Public Safety (Subcommittee of the City Council)

PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MINUTES Wednesday June 12, 2013 American Ambulance 7:00 P.M. Committee Members Present Alderman Mark Bettencourt Alderman H. Tucker Braddock Jr. Alderwoman Sofee Noblick Administration and Staff Present Alan H. Bergren, City Manager Chief Scandariato, Norwich Fire Department Patrick Daley, Norwich Police Lieutenant / Chief East Great Plains Fire Department Chief Aaron Westervelt, Laurel Hill Fire Dept. Gene Arters, Director OEM Volunteer/Central Fire Departments and Others Chris LaRose, Norwich Public Utilities William Hadam, Taftville Fire Department Ken Leo, Yantic Fire Department Damian Rickard, American Ambulance Ron Stolz, Yantic Fire Department John Barry, The Bulletin Brian F. Kobylarz, Norwich Resident, 116 Hobart Avenue Mark R. Gagne, Norwich Resident I. Call to Order – Quorum Alderman Mark Bettencourt called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. It was determined a quorum is present. II. Approval of Minutes - Minutes of May 8, 2013. Alderman H. Tucker Braddock Jr. motioned to approve the May 8, 2013 minutes, seconded by Alderman Mark Bettencourt. All in favor the motion passed unanimously. Alderman H. Tucker Braddock Jr. motioned to approve the May 21, 2013 minutes as corrected, seconded by Alderman Mark Bettencourt. All in favor the motion passed unanimously. III. Correspondence – None IV. Citizen Comment – Ron Stolz asks if the 911 system has been updated. He also asks when the City database will be updated. He also mentions that under the new numbering all the Sunnyside streets have the same numbering. Public Safety Meeting Minutes June 12, 2013 Page 2 City Manager Alan Bergren states he will verify that the 911 system has been updated and check the City database. V. New Business a) Storm Preparedness – Gene Arters mentions the National Weather Service notification of the Storm approaching. There is forecast 4-5” of rain tomorrow. It will be heavy about 2 pm and possible flooding will be quick. He also mentions his new sandbagger unit that can fill approximately 2,000 bags per hour. See attached weather briefing. b) Gene Arters also informs the committee that he and Alan Bergren spoke with the Governor and that Norwich is not going to participate in the upcoming Statewide Ice Storm Drill. It is not worth it to engage the EOC when the drill is not going to include Norwich as being hit by the “storm”. c) Alderman Mark Bettencourt stated that he went to the webinar last week. It was interesting to see and included good data. VI. Old Business a) Fiber Update. Chris Larose states that the Police Department is done. The schedule is behind by about a month. See attached updated schedule. Alderman Mark Bettencourt asks if they are testing in the field. Chief Aaron Westervelt replies that yes they are calling out and being heard. b) Electric system safety with Photo Voltaic systems Chris Larose mentions that there are extra safety precautions to be taken when PV panels on the roof. If the grid goes down the PV’s won’t feed the system. If they’ve been installed to code there can be a problem. There will be extra precautions. The inverters are not on the roof next to the panels. They can still be live. The SVC should be labeled and the inverter marked. Cutting through a wall can be damaging to volunteers and firefighters. A fire in a place with PV’s will be live. There is supposed to be a cutoff switch on the roof by the panel. Alderman H. Tucker Braddock Jr. asks how many there are in Norwich. Can a GIS map have a layer to list them? Chris LaRose replies that there are three that he knows of. It can absolutely be put on a GIS map layer. Public Safety Meeting Minutes June 12, 2013 Page 3 VII. Other – a) Chief Scandariato informs the committee that the hose bid came back. They didn’t bid what was specified. They are not offering the hose they are looking for. They did try to go less expensive but you get what you pay for. Alternate hose was bid on but it wasn’t what was specified on the bid request. Alderman Mark Bettencourt asks if it is less expensive hose. Chief Scandariato replies yes. He believes they’re under what expected. They’re still going to try to get the right hose. b) Chief Scandariato mentions that they have been giving the Plain Hill tower quasi security. There is a key in a lock box. Recently American Ambulance has been having trouble getting repairs done. The equipment there is important for public safety. He would like a closed circuit system installed. The Police Department can open the door remotely and monitor the person who enters. It would be the safest option both for the equipment as well as to expedite entry when necessary. Pat Daley also mentions that there have been vendors in and things get changed or go missing and there is no accountability or proof of who did what. Chief Scandariato responds that there is a key floating around out there even now. VIII. Adjournment Upon a motion by Alderwoman Sofee Noblick, seconded by Alderman H. Tucker Braddock Jr, the meeting was unanimously adjourned at 7:28 pm Respectfully submitted by Christine Averna