Public Safety (Subcommittee of the City Council)

Public Safety Committee Meeting Central Fire Station February 9, 2011 Committee Members Present Alderman William Nash Alderman H Tucker Braddock Jr. Committee Members Not Present Alderwoman Jackie Caron Administration and Staff Present Mayor Peter Nystrom Alan H. Bergren, City Manager Ken Scandariato, Fire Chief Chief Tim Jencks, Taftville Vol. 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 Gene Arters, Director OEM Frank Mankowski, Deputy Chief Occum Fire Department Volunteer/Central Fire Departments and Others Ron Stoltz, Yantic Fire Department Ray O’Connell, Yantic Fire Department Roland Lambert, Occum Fire Department Karen Mankowski, Occum Fire Department Paul O’Connell, Yantic Fire Department Eng Co 1 Eric Benoit, Taftville Fire Department Dan Auger, Taftville Fire Department I. Call to Order – Quorum Alderman William Nash called the meeting to order at 7:08 p.m. It was determined a quorum is present. II. Approval of Minutes Alderman H Tucker Braddock Jr. motions to approve the December 8, 2010 Public Safety Meeting Minutes with one correction. Motion was seconded by Alderman William Nash. All in favor, the motion passed. III. Correspondence Alderman William Nash asks if there is any correspondence. There is none. IV. Citizen Comment Alderman William Nash asks if there is any citizen comment. There is none. V. New Business Alderman William Nash asks if there is any New Business for the board. There is none. Public Safety Meeting February 9, 2011 Page 2 VI. Old Business a. An update on the status of the Fiber Optic change-over. City Manager Alan Bergren has been working with John Bilda towards isolating the circuits. They are still working towards completing preparation for the changeover. They are also working on budget issues. He hopes to have more to report for the next meeting. VII. Other – Alderman William Nash asks if anyone has any other items or questions. a. Reband Frequency Mandatory Change Gene Arters asks if anyone has an update on the Reband Changeover. Chief Scandariato will be able to complete an infrastructure analysis when the snow clears. He will also need to discuss the “have’s” and needs to complete the funding package process. Alderman William Nash asks if Homeland Security funds or grants are available for this project. Chief Scandariato will try to compete for the funds or grants available. He believes it may be necessary to utilize a Grant Writer. Also, the City must have no other funding abilities, such as bonding, in order to be eligible for the Grants. He is going to get together with the Chiefs in March to collaborate on this. Alderman H Tucker Braddock asks what the date of completion is. Police Lieutenant Pat Daley answers January 1, 2013. b. Alderman William Nash speaks about the Route 395 turn around. He sent a letter to Linda Orange, he is waiting for a reply. He has also called Chris Coutu and is also waiting to hear from him. He will continue to try to move this forward by spring. c. Alderman William Nash asks about the recent weather and issues the departments have had. Gene Arters states that things went well considering. He does mention that Barry needs money for overtime so the crews can cleanup more of the snow. Many streets remain compromised and only 50% of their width and much of the apparatus has trouble maneuvering through them. This creates difficulties in responding to calls. Tim Jencks states that a big problem with this storm has been the burying of fire hydrants. It is crucial that they be accessible. The sidewalks have also been left un-cleared, which led to school children and other pedestrians having to walk in the roads which are very thin due to the piles of snow. Alderman William Nash did call the paper and asked if they could print on behalf of the Public Safety Committee a request to home owners and tenants to dig out their fire hydrants. The paper did. Tim Jencks states that they are getting calls from homeowners for roof clearing. There was a report on the news telling homeowners to call their local fire departments for help clearing their roof. The fire departments can inspect the roof but will not clear it. Public Safety Meeting February 9, 2011 Page 3  Chief Scandariato states that was a misunderstanding. Commissioner Boynton was misunderstood. It was never stated that the fire departments would clear roofs but the media misunderstood. Alan Bergren states that he filed all the necessary FEMA Reimbursement documents. Alderman William Nash reminds all present to call if they need anything at any time of day. He also thanks everyone for a job well done under tough conditions. He is available to assist in any way. He has also asked the papers to print a request to residents to try not to park in such a way that the roadways are blocked. Eric Benoit comments on the snowstorms and their affect on Taftville/Old Milltown/Greenville. The roadways have been plowed in such a way that even the smallest apparatus cannot get through. The plows never made the roads wider. Perhaps the parking ban needs to include after storm cleanup where they have to park on one side a certain day for clearing one side and then the other side another day. Karen Mankowski also comments that the roads were never widened, even after the storm. They never came back to widen the streets still. Dan Auger thinks the parking laws need to be enforced, especially during these extreme storms. There are some vehicles that have been buried since the first storms in December. Pat Daley will be looking into the parking ban currently on the Norwich books, as well as neighboring towns. The parking bans currently lift once the plows come off the roads. This has been the worst January ever. He agrees that they need to update the ban regulations. He also states that many times the City has to cover the costs of the tow. Most of the vehicles were ticketed though. The problem is that sometimes it is difficult to track down the vehicle owners so the tow fees are the responsibility of the City. They have been trying to do cleanups and tows as calls come in about vehicles and roadway issues. Alderman H Tucker Braddock asks why the city is liable for the towing. Pat Daley states that many drivers contest the tow. There’s an administrative process. Alderman William Nash also believes that sometimes damages to vehicles can become an issue. There is an administrative towing hearing and many owners contest the towing. Chief Scandariato says that Barry has been very good at getting to the roadways that they have called about. Within a day or two they are taken care of. City manager Alan Bergren tells the Chief’s to contact Barry directly with issues so that Barry can take care of them. Tim Jencks knows that Shetucket and Terrace Ave is a problem because they are one way and they don’t want to blow them up on the hill because they don’t own the property. They were trying to plow with cars in the way. Public Safety Meeting February 9, 2011 Page 4 Alderman William Nash says he knows that in the first storm several trucks went down.  City Manager Alan Bergren states that even with the truck issues that in the subsequent storms they handled everything very well. VIII. Adjournment Alderman H Tucker Braddock Jr. motions to adjourn at 7:30 pm. Alderman William Nash seconds the motion. Meeting adjourned. Respectfully Submitted By, Christine E Averna