Public Safety (Subcommittee of the City Council)

PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MINUTES Wednesday, July 13, 2016 Laurel Hill Volunteer Fire Department 7:00 P.M. Committee Members Present: Alderman H. Tucker Braddock and Alderman Gerald Martin Committee Members Absent: Alderman William Nash Administration and Staff Present: Gene Arters, Emergency Management; Chris LaRose, Norwich Public Utilities; Chief Pat Daley, East Great Plains Fire Department/Norwich Police Department; Chief Scandariato, Norwich Fire Department Volunteer/Central Fire Departments and Others: James Kurasz, Norwich Fire Department; Chief Frank Blanchard, Ken Leo, Ray O’Connell and Chris Colonas, Yantic Fire Department; Chief Tim Jencks, Hope Jencks, Eric Benoit, and Daniel Auger, Taftville Fire Department; Taftville Fire Department; Chief Aaron Westervelt and Ed Martin, Laurel Hill Fide Department I. Call to Order – Quorum Alderman Martin called the meeting to order at 7:03 PM. There was a quorum present. II. Approval of Minutes - Minutes of June 8, 2016 Alderman Braddock motioned, seconded by Alderman Martin, to approve the June 8, 2016 minutes. The minutes were unanimously approved with the change that Dennis Jenkins volunteered at the Occum Volunteer Fire Department. III. Correspondence – None. IV. Citizen Comment – Brian Kobylarz inquired about the status of the safety issues at the boat launch. Alderman Martin reported that he brought this up with City Manager Salomone and the Department of Public Works. No work has been completed so he will raise the issue again. V. Old Business – Chief Scandariato reported he is working with Corporate Counsel to separate from Fire House to move to new software. Attorney Driscoll has all of the documentation from the fire departments. The intent is to fully separate and for the City to be absolved of financial liability. VI. New Business a) Norwich Public Utilities Update: Chris LaRose reported on replacing the Mohegan Park tank. This is being finalized. NPU is meeting with the Mohegan Park group to review plans and get their input for site plan. The timing includes a 30-day plus bid, so they will award the bid contract in September or October. The demolition will take place in late fall or in the spring. As NPU will work will closely with the Chief and various groups throughout the City they will keep everyone updated. He also reported that Norwich will have peak usage in the next two days, so customers will be asked to reduce usage during peak times. Peak times are  used to establish NPU’s purchase rate for the next year. Alderman Martin thanked NPU for supplying power at the Greeneville music nights. b) Fire House Status Updates: Taftville: Chief Jencks reported their membership is currently 48. They have a couple applicants. They responded to 58 calls in the month. The apparatus has been out for standard problems. They responded for mutual aid for the Coast Guard. The dive team dove on an unidentified vessel in clam beds near the Coast Guard Academy. Training is ongoing. He met with a representative from the State of Connecticut and the contractors regarding the addition. Occum: No report. Yantic: Chief Blanchard reported the membership is fine. Calls have been normal. The apparatus is as good as can be expected. With the new budget cycle, they are putting things out to bid. Alderman Braddock thanked Chief Blanchard for the CT Fireman Junior Academy. All the youth got a lot out of it. Laurel Hill: Chief Westervelt reported that membership is going well and they have a couple applicants. The apparatus is also doing well. The UTV has been out of service and they are getting it fixed, hopefully by Friday. The AC has been put in and they are in discussions with NPU about rebates. Energy efficient LED lighting will go in this year as well. East Great Plains: Chief Daley reported the roof is done. The floors need to be painted next. They have two applicants. Engine 2 is probably returning in July. They have been busy with multiple calls in one day. One day last week the station had six calls in one day. The city garage has been great about fixing age-related issues with the trucks. Norwich: Chief Scandariato reported celebrating promotions in all ranks. They are working on providing succession planning training. He gave kudos to the successful applicants and noted it was a deep field with lots of competition. They have had hot water heater issues which appear to be resolved. The department is going through recertification so are offering department-wide training. They applied for a grant to replace the marine unit but were not successful. It is in dire need of replacement. He is looking forward to a quiet summer. American Ambulance: No report. Norwich Police Department: No report. Emergency Management: Gene Arters reported pandemic training is moving right along. He attended a Dominion meeting to provide a kickoff plan as the host community next year. c) Decommission Outdoor Warning Sirens Gene Arters reported this has been taken down. He has contacted NPU. VII. Other: Chief Scandariato reported that each agency will be able to decide how much responsibility they will take in the area wide protocol. For example, American Ambulance has such quick response time that Central doesn’t necessarily have to take that part of the plan. New protocols should be reviewed on a quarterly basis. He would like to see more discussion on how the EMS protocols are affecting current services. They can have influence on state level mandates. He would like to have a designated person from the department involved in the discussions. Training will be held on the new reporting software on August 23 and 24. This is a two-day training for a total of 16 hours at Central. All departments are invited to send a representative. Unfortunately, there isn’t any flexibility with the scheduling. Jerry asked if the training could be recorded and actually taken to each department on a laptop. Chief Scandariato will look into recording the training. The goal is to have at least one representative from each department completely trained and with understanding of the whole system. Chief Blanchard noted the system is very intuitive. The general input from the Chiefs was that this system is a huge improvement. Chief Blanchard requested dispatch-related assistance to lessen call volume into the dispatch arena. Chief Westervelt noted that Leon is involved. Chief Scandariato said Leon is coming to the training. VIII. Future Agenda Items: Alderman Martin reminded the Chiefs about City Wide plans due next month for discussion at the meeting. IX. Adjournment: Upon a motion by Alderman Braddock, seconded by Alderman Martin, the meeting was unanimously adjourned at 7:33 PM. Respectfully submitted, Melinda Wilson Recording Secretary