Public Safety (Subcommittee of the City Council)

PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MINUTES Wednesday, January 11, 2017 Central Fire Station 7:00 P.M. Committee Members Present: Alderman Gerald Martin and Alderman H. Tucker Braddock Committee Members Absent: Alderman William Nash Administration and Staff Present: Chris LaRose, Norwich Public Utilities; Chief Kenneth Scandariato, Norwich Fire Department; Captain Christopher Ferace, Norwich Police Department; Damian Rickard, American Ambulance Director of Emergency Management; and Gene Arters, Emergency Management Director. Volunteer/Central Fire Departments and Others: Yantic Lieutenant Raymond Henry, Captain Chris Colonair, and Ron Stolz; Norwich Chief Kenneth Scandariato, Kyle Seitz, and Michael Dziavit; Taftville Chief Timothy Jencks, Assistant Chief William Hadam, and Eric Benoit; Occum Chief Robert LaChapelle; Laurel Hill member Ed Martin; and East Great Plains Chief Keith Milton. Citizens Present: Greg Schlough. I. Call to Order and Quorum: Alderman Martin called the meeting to order at 7:01 PM. There was a quorum present. II. Approval of Minutes: Minutes of December 14, 2016 Alderman Martin motioned, seconded by Alderman Braddock, to approve the December 14, 2016 meeting minutes. The motion passed unanimously. III. Correspondence: None. IV. Citizen Comment: None. V. Old Business: Chief Jencks stated there is no report regarding radios at this time. VI. New Business: a) Norwich Public Utilities Update: Chris LaRose reported water supply at the reservoir is filling at a slower rate than normal. Currently the reservoir is at 62% capacity, up from 56% on December 24, 2016. The level is still significantly below where it needs to be. b) Fire House Status Updates: East Great Plains: Chief Milton reported 75 calls in December and 818 in 2016 overall. Most significant call of December was the structure fire on New Year’s Eve. Chief Milton thanked all fire and other city departments for their help during the fire. Trucks are currently status quo and the department is continuing with drills on Tuesday nights. Chief Milton also mentioned he is in the process of obtaining quotes to paint the firehouse walls and ceilings. Norwich: Chief Scandariato does not have run totals at this time, they are still being compiled. A candidate has been hired which brings staffing capacity to 100%. The young man hired will start in February and will graduate in May. Chief Scandariato is working to upload iPads to the volunteer system and will be reaching out to all houses in this regard. The process will take time as not all the iPads are up-to-date. He reports apparatus is status quo and stated a Conex box will be arriving soon which will free up space in house currently used or storage. Chief Scandariato asked if everyone received the email he sent regarding the availability of a temporary shelter with heat to be used by fire personnel on site as needed. After a discussion with other departments he volunteered to arrange having the unit set up at Central for viewing by members. Chief Scandariato also mentioned the decon trailer, a state asset, which is available for use by citizens needing on site shelter from weather until temporary shelter is found. He continues to work with everyone to establish “one big manual” of procedures to bridge the gap between Norwich Fire and the volunteer stations. He reminded all his door is always open and he looks forward to working together as one team in 2017. Yantic: Captain Colonair reports having one potential member going through the background check process. 2016 calls totaled 602, down 38 from 2015, though they did have a big increase in mutual aid response calls as far away as Colchester and South Windham. There were 5 structure fires versus 4 in 2015. Captain Colonair stated the firehouse is status quo, still 116 years old. Regarding trucks there are still problems with heavy rescue and it will be out of service for the next 1 ½ to 2 weeks while the mid-ship storage compartments are rebuilt due to significant rot found. Laurel Hill: In the absence of Chief Westervelt, member Ed Martin reported status quo. Taftville: Chief Jencks reported just under 50 calls in December and calls being down overall for the year. Apparatus continues to be cycled in and out of the garage for repairs, tower out-of-service for approximately 12 hours due to testing. Chief Jencks stated membership is at 48 and they will be interviewing a couple more potential members soon. He continues with the weekly mill walkthroughs and noted the radio meeting is on hold at the moment. Occum: Chief Bob LaChapelle reported the addition of three new members and said the station upgrade is going well.  Norwich Police Department: Captain Christopher Ferace reported the preliminary Uniform Crime Report shows a 5.8% decrease in crime for 2016. This is the 4th year running for crime decrease. Captain Ferace also reported having four staff on FTO, one new hire will be available in February, three will have completed training in April, and the deputy chief hiring is in process. Office of Emergency Management: Director Gene Arters reported routine business. We have three new volunteers assigned by the US Submarine Base in Groton. He also reported revisiting the city’s temporary shelter plan due to new state regulations prohibiting the general populous from being in a school building while school is in session. American Ambulance: Director Damian Rickard reported status quo. Call volume in 2016 nearly flat to 2015, believes there was only a .7% increase. VII. Other: Greg Schlough reported the next convention planning meeting will be held at Taftville, January 18, 2017 at 7pm and is open to all interested in the convention. Greg said tickets will be available to the public after the 21st. He is still soliciting donations for the event and reminded everyone the convention is a big plus for the entire city not just the fire department. Alderman Martin recommends everyone attend and invite others to the breakfast at Taftville this Sunday. He also provided an update on the subcommittee meeting held at Occum stating they crunched the numbers and will be providing the data to all chiefs via email. The February meeting is canceled due to a personal commitment so the next meeting will be held in March. He will be meeting with all department chiefs on a regular basis to ensure the subcommittee stays productive and fruitful without stepping on anyone’s toes. Chief Scandariato brought to everyone’s attention he received a notice from the government indicating the newest terrorist tactic playbook mentions egress passageways and is pushing arson as a means of terror. Alderman Martin also thanked everyone who assisted with the fire on Route 82 on New Year’s Eve and said everyone did a great job. He also mentioned that anyone wishing to receive emailed reminders about upcoming committee meeting please give their contact info to recording secretary Tia Michaud. VIII. Future Agenda Items: None. IX. Adjournment: Upon a motion by Alderman Martin, seconded by Alderman Braddock, the meeting was unanimously adjourned at 7:25 PM. Respectfully submitted, Tia Marie Michaud Recording Secretary