Public Safety (Subcommittee of the City Council)

PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MINUTES Wednesday October 9, 2013 Central Fire Department 7:00 P.M. Committee Members Present Alderman Mark Bettencourt (arrived at 7:18 pm) Alderwoman Sofee Noblick Alderman H. Tucker Braddock Jr. Administration and Staff Present Alan H. Bergren, City Manager Chief Scandariato, Norwich Fire Department Gene Arters, Director OEM Chief Tim Jencks, Taftville Fire Department Chief Frank Blanchard, Yantic Fire Department Chief Robert Patton, Occum Fire Department Deputy Chief Tom Jencks, Taftville Fire Department Damian Rickard, American Ambulance SI Sergeant Peter Camp, Norwich Police Department Pat Daley, Norwich Police Dept./East Great Plain Lt Raymond Henry, Yantic Fire Department Volunteer/Central Fire Departments and Others Chris LaRose, Norwich Public Utilities William Hadam, Taftville Fire Department Ron Stolz, Yantic Fire Department Paul O’Connell, Yantic Fire Department Ray O’Connell, Yantic Fire Department Jerry Strange, Laurel Hill Fire Department Mark Gagne, Cliff Street Resident David Mitchell, Hobart Ave, Norwich John Barry, The Norwich Bulletin I. Call to Order – Quorum Alderman H. Tucker Braddock Jr. called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. It was determined a quorum is present. II. Approval of Minutes - Minutes of September 11, 2013. Alderwoman Sofee Noblick motioned to approve the September 11, 2013 minutes, seconded by Alderman H. Tucker Braddock Jr. The motion passed unanimously. III. Correspondence – a. Letter Chief Scandariato sent to Providence & Worcester Railroad Co. Alderwoman Sofee Noblick read the letter. Alderman H. Tucker Braddock Jr. asked if there has been a response as of yet. Chief Scandariato states there has been no reply yet. He will keep on top of it and share the reply when he gets it. Public Safety Meeting Minutes October 9, 2013 Page 2 IV. Citizen Comment – Mark Gagne of Cliff Street wanted to bring several things to the attention of the Public Safety committee. 1. As noted by the residents before there is a problem with wrong-way traffic on the one-way street. They have photographic evidence of 2 instances this week. Brian Kobylarz has the pictures and he will email them. 2. There waas a site call the beginning of September. It started by St. Joseph’s and ended up in front of the funeral home. It was an incident of unknown happening. He was wondering if he could get a report of what that was. Pat Daley replied that it was a psychological call but that he couldn’t say much more. 3. There was a stabbing that happened at a residence on the corner of Hope and Hobart streets on 10/8. Was this a call within the residence or was an outsider involved. Pat Daley replied that it was not outsiders. It was just the people of the home. As it is an ongoing investigation he cannot say more. 4. His wife left a piece of vacuum on the front porch. It was stolen and cost $140 to replace. 5. A local roofer had someone use his yard as a toilet – and it was obvious it wasn’t animal poop. This is something that never happened before the soup kitchen was there. Dave Mitchell of Hobart Avenue wanted to bring up a few incidents as well. 1. His wife decorated for Halloween. All the decorations were ripped up and strewn around the property. 2. Yesterday in the morning there was a guy stumbling around. 3. The week before that a guy got trapped in their yard. He couldn’t get out. He kept trying to find the way out but couldn’t seem to negotiate their yard (which is a portion of their ¼ acre property). They were finally able to show him the way out at which point he sat in the street. Then he decided to undress. They called 911. 4. Two days after that they had to clean up broken glass. 5. They planted flowers and they were all ripped up. Dave would like to understand why it is that the Mobil food court, which approached the City before starting business, was shut down after the neighbors complained and yet the Soup Kitchen, which is in violation of many city ordinances, is being allowed to remain. He brought this to the City’s attention with no reply even before it went to litigation. Alderwoman Sofee Noblick asks if there is a neighborhood watch since many of these items seem like they would fall into that category. Dave Mitchell replied that they used to have a neighborhood watch. Now everybody watches. All of this is directly related to the Soup Kitchen. The City has failed us miserably. Mark Gagne adds that they have not seen their Community Policing Officer in about a year. He did say that the Cemetery issues have calmed down a lot due to the efforts by the police. V. Old Business a) Radio on Fiber Chris LaRose of NPU states that they are almost completed. They should be done with Backus by the end of the month. Occum in about a week. They would appreciate feedback. b) Downtown Camera Project Chris LaRose of NPU states that they are looking at mid-November installation. Public Safety Meeting Minutes October 9, 2013 Page 3 c) Fall Hydrant Flush Chris LaRose of NPU states that the Fall hydrant flush will be October 25, 26, & 27th. The flush ensures the barrels are clean and they are checking functionality of every hydrant. They will get them all in good working order. It is not a pressure test. They can’t do a pressure test when doing all (approximately) 1200 hydrants. The pressure tests were done several years ago and we banded most hydrants with pressure bands. Unlike the Spring flush they will be doing every hydrant. They will verify flows if something seems off. Alderman Mark Bettencourt asks if this will impact water supply or color. Chris LaRose replies that it can happen. They will try to keep down the issues. They will only be opening them a little but not fully so as not to impact water flows and pressure in the neighborhoods. We also want to keep the amount of water loss down. VI. New Business a) Mandatory Training Certificates OEM Gene Arters reminds everyone that it is required by FEMA that all EOC personnel must have the IC100, 200, 700, & 800 certificates. The tests can be taken online. They are needed ASAP. There is no charge for the test. b) 2014 Meeting Schedule The 2014 meeting schedule was accepted. VII. Other – Alderman Mark Bettencourt informed everyone that he believes there is a December deadline for the HazMat Communications training. He believes it has to do with symbols “global harmonization”. This is an OSHA requirement. Chris LaRose states that NPU has a training video if anyone would like to borrow it. VIII. Adjournment Upon a motion by Alderman H. Tucker Braddock Jr., seconded by Alderwoman Sofee Noblick, the meeting was unanimously adjourned at 7:42 pm Respectfully submitted by Christine Averna  PUBLIC SAFETY 2014 ANNUAL MEETING SCHEDULE The Public Safety Committee will hold their 2014 meetings at 7:00 p.m. on the dates and locations listed below. Occum Vol Fire Dept. January 8, 2014 American Ambulance February 12, 2014 Emergency Management March 12, 2014 Yantic Vol Fire Department April 9, 2014 Taftville Volunteer Fire Dept. May 14, 2014 Central Fire Station June 11, 2014 East Great Plains Vol Fire Dept. July 9, 2014 Laurel Hill Vol Fire Dept. August 13, 2014 Occum Vol Fire Dept. September 10, 2014 American Ambulance October 8, 2014 Emergency Management November 12, 2014 Yantic Vol Fire Department December 10, 2014