2006-08-15 Regular Meeting
FIRE PROTECTION AREA NO.1 BOARD
REGULAR MEETING MINUTES
AUGUST 15,2006 @ 7:30 P.M. ITS} IE ~ IE ~ 'WJ IE rRI
USCG FIRE DEPT. CONFERENCE ROOM lnl DEe _ 7 2006 lW
CALL TO ORDER:
CHAIR S. ARNDT called the meeting to order at 7:50 p.m.
BOROUGH CLERK'S OFFICE
ROLL CALL:
Present:
Scott Arndt, Chair
Andrew DeVries
Cliff Davidson
Absent:
Mike Dolph
Greg Spalinger,
Vice Chair
Staff:
Chief Bob Himes, Ex-Officio
Jessica Kepley, ElF
Bud Cassidy, ElF
A quorum was established.
REBECCA NELSON was also present. Absent members were excused.
ACCEPT ANCE OF AGENDA:
It was MOVED, C. DAVIDSON, and SECONDED, A. DEVRIES to accept the agenda
as presented. The motion CARRIED unanimously.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF FINANCIAL REPORT:
This action was postponed due to incomplete information provided.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
It was MOVED, C. DAVIDSON and SECONDED, A DEVRIES to accept the regular
meeting minutes of June 21, as presented to the Board. The motion PASSED
unanimously.
VISITOR'S COMMENTS:
None.
OLD BUSINESS:
A. Engine SpecslBid Package
B. CASSIDY addressed the Board re the questionable status of the bid for the Triple
Combination Pumper received from Quality Sales Equipment/ALP. Determination was
still up in the air whether both bids received would be considered responsive, at this time
Pierce Manufacturing seemed to be the one responsive bid received during the bid
opening. S. ARNDT passed out to the Board members, a memo addressed to the
Assembly. Reading it to the Board, CHAIR made it clear that he felt Quality was non-
responsl ve.
CHIEF HIMES told the Board he had recently talked to the Fairbanks Fire Department
Chief, who n~ceived a vehicle manufactured by ALF/Quality. He was not happy with the
results, apparently the vehicle was not manufactured to bid specifications, although
corrections to the vehicle had been made. B. HIMES also gave a brief history on the
status of ALP.
The Board discussed the value of asking for 4WD on the vehicle or using that money to
purchase additional fire equipment for the vehicle. C. DAVIDSON voiced he did not see
a need for 4WD. S. ARNDT gave reasons for the need to have 4WD. A. DEVRIES asked
that additional training be given to the firefighters and procedures implemented for
addressing issues during icy weather. B. CASSIDY spoke up to tell the Board, the bid
packet was currently for a 4WD apparatus, not 2WD. The need to decide this issue was
before the bid specifications and the bid packet was completed and bids were received.
R. NELSON stated her residence is on a straight shot of road, when the Chief says
driving it is dangerous, there should be immediate sanding of the road to be accessible to
the vehicles. She would rather see the money go to thermal imaging equipment, but
agreed 4WD could allow more accessibility, but it may also give the rookie drivers a
false sense of security. C. DAVIDSON agreed thermal imaging equipment would help
save more lives than homes. S. ARNDT reminded the Board there is a grant out for the
purchase of thermal imaging equipment for the department.
The Board continued discussing the results of the bid to determine the response status of
both bidders. CHAIR felt there was only one responsive bid by Pierce Manufacturing and
would make this case to the Assembly. B. CASSIDY told the Board this situation is not
unique and the Assembly would be looking for a recommendation from the Board.
It was MOVED, C. DAVIDSON and SECONDED, A. DEVRIES to determine that
Quality Equipment Sales representing ALF is a non-responsive in their bid submitted to
the Kodiak Island Borough. The motion PASSED unanimously.
The Board continued with a discussion of the bid received by Pierce Manufacturing.
Discounts were given by the manufacturer, and these were also discussed. The Board also
addressed the option to possibly move forward to adding an extra engine to the package
to potentially build a new vehicle in the near future. This apparatus would be either a
rescue vehicle or a tanker, both needed by the department. CHAIR stated his desire was
to ensure vehicles throughout Kodiak are unified and standardized for all to use, should
the need occur. The Board discussed the impact on the residents and the budget of adding
an additional truck to the fleet as well as to the present vehicle award. B. CASSIDY
asked CHAIR if his intent was to tie a second vehicle purchase to the existing purchase
award. S. ARNDT affirmed this was his intention. B. CASSIDY advised this may not
pass by the Assembly. The Board went out to bid for one (1) truck only, to add a 2nd truck
may raise flags in the minds of the Assembly. They may feel the Board should go
forward with a separate bid. S. ARNDT explained the timing of the purchase of a 2006
chassis is the reason for trying to tie the two purchases together. CHAIR asked for a
motion from the Board.
It was MOVED, A. DEVRIES and SECONDED, C. DAVIDSON to recommend to the
Assembly to award the purchase of a new 4WD Triple Combination Pumper to Hughes
Fire Equipment/Pierce Manufacturing for a base price ($366,625) less all deductions for a
purchase price in the amount of $363,825. The motion CARRIED unanimously.
B. Training Building Use Agreement
CHIEF HIMES told the Board there was no new information on the status of the Use
Agreement, he suggested action be taken with the Manager to determine the status.
S. ARNDT said he would talk with Rick Gifford, Borough Manager and Karl Short,
Finance Director.
C. Cossette Property Lease
B. CASSIDY told the Board, Duane Dvorak was presently working on the lease issue. B
HIMES said it looked as if the Cossette's would be available sooner than originally
expected.
D. Communications System/Dispatch
According to CHIEF HIMES, issues have occurred re Bayside's status as a Emergency
First Responder. The City of Kodiak is refusing to dispatch Bayside for any ambulance
emergency calls, due to political reasons. However, Bayside does provide these
emergency services. According to the Borough Manager, R. GIFFORD the biggest issue
seems to be the ordinance and the way to handle this would be for the Fire Protection
Board to issue a recommendation to change the Borough ordinance to include EMS
services to the Fire Protection Area No.1.
It was MOVED, C. DAVIDSON and SECONDED, A. DEVRIES to recommend to the
Borough Assembly to add to Ordinance No. 4.80.010, to change the last sentence so it
should read, "00 . Fire Protection and Emergency Medical First Responder services." The
motion PASSED unanimously.
Discussion was held on the communication upgrades that were made to the paging
system. R. NELSON asked if the intention was to standardize the system between the
City and other communication systems in the near future. B. HIMES said that it was the
intention and that CHIEF KAMAl was being helpful and supportive to Bayside to see
this is done. When asked who would be liable, should the current lack of communication
cause someone their life, the response was the City would be liable.
E. ISO Report
CHIEF HIMES stated since there was serious commitment to purchase a new engine, he
has started a letter re the ISO rating, addressing errors and intention of the station and the
Board.
CHIEF'S REPORT
CHIEF reported the department received the Halmatro equipment and training had begun
on the usage of it. So far it was performing above and beyond expectations.
Borough Clerk, N. JAVIER distributed a letter inviting Boards and Commissions to
attend a Parliamentary Procedure training program in October.
An equipment list had been distributed, listing what was needed to meet the ISO
requirements. This was for information purposes only.
He asked the Board what their wishes were on the old copier. He suggested giving it to
Gordon Laskie, the local repair person. CHAIR recommended this be done.
CHIEF informed the Board that one of the volunteers' family members had recently
deceased and felt it would be a good idea to send flowers to the family upon their return
to Kodiak. The Board was in unanimous agreement and directed B. HIMES to purchase
the flowers for the family.
NEW BUSINESS
A. Project Manager
It was recommended to postpone this item until another meeting when further discussion
could be held and more information provided. C. DAVIDSON remarked he was very
interested in hiring a project manager for the upcoming addition to the station.
B. Annual A wards Banquet
B. HIMES stated the Kodiak Inn reception room would be available for this event on the
evening of September 23. All volunteers felt they would be able to attend, except R.
NELSON and A. DEVRIES, who would both be working on this date.
C. Firefighter's Conference
The conference would be held in Fairbanks the last week of September. CHIEF HIMES
asked for the Board's approval to send 2 firefighters to the conference. Also an EMS
conference would be held in November and CHIEF was looking for approval from the
Board to send 3 individuals to attend the conference. It was MOVED, C. DAVIDSON
and SECONDED, A. DEVRIES to authorize travel for 2 firefighters to attend the
Firefighter's Conference in September 2006 and 3 individuals to attend the EMS
Conference held in November 2006. The motion PASSED unanimously.
BOARD COMMENTS:
S. Arndt. None.
A. DeVries. Expressed appreciation for the hard work of the Board. He commended C.
DA VIDSON on the questions he raised concerning purchases of the vehicles. He
expressed concern over the relationship Bayside Fire and City of Kodiak Fire
Departments had, he felt the issues were mainly coming from upper management levels,
the fellow firefighters all worked good together. He hoped the departments would be able
to overcome these hurdles.
C. Davidson. Stated he was willing to go before the City Council to express the concerns
the Board had regarding the "first responder" status. CHAIR asked that this action be
delayed at this time, the Board had addressed the issue with the motion recently passed at
this meeting; there would be a time to address the matter before the City Council
however now was not the time.
MEETING SCHEDULE:
Tentative meeting scheduled for September 19 and October 17, 2006.
ADJOURNMENT:
The meeting was adjourned at 10:40 p.m.
SUBMITTED BY:
Date: /c9/7 /V61
, ,
a e' e cretary
Engineering / Facilities Department
APPROVED BY:
~' //_ /J dL
7r~/7rnc:tr7
Scott Arndt, Chair
Fire Protection Area No. 1 Board
Date: /2 -7 - ;2.006