetingE Fire Protection District No. 1 Regular Meeting Minutes 10 December 2002 at 7:30 p.m. Bayside Fire Hall 1.Call to Order i 2003 KFEG�:, Ici_AN7 rMtT- ,i e OFFICE OF IG B�POtRI� Chairperson Scott Arndt called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. 2. Roll Call Board Members present were Roy Aguirre, Scott Arndt, Jeff Halcomb and Greg Spalinger. Board Member absent was Cliff Davidson. A quorum was established. Others present were Bob Himes, Assistant Fire Chief, Doug Mathers, Stan Thompson, Dick Carstens, Mike Dolph and Sharon Lea Adinolfi [E/F Department]. 3. Approval of Agenda The Agenda was amended to include a report on the Indianapolis training, fire station building plans, the purchase of officers, coats, tee shirts/sweatshirts for the volunteer association and to delete the Minutes, Financial Report and Public Hearing. JH moved that the Agenda be accepted as amended. The Motion was seconded by RA and unanimously passed. 4. Visitor Comments None 5. Old Business With respect to the station building plans, SA indicated that the plans should shortly be turned over to Engineering. RA suggested that if the process is not moving forward in a manner which would allow construction in one year, then another firm should be hired. Dept/Service District/Fire Protection 1 Minutes of 10 December 2002 Page 1 of 8 6. Chief s Report Assistant Chief Himes reported on a training course he attended in Fairbanks. He participated in management classes, EMS training, American Heart Association training, and bio terrorism training. He advised that small pox vaccinations may be required of the citizens in Kodiak and also that new drugs have become a problem in other parts of the state and might hit here next. Assistant Chief Himes said that he had been appointed to the Cardiovascular Commission and that meetings of the Commission would be held 3 times a year. Assistant Chief Himes next advised that the FD had a broken master stream device and the price to repair would be approximately $3500, but while in Fairbanks he had seen different parts to affect the repair and now the FD has 2 Master Streams. Assistant Chief Himes reported that the main door on the service garage has a broken lock and the door is delaminating. A new door is on order. The next item of the Assistant Chief's Report was regarding the FD's application for a FEMA Grant for Self Contained Air Paks, Compressors and Fit Tests. The Application did make it through the first 9 rounds, but not the 10th. There was mention of an enhanced 911 and a problem re: First Responder - calls show up as City calls, not Bayside. Squad 14 is moving along well and should be operational within the next 45 days. Assistant Chief Himes indicated that there are 6 new recruits with a new recruit reporting on 8 January 2003. New helmets, books and supplies will need to be ordered. The Assistant Chief indicated that he would have to travel in the month of January to Anchorage for training and that in February and May he would be in Anchorage and Fairbanks for attendance at the American Heart Association Commission meetings. Assistant Chief Himes stated that there has been no significant fire loss for the last 2 years. Dept/Service District/Fire Protection 1 Minutes of 10 December 2002 Page 2 of 8 A Christmas party is planned for 23 December at 5:30 and Christmas packages will be delivered to the Salvation Army. This concluded the Assistant Chief's report and JH asked if something could be done to help correct the enhanced 911 problem, a letter to the City, the Borough expressing concern. RA asked if the FD was paying for this service. Assistant Chief Himes indicated that there was extra money in the fund. SA questioned an incident in Bells Flat [fire]. ST, an attendee, said that the woman who reported the fire did not dial 911, which she should have, but instead dialed an 800 number. This, in addition to Bayside not being requested to respond as Mutual Aid immediately, had an effect on the response time. SA said that Dave Conrad, WBFD, was investigating and working on locating an additional "repeater" to improve the reception on the pagers. Assistant Chief Himes said that there is a statewide study in progress that is geared toward everyone being on the same radio system. 7. Bayside FFA President's Report DM began by reporting that training on Monday nights continues and that new recruits are participating. DM described the classes he attended at the training in Indianapolis. He took management classes and a 2 hour investigative class that dealt with preserving evidence. New apparatus was displayed, such as Master Stream and battery operated extricating tools. DM suggested that these kinds of tools would be very beneficial for Bayside to have - would allow a job to be started before the City arrived. ST also attended the training in Indianapolis and said that it was the best training he had ever had - cutting edge philosophy - some of the "old" basic fire fighting methods are being proven wrong - studies are showing better ways of handling fires [based on better analysis and newer information]. ST suggested that this training was so valuable he felt it important to look at providing for this training in the budget on an annual basis. ST went on to tell about a class he attended where a video was shown which dealt with reading smoke. He said it was very well Dept/Service District/Fire Protection 1 Minutes of 10 December 2002 Page 3 of 8 /`L presented and would be beneficial to have a copy of the video for this FD. DC also attended the training in Indianapolis and he participated in a 2 day safety officer training program. He noted that it is very difficult to become certified as a Safety Officer, and this class was taught by 3 Safety Officers. The basic thrust of the class was to teach safety to fire fighting officers. He also attended an urban wildland interface [like Bells Flats] seminar. DC indicated that he was very impressed with the small [new] equipment that is available to firefighters - crimps, extrication equipment, airbags, sawzall, etc. ST said that this conference was the first gathering of fire fighters since 9/11 - there were 9000 firefighters in attendance and the coming together, the brotherhood, was very moving. The Chair, who also was in attendance at the training, concurred that the conference had provided excellent training and thanked J. Halcomb for having recommended this training. The Chair asked Assistant Chief Himes to give an update on Air Kwik. Assistant Chief Himes responded that is has been an excellent investment - has saved 3 structures - it buys response time. JH suggested that this is the kind of information that should be given press coverage - let the public know that their tax dollars are helping to save buildings. Assistant Chief Himes said that he had submitted press releases to the paper, but they haven't made it in to print. SA suggested the Borough page [on Wednesdays] as a possible venue. 8.Chair's Report The Chair began his report with a brief statement regarding the dumpsters located at the FD. There is garbage scattered around the dumpsters, parking at the FD becomes an issue because of the dumpsters' location and the noise, when the dumpsters are tipped, interferes with classes being held. The Chair suggested a location across the road which would be a better location for the dumpsters and he would continue to work with the Borough regarding this issue. Dept/Service District/Fire Protection 1 Minutes of 10 December 2002 Page 4 of 8 /3 Next, the Chair indicated he had not received information on new coats for the officers. The coats should be reflective, waterproof and insulated. The Chair asked Assistant Chief Himes to get cost information. D. Carstens said the Volunteers were interested in getting new tee shirts. The tee shirts would assist in establishing a "presence" - get Bayside out to the public. SA said that there would need to be a bid process and DM indicated that the Fire Fighters Association Board would work on the design. SA set 7 January 2003 as the next Work Session. [Subsequently, the date has been changed to 14 January 2003.] The issues to be discussed at the Work Session will be building plans, flashover trailer, development of lot into a training area and the dumpsters. 9.New Business Flashover Simulator. A letter from Chief Nault re the acquisition of a Flashover Simulator was presented. The proposal put forth by AN is a 60[City/Federal Grant]/40 [Bayside FD] split to acquire this Simulator. The consensus of the group was that it could be an excellent opportunity; the unit is expandable, modular and purported to be a very good system. The issues that would need to be discussed, negotiated and resolved are: a. Who would be in charge? b. Who is responsible for developing the land where the unit would be placed? C. Who would be responsible for the maintenance? d. Who would have ownership and liability? e. What would the cost share be between the City and Borough? It was suggested by JH that the 2 Chiefs [Himes and Nault] come together in negotiations. The Volunteer Association is tentatively supportive of the proposal. The Association would like to see how the Grant [the City received and wants to use as their 60% of the funding for the Simulator] was written - the concern is that if the Grant dollars are not spent properly, the City could lose the Grant, Dept/Service District/Fire Protection 1 Minutes of 10 December 2002 Page 5 of 8 10 14 and possibly the ability to put up their 60%. SA indicated that he felt it would be more appropriate to use monies from FEMA. Fire Protection Area 1 has already purchased the property where the Simulator would be located and would be interested in a cooperative arrangement, i.e., splitting the development costs with the City. It was indicated that Chief Nault would like to have an additional wheeled unit added to the Simulator - two concerns are the additional freight costs, and approximately $20,000 for the wheeled unit. The reason for this addition would be to allow the City to move the unit to other locations [USCG Base, Womens Bay, Near Island] if they wished to. The Chair said that he told Chief Nault that he [Arndt] could not recommend the kind of scenario Nault was envisioning, i.e., KIB supplies the land, Bayside puts up $31,000 and then the Simulator gets moved somewhere the City/Nault would like. DM suggested that a Use Agreement be put in place and that the Association does not wish to get "bogged down" in the "politics" of it. He also noted that with a new manager, a new City Chief in place, this could be an opportune time to forge a productive relationship. The consensus of the Board and Volunteer members present was that they are not interested in acquiring the "wheels" to make the Simulator movable, and that if an agreed upon Use Agreement could not be put together [in a timely fashion], that the Association stood ready to buy the Simulator with their own funds - set up a training facility on the KIB lot and expand it as time went on. ownership and liability would exist between the FD and the Borough. JH said that a joint venture could be an option also. Holcomb also suggested that the negotiations be put back to the Chiefs. RA expressed strong concern regarding the length of time this idea had been in the works - and does not want to see it continue for another 8 years. DM said he told the Volunteers that the Board is not at fault. Eight years ago the Board requested that the Volunteers develop a plan and present it to the Board. The award of the FEMA Grant to the City is now pushing the issue. The Volunteers plan on presenting a proposal at the next work session. Dept/Service District/Fire Protection 1 Minutes of 10 December 2002 Page 6 of 8 / .S ST said that the Volunteer Association had discussed this issue and that the Association was amenable to negotiating, but would prefer to see a 50/50 split and would want the unit to be permanent, not portable. The Association is interested in having the unit in place - not 3 years from now, and if the negotiations do not work, the Association is prepared to buy it themselves. DC said this could be the cornerstone of the training complex, but not if it's portable. RA said that he would like to see a time constraint put on the negotiations. The Chair indicated that that was not appropriate. ST said that the Volunteers could order it tomorrow - pay for it 100% - so he also feels a time limit should be imposed. The Chair said that he thought a draft agreement could probably be made within the next 30 days. A discussion continued re the quality of this system [flashover simulator], its location at Bayside, site preparation, parking, earthwork to be done, paving, fencing and burm work. It was noted that Community Development would need to be met with before the actual work began. The Board will look forward to plans from the Association at the January work session. The Chair noted at the end of this discussion that there would be an update at the work session. Hose Purchase. Assistant Chief Himes. reported that the 4" hose needs to be replaced. Quotes have been received. JH asked if there would be a savings by buying in quantity. Need to buy 1000' to replace the 18 year old hose and still have some on the rack for as needed. Assistant Chief Himes is looking at buying 1000' this year and another 1000' next year. Foam Purchase. The Chair requested that the Assistant Chief get new prices for the foam purchase and provide the information at the work session in January and then the purchase will be voted on at the next regular meeting 10. Visitor Comments: None Dept/Service District/Fire Protection 1 Minutes of 10 December 2002 Page 7 of 8 l� 11. Board Comments: All comments related to the Simulator discussion. JH said that the Board wants to do right by the Association and the public. Both GS and RA expressed their desire for the Association to take on the project. The Chair said that work needs to begin with Community Development - find out what needs to be done to start the process of preparing the site. The Chair thanked the members of the Board and others present for their time. Adjournment. There being no further business before the Board, and already having established a date and time for the next work session, 7 January 2003 [subsequently changed to 14 January 2003) at 7:30 pm and next regular meeting, 21 January 2003 at 7:30 pm at Bayside Fire Hall, the meeting was adjourned at 9:37 pm - Res e tfully submitted:. Date: c�� Sharon Lea Adinolfi, S retary KIB Engineering/Facil' ies Dept. Approved by: ? !�� O // /'/�a� Date: Scott Arndt, Chair Fire Protection District No. 1 Board Dept/Service District/Fire Protection 1 Minutes of 10 December 2002 Page 8 of 8