Public Safety (Subcommittee of the City Council)

Public Safety Committee Meeting Central Fire Station June 9, 2010 Minutes Committee Members Present Alderman William Nash Alderman H Tucker Braddock Jr. Committee Members Not Present Alderwoman Jackie Caron Administration and Staff Present Alan H. Bergren, City Manager Chief Tim Jencks, Taftville Vol. Fire Department Chief Frank Blanchard, Yantic Fire Department Emergency Mgmt Dept Director, Roland Frechette Chief Aaron Westervelt, Laurel Hill Fire Dept. Patrick Daley, Norwich Police Lieutenant / East Great Plains Fire Department Ken Scandariato, Fire Chief Volunteer/Central Fire Departments and Others Roland Lambert, Occum Fire Department Frank Mankowski, Occum Fire Department Karen Mankowski, Occum Fire Department Ron Stoltz, Yantic Fire Department Nick Mathieu, Norwich Fire Department I. Call to Order – Quorum Alderman William Nash called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. It was determined a quorum is present. II. Approval of Minutes Alderman H Tucker Braddock Jr. motions to approve the May 12, 2010 Public Safety Meeting Minutes. Motion was seconded by Alderman William Nash. All in favor, the motion passed. III. Correspondence Alderman William Nash asks if there is any correspondence. Chief Blanchard submits a letter regarding the turn- arounds. IV. Citizen Comment Alderman William Nash asks if there is any citizen comment. There is none. V. New Business Alderman William Nash opens the floor and asks if there is any new business to be brought before the committee. a. Chief Scandariato asks the committee to discuss the budgeting process with the council. He explains that firefighting is “violent” in nature and that unforeseen damages and losses occur which are not budgeted for. For this reason the departments usually have to do without items that are damaged beyond use during calls. He asks that they include monies in the budget separate from the contingency fund. Public Safety Meeting June 9, 2010 Page 2 Alderman William Nash will present it to the council to make the request so the departments don’t have to do without necessary equipment. Chief Scandariato explains that each year he runs out of funds faster due to replacing items that were not necessarily in the budget. Alderman William Nash asks the Chiefs to work their budgets now for the next year to plan ahead for losses and damages. b. Alderman William Nash asks the chiefs to elaborate on the recent fire calls. A discussion ensued outlining how weather conditions and structure types affected the calls. Also discussed was how well the volunteers (including neighboring towns and companies) and dispatch handled everything. Overall, the 3 most recent calls were successfully doused with no loss of life or serious injuries. However there were equipment losses, which is why the budget request is being made. Several hoses were lost due to being run over by the public. Alderman H Tucker Braddock Jr. asks who is accountable in that situation. Chief Jencks explains that if caught, the party who ran it over is fined for the damages. c. Alderman William Nash asks how the Water Drill Test went Chief Blanchard says it went very well. They averaged 885 gallons per minute which is very good. Every department participated in the drill test and everyone worked very well together. d. Alderman William Nash asks Lieutenant Daley about the suspicious package at Planned Parenthood. Lieutenant Daley explains that a package labeled “Electrical Switch Plates” was found outside the office by one of the employees. The bomb squad was called and the package was found to not be suspicious and in fact had electrical switch plates in it and had probably been dropped by someone and left behind. Chief Blanchard explained that there are no security cameras on their building or in the vicinity and they have encouraged them to install some for their own safety. Alderman William Nash asks if he thinks the committee should send them a letter urging them to install security cameras. Chief Scandariato says there are no surveillance cameras anywhere nearby. He would like to have a sit- down with them to discuss how to handle the next situation. The chiefs are going to continue discussions with Planned Parenthood, perhaps with the help of the Fire Marshall. e. Alderman William Nash asked Chief Scandariato about the recent train derailment. Chief Scandariato is being very pro-active in getting Norwich rails checked out. f. Chief Scandariato discusses a “close call” (severe threat out of the responders control that could lead to severe injury or death) at a small brush fire on some tracks. The crew was working on the tracks after being assured there was no train traffic in the area when a tank car being moved by an independent Public Safety Meeting June 9, 2010 Page 3  contractor came down the tracks. Chief Scandariato just wanted to make all departments aware of the possibility of unknown traffic even when assured the tracks are clear. g. Chief Jencks mentions that there is a stop sign missing at Mish Drive and Myron Street in Taftville (Occum). Alderman William Nash asks Lieutenant Daley to look into the signage issue. h. The Dive team celebrated the 100th Anniversary of Scouting at the Hebron Fair grounds. VI. Old Business a. Alderman William Nash reminds all that he would like their flood response analysis. Chief Scandariato asks Alderman Nash to elaborate on his request in an email. b. City Manager Alan Bergren asks Chief Blanchard about the Dry Hydrant status. Chief Blanchard says he applied for a grant and has 7 – 8 set-ups but the hydrants are not in yet. There are needs that only the City can fulfill before they can move forward. c. Chief Scandariato asks what the 5 year strategic plan is for the city. It would help define his scope of needs. d. Alderman William Nash asks about the City’s supply of sandbags. Roland Frechette has 2500 stored. Alderman H Tucker Braddock Jr. asks is there is money available for flood related losses. City Manager Alan Bergren asks for a list of broken/destroyed equipment from the floods. FEMA is replacing items lost in the floods. VII. Other Alderman William Nash asks if there are any other items to be brought before the committee. Hearing none the meeting moves to the next agenda item. VIII. Adjournment Alderman H Tucker Braddock Jr. motions to adjourn at 7:53 pm. Alderman William Nash seconds the motion. Meeting adjourned. Respectfully Submitted By, Christine E Averna