Emergency Communications Board

BRISTOL TENNESSEE EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING September 17, 2014 ITEM 1. Roll Call Board member Todd Muncy and Attorney Ricky Curtis were absent. ITEM 2. Recognize Guests ITEM 3. Minutes of Previous Meeting – July 16, 2014 Motion by Tim Eads, seconded by Jim Messimer to approve the minutes from the July 16, 2014 meeting. Motion passed. ITEM 4. Financials A. Receipts & Expenditures The receipts/requisitions/expenditures were passed to each Board member for their review. Chief Wade reminded the Board that it is their responsibility to review all the financials to ensure compliance with all applicable regulations and laws. There was a recent non-profit Library that experienced some credit card abuse that put their Board in a bad situation. The requisitions included a bill from Tri Cities Communications for $630. This was for the standby and installation of the interfaces due to the change to the NG911 equipment. The auditor advised this would be considered part of the capital expenditures for the NG911 equipment. Next month there will be one for about $800 from Blue Ridge Voice & Data for their standby and installation of the recording interfaces for the NG911 equipment. B. Treasurer’s Report David Warren reviewed the monthly Balance Sheet, Budget Report and Financial Report. A copy was given to each Board member. Dwayne Honaker made a motion, seconded by Tim Eads, to approve the Treasurer’s Report as submitted. Roll Call vote: Eads – yes, Elliott – yes, Honaker – yes, Messimer – yes, Muncy – absent, Wade – yes, Warren – yes. Motion passed. ITEM 5. Old Business A. Report on Operations & Equipment 1. Overview of Operations a. Daily Operations Mrs. Smelser submitted the bills for the backup generator to the TECB for reimbursement. The payment has been received and deposited in our account. The backup PSAP is almost ready. Parks & Recreation have finished their part; the generator is up and running, the new electrical plugs have been installed, as well as new lighting, and a  BRISTOL TENNESSEE EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING September 17, 2014 steel gate has been installed to secure the equipment and work area. IT will finish the internet and phone wiring within the next couple weeks. The phone lines are already to the demark point in the building but they have to be extended into the work area. The radio lines for the antennas have been installed and we will use the radios that are set aside for the MACC. The two computers that are set up for use at the MACC will also be used at the back up PSAP. Overall operations are very busy. One of the Records clerks is out on FMLA. Dispatcher Patty Hicks was being transferred to Records to fill David Anderson’s position so she is filling in for Ms. Hammock and will assume Mr. Anderson’s duties when Ms. Hammock returns. Mrs. Smelser received a letter from the TECB regarding the new funding formula that will be effective 01/01/2015. According to the letter, Bristol will be given $473,664 per year. The first year will only be for six months or ½ of this amount. The TECB has already paid the Training, GIS, Operations funding for the first six months. The first bill for the 1/8 portion of the NG911 controllers and infrastructure has been received and paid. Our portion was $66,000, which is a little less than we originally thought. The paperwork will be sent to Nashville in the next couple of weeks so we can be issued the reimbursement. b. Update on Upgrade to New Protocol/Total Response All the contracts were approved by Mr. Curtis and they have been signed and returned. We are waiting on the final paperwork from Tri Tech on the interface, but it is expected this week. c. Personnel We have two openings in dispatch. The backgrounds are being done and should be completed within the next couple weeks. Once we are back to full staff, we will have three backup dispatchers in the Records Division. Mr. Elliott asked how much of an investment we think we make on a new employee to get them to active dispatch level. Mrs. Smelser replied that the initial three months training translates into 380 hours on the actual console with a Training Officer. This does not include the classroom training that is required such as EMD, CPR, Basic Dispatch, NCIC, etc. With the exception of three dispatchers, the others have been here greater than five years. We  BRISTOL TENNESSEE EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING September 17, 2014 have three that have more than 10 years of service. d. IPAWS Update Two years we started the IPAWS project and this Board budgeted the fees in last year’s budget. This is the additional module for the Code Red system that allows us to send emergency messages to any cell phone that hits any tower in our area. The IPAWS entity has to be approved by FEMA. The agency must have a minimum of two people certified in IPAWS rules, regulations and usage, apply for a COG license and then obtain State approval as a COG for your particular region. We completed all the paperwork and licensing except for the State of Tennessee. Recently, there was a rule change and there can only be one COG per county in Tennessee. Sullivan County has not made application for this designation and Mrs. Smelser, with Major Eads approval, has requested EMA authorize Bristol as the Sullivan County COG. The fee is $2,600 for the first year and then an annual maintenance fee. We have requested the IPAWS COG designation due to the NASCAR events and the Rhythm & Roots Festival. The system will do Amber Alerts and EAS messages if needed. The IPAWS module usage is not charged to our minute allocations. Since we did not get this completed by June 30, at the last meeting, the Board authorized moving the funding for this project to the current year’s budget. e. Update on UPS Replacement Hutton Electric has advised that we will have to have two power outages during the install of this equipment. The first time, the power will be down a couple of hours while they install the wiring and the by-pass switch. The second time, the power will be down for 4-6 hours while the old unit is disassembled and removed and the new unit is assembled and installed. We will have to utilize the backup PSAP on both occasions in order to receive and process calls. The first outage is expected toward the end of October and the second one will follow about a week later. f. Update on Next Gen 911 Equipment The next generation equipment appears fairly stable at this point. We have not experienced any major issues since the live cutover. There have been a few small issues but they were resolved quickly. B. Statistics The statistical report is incomplete at this time. Due to the switch to the new NG911 equipment and Aurora statistical reporting, we have been unable to pull the August and September statistics. We are scheduled for training on the Aurora  BRISTOL TENNESSEE EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING September 17, 2014 software in late October. Once the training is completed, we will bring the statistical reports current. C. Insurance Claim and Lease Settlement for Previous 911 Equipment There have been some problems trying to get the information from Century Link for the insurance claim. Mrs. Smelser received a phone call a couple weeks ago from Century Link stating they were ready to settle the lease. They offered a total buyout of $3,864.16. Mrs. Smelser contacted the insurance company and they said absolutely they would reimburse us all but our $1,000 deductible for the buyout. The check for $3,864.16 was sent to Century Link and we have received $2864.16 reimbursement from VFIS. ITEM 6. New Business A. Resignation of Board Attorney – Ricky Curtis Mr. Curtis sent a letter to the Board and the Board Chairman tendering his resignation. Chief Wade suggested we have Jack Hyder assist us where he can until we obtain a replacement. However, he may not be able to help with some things as there is an inherent conflict of interest because he is the Corporate Attorney for the City. Chief Wade said he would send a letter to Mr. Curtis accepting his resignation and thanking him for his service to the Board. ITEM 7. Discussion Items ITEM 8. Other Matters ITEM 9. Citizens and Delegations Presentation ITEM 10. Next meeting October 15, 2014