Public Safety (Subcommittee of the City Council)

PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MINUTES Wednesday February 13, 2013 Central Fire Station 7:00 P.M. Committee Members Present Alderman Mark Bettencourt Alderman H. Tucker Braddock Jr. Alderwoman Sofee Noblick Administration and Staff Not Present Alan H. Bergren, City Manager Administration and Staff Present CT State Senator, Cathy Osten Chief Aaron Westervelt, Laurel Hill Fire Department Chief Scandariato, Norwich Fire Department Gene Arters, OEM Director Chief Tim Jencks, Taftville Fire Department Chief Frank Blanchard, Yantic Fire Department Deputy Chief Bob LaChapelle, Occum Fire Department Deputy Chief Tom Jencks, Taftville Fire Department Patrick Daley, East Great Plains / Norwich Police Department Keith Milton, Deputy Chief, East Great Plains Volunteer/Central Fire Departments and Others Chris LaRose, Norwich Public Utilities Jeremiah Kvasnik, Norwich Public Utilities Scott Merchant, Norwich Fire Department Damian Rickard, American Ambulance Ron Stolz, Yantic Fire Department Nathaniel Ellis, VEOCI Lucien Harlow-Dion, VEOCI I. Call to Order – Quorum Alderman Mark Bettencourt called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. It was determined a quorum was present. II. Approval of Minutes - Minutes of January 9, 2013. Alderman H. Tucker Braddock Jr. motioned to approve the January 9, 2013 minutes, seconded by Alderwoman Sofee Noblick. All in favor the motion passed unanimously. III. Correspondence An email from Chris LaRose requesting to add a VEOCI presentation and a Radio on Fiber Project update to the agenda. Alderman Mark Bettencourt receives no objections to adding the VEOCI presentation under New Business and the Fiber-optic Radio Project update under Old Business. Public Safety Meeting Minutes February 13, 2013 Page 2 IV. Citizen Comment Christine Averna, 150 Yantic Street (Falls Mill). Christine felt the Committee should be informed that Falls Mill Condominiums was effectively cut off from police, fire, and ambulances for about 36 hours during the blizzard because a tree that fell across the road on Friday night during the blizzard was not removed until Sunday morning. Barring any other concern (the tree was not being removed because residents cars were under the tree branches, and the cars couldn’t be moved because no plow could get to the complex to deal with the snow), there are 120 apartments housing over 240 people that were cut off from fire and rescue for over a day. Luckily there were no fires or health emergencies during that time. There were no other citizens wishing to bring any issues before the board so Alderman Mark Bettencourt closed the citizen comment portion of the meeting. Connecticut Senator Cathy Osten addressed the committee and attendees. Storm workers have done a great job with a very tough storm. She worked in the Sprague EOC and it was very difficult with so many cars in the way. Alderman Mark Bettencourt states that he was up 36 hours at Pfizer. It was hard to prioritize. The side roads were secondary due to limited resources. Cathy reminds everyone about the REPT grants. Norwich has their own reps on REPT. They meet twice a year and get funding. Taftville missed out for their dive team. It is preferred to bring funding here. It’s centrally located for our REPT. Alderman Mark Bettencourt states that most long term solutions are regional. It’s tough to get leaders to understand that. Alderman H. Tucker Braddock Jr asks how long it takes FEMA to get money back into the state. Also, is it full reimbursement? Senator Cathy Osten replies that it takes too long. Usually payment is made for a 48 hour window. She is trying to extend that. The most expensive part came after the storm. You have to pick the best 48 hours. It usually takes 6 months. It is around 48% and mostly straight time too. V. New Business a. Report on the impact the 1/07/2013 evacuees had on the shelter Gene Arters says there was no impact. They were prepared for 100 evacuees. 28 stayed and it was closed by 9 a.m. They only had to put one family at the Comfort Suites for one day because they were the immediate neighbors to the crime scene. b. Statistics on calls on 395 from Norwich, American Ambulance, State Troop Public Safety Meeting Minutes February 13, 2013 Page 3 Damien Rickard states there were 108 patient calls in 2012 and 91 in 2011. It’s hard to narrow down the number of calls. These stats are based on the number of patient calls. Alderman H. Tucker Braddock Jr asks if this is both Northbound and Southbound. Damien Rickard replies that these calls relate to Route 395 in the Norwich area. Alderman H. Tucker Braddock Jr states he sent an informational letter to Occum. His hope is that with re-submission this will get noticed. Alderman Mark Bettencourt says that DOT is not spending money. The road would need more space, another lane. c. VEOCI presentation. See attached presentation pages. Damian Rickard states that after Hurricane Sandy emergency management applications online software. This would be a way to connect everyone. Nathaniel Ellis states that this would be virtual emergency operation over the internet. It is a regional coordinator, asset tracking, an equipment operation tool for managing emergencies. It links everyone in real time and keeps documented events. It tracks calls per hour during incidents. It is an easy to use program that aids in the exchange of information. The system aids in the prioritization based on human input. Everything is stored online on VEOCI servers but the customer owns the data. With this program you can mark incidents as in progress or completed. You can keep track of equipment and personnel by marking where it was sent and when and then tracking when the job was completed and where it went next. The fees would be based on the region in square miles. It would cost maybe around $2,000 a month. This can be used with WEB/EOC and it can help track when people are in high risk areas that need assistance. You control who has access to the program and how much access they have. VI. Old Business a. Update on the Fiber Optic Changeover See attached presentation pages. Jeremiah Kvasnik gave the presentation. He also stated that they are going to install generator equipment to assist with power issues, like at Plain Hill and Orchard Street. Chris LaRose states that there was a 3-4 week delay in equipment that led to the late start (April instead of March). Public Safety Meeting Minutes February 13, 2013 Page 4 VII. Other a. Chief Scandariato informs everyone that there has been a change to the security here (Central Fire House). Full access and a gate key have been given to those who need to gain entrance. VIII. Adjournment Alderwoman Sofee Noblick motions to adjourn seconded by Alderman H. Tucker Braddock, Jr. All in favor the meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted by Christine Averna