Public Safety (Subcommittee of the City Council)

PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MINUTES Wednesday March 14, 2012 Emergency Management – NPU 7:00 P.M. Committee Members Present Alderman Mark Bettencourt Alderman H. Tucker Braddock Jr. Committee Members Not Present Alderwoman Sofee Noblick Administration and Staff Present Alan H. Bergren, City Manager Kenneth Scandariato, Fire Chief Chief Frank Blanchard, Yantic Fire Department Chief Tim Jencks, Taftville Fire Department Chief Aaron Westervelt, Laurel Hill Fire Department Gene Arters, Director OEM Deputy Chief Bob LaChapelle, Occum Fire Department Lieutenant Ray Henry, Yantic Fire Department Sergeant Steve Lamontini, Norwich Police Department Volunteer/Central Fire Departments and Others Chris LaRose, Norwich Public Utilities Jeremiah Kvasnik, Norwich Public Utilities Ron Stoltz, Yantic Fire Department Damian Rickard, American Ambulance Eric Benoit, Taftville Fire Department James West, Taftville Fire Department Dan Auger, Taftville Fire Department I. Call to Order – Quorum Alderman Mark Bettencourt called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. It was determined a quorum was present. Alderman Mark Bettencourt called for a moment of silence for Firefighter Ben DeMond. II. Approval of Minutes - Minutes of February 8, 2012. Alderman H Tucker Braddock Jr. motioned to approve the February 8, 2012 minutes, seconded by Alderman Mark Bettencourt. All in favor, the motion passed. III. Correspondence Alderman Mark Bettencourt opens the floor to Gene Arters to discuss an email. Public Safety Meeting Minutes March 14, 2012 Page 2 Gene Arters received an email regarding a Governor mandated Statewide Drill which has three dates offered. Saturday July 28, 2012, Sunday July 29, 2012, and Monday July 30, 2012. It is imperative that the date or dates are scheduled as soon as possible. Chris LaRose from NPU asks if there is pay involved. Gene Arters states that as of right now there is not. There is more information that will be forthcoming but it was important to start planning for this so City Manager Alan Bergren can schedule the dates with the state. IV. Citizen Comment – None. V. New Business a. Taftville FD Addition – This item is being moved to later in the meeting. VI. Old Business Chris LaRose had a PowerPoint presentation (included at the end of these minutes). c. Fiber Optic Change Over. Chris LaRose from NPU presented a PowerPoint slide presentation on the status of the Fiber Optic changeover. NPU has a new network consultant which has been assisting in upgrading the current system and adding external assistance as well. The company is called Atrion. The slides from the presentation have been included at the end of these minutes. Alderman Mark Bettencourt asks if the Fiber Optics will be able to continue working if there is trouble on any of the lines. Chris LaRose from NPU replies that since the Fiber Optics are bi-directional and there are 100 lines of Fiber so the data will continue to flow even if there is a break in a line in the loop. It is virtually self-healing. Alderman H Tucker Braddock asks where the base is. Chris LaRose asks Jeremiah to describe the Fiber Optic loops. Jeremiah Kvasnik from NPU replies that there are two bases – one on Orchard Street and the other is at Plain Hill. At each core site the switches are totally redundant. There is back up generation at each site. There is support from Atrion, they are monitoring the sites 24/7 in addition to NPU monitoring the system. Atrion can remotely log in to effect repairs if it is something that can be repaired remotely. The contract with Atrion also has on-site repair which guarantees they will be at the site within an hour. Public Safety Meeting Minutes March 14, 2012 Page 3  Alderman Braddock asks if it would be possible to expand to more data if needed. Chris LaRose from NPU states that it is $100 per month per line for .1 meg of data. There are higher bandwidths available per site if needed and the costs would be figured accordingly. Alderman Bettencourt asks if there are any encrypted bands currently. Chief Scandariato states that the Police department has encrypted lines. Alderman Bettencourt asks how funding approval would be obtained. City Manager Bergren states that it would require appropriation of additional funds or a bond. Gene Arters asks if anybody has heard about the D-Block change? It would be superseding the narrow banding that is currently required before January. Chief Blanchard asks whether the Fiber Optic system could handle 700 band. Alderman Bettencourt answers yes. V. New Business – Taftville Fire Department Addition Chief Timothy Jencks distributed a Building Plan Handout. The added space is needed to house the Dive Team’s equipment. The Dive truck and gear has to be kept warm at all times but there is no room in the Firehouse. The heating costs in the winter have been costly. The truck has been outside in the alleyway with a cord running to it which is also a tripping hazard. Also, after the addition it will be easier to keep the department plowed. They have had to manually shovel out the alleyway between the firehouse and fence to keep the truck accessible in wintertime. Chief Jencks states there have been 18 dive team calls since 2009. The changes will also add more parking for the responders. Right now there are 8 spaces for 50 responders. There will no longer be the need to pay for a storage area three blocks away. Their equipment will all be able to be stored on site. The addition is roughly 1200 square feet. The bays will actually empty and they will be able to drive around the building. They have received approval from Building, Zoning, and the Fire Marshall. There are items in the bid that the guys are going to do themselves to save on the costs. They are requesting a recommendation from the Committee for the appropriation of $95,000 for the addition. Alderman Bettencourt motions to make a recommendation to the Council to do this project. Alderman H Tucker Braddock Jr. seconds the motion. Alderman Bettencourt asks Chief Jencks if the dive team has been called to assist in neighboring towns. Public Safety Meeting Minutes March 14, 2012 Page 4 Chief Jencks says that they have been called to Jewett City, Griswold, Baltic, Bozrah, and Mohegan Sun.  Aldermen Bettencourt and Braddock agree to table the motion until the next meeting so more information can be obtained. City Manager Bergren asks how long the bid is good for. Chief Jencks believes it is 90 days and the bid is from February 28th. a. Opticon - Washington St. and Rt. 2 – This item is removed until more information is available. b. Incentives for Employee Residency. – This item is being moved to the next meeting. d. Dry Hydrants update – Chief Blanchard met with Public Works director Barry Ellison and he is favorable to the idea but is going to need assistance with the permitting process since this will involve wetlands. VII. Other Alderman Braddock mentions the I-395 cut-off. He wanted to let everyone know that it is still being worked on by Chief Blanchard, Barry Ellison, Alan Bergren, and himself. Chris LaRose from NPU has been finalizing the power shut-off policy. An actual document has been put together by NPU and the Fire Chiefs. The document will be updated as lessons in the field are learned. The policy is at the end of these minutes. Alderman Bettencourt asks what the risks are when re-energizing the line. Chris states that the lines will not be re-energized until they are certain that local power to the structure has been cut so the risks are minimal. VIII. Adjournment Alderman Mark Bettencourt motioned to adjourn, seconded by Alderman H. Tucker Braddock Jr. All in favor the meeting was adjourned at 7:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted by Christine Averna Norwich Public Utilities Policy on Electrical Grid Emergency Shut Down Purpose To establish a working policy designed to define parameters for remote emergency termination of electrical energy transfer of grid networks. Policy When emergency first responders declare a life threatening emergency exists, or without immediate action may be created, it shall be the policy of Norwich Public Utilities (NPU) to take direction from the first responder and shut down the electric grid in the area of the emergency. Scope The policy will affect all Control Room Personnel in charge of remote operation of the electrical distribution system within the City of Norwich. Definitions Life Threatening Emergency- Any emergency where without immediate actions will cause or facilitate the injury or death of civilians. Grid Circuit- A section of electrical distribution lines, connected in series or parallel to enable the flow of electrical current and voltage. Shut Down-A deliberate action to terminate the flow of electrical energy within a circuit. Scope of Authority- The authority to terminate energy distribution from a specific part of the grid owned and operated by NPU shall rest solely with NPU. Action-Upon direction from any NPU lineman or supervisor, all fire departments within the City of Norwich (NFD’s), and/or the Norwich Police Department (NPD) and where it has been determined a Life Threatening Emergency exists, the grid associated with the location of the emergency shall be shut down, thereby eliminating energized electrical lines from the scene of an incident. Only after it has been verified that all energy transmission has been secured by NPU shall the circuit be considered dead for the safety of operating personnel. Communications of such actions shall be verified by the control room operator, line supervisor and field units shall concur to ensure that all systems are considered de-energized. Once a circuit has been verified as de-energized, a liaison from NPU shall coordinate with the Incident Commander to develop an action plan, identifying all critical infrastructure affected by the shut-down. Considerations to work with the first responders shall include a priority list developed by the IC. Completion reports of all affected occupancies and infrastructure shall be verified by all parties involved as reenergized when affected.