Public Safety (Subcommittee of the City Council)

PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MINUTES Wednesday, March 8, 2017 Occum Volunteer Fire Station 7:00 P.M. Committee Members Present: Alderman William Nash, Alderman Gerald Martin, and Alderman H. Tucker Braddock Committee Members Absent: None Administration and Staff Present: Chief Kenneth Scandariato, Norwich Fire Department; Chief Patrick Daley, Norwich Police Department; and Peter Nystrom, City Council. Volunteer/Central Fire Departments and Others: Yantic Chief Frank Blanchard; Norwich Chief Kenneth Scandariato; Taftville Chief Timothy Jencks, and Deputy Chief Tom Jencks; Occum Chief Robert LaChapelle; Laurel Hill member; and East Great Plains Chief Keith Milton, and Deputy Chief Rich Huntley Citizens Present: Greg Schlough, and Gregory Stott I. Call to Order and Quorum: Alderman Nash called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. There was a quorum present. II. Approval of Minutes: Minutes of January 11, 2017 Alderman Nash motioned, seconded by Alderman Martin, to approve the January 11, 2017 meeting minutes. The motion passed unanimously. III. Correspondence: None. IV. Citizen Comment: Citizen Greg Schlough mentioned he has been approached by several people wondering if the Emergency Management Director position will be posted as available. Alderman Nash replied he had spoken to City Manager John Salomone and was informed a decision regarding how to proceed has not been reached. Alderman Nash will stay in contact with the city manager’s office and will report back at the next committee meeting in April. V. Old Business: No radio update at this time. VI. New Business: a) Norwich Public Utilities Update: None b) Fire House Status Updates: Taftville: Chief Jencks reported 43 runs last month and said the department was very busy with mutual aid calls. Friday night they responded to a call with Yantic for a motor vehicle in the river. The department had standard vehicle maintenance. Chief Jencks confirmed membership is holding at 48 with two in the wings. He is slowly making progress regarding the building addition process and had received a call earlier in the day regarding the zoning permit. The department's next breakfast will be held Sunday, March 19, 2017. Occum: Chief LaChapelle reported three members are currently attending Fire I, they are working on the station’s 2nd floor upgrade, and they will be holding their annual chicken barbeque on Saturday, April 1, 2017. Laurel Hill: A member of Laurel Hill reported having one member currently attending FF I, and one attending FF II. Yantic: Chief Blanchard reported having voted in two more members last Monday bringing their total membership to 59. He has signed the application for one member to attend cadet training this summer. Chief Blanchard also reports the budget being on track to finish up the year. New rescue equipment has come in which will enhance heavy operations especially trench rescue and vehicle stabilization. They are in the process of in-house training then will open the training to other city departments. Engine 33 will be out of service for the next four days due to the repair of a leak in the radiator’s top cap. Engine 31 is back after three days of regular maintenance by Fleet. Chief Blanchard also said they have been very busy with mutual aid. Annual training was held in February with 45 members partaking in the daylong event. Member who did not attend will be completing training over the next several months. Chief Blanchard requested all save the date for their annual banquet on Saturday, April 15, 2017 at Holiday Inn. They will be celebrating 170 years of service. Formal invitations will be send to all in the mail soon. East Great Plains: Chief Milton reported 73 calls and 48 active members. They have five members in FF training. Chief Milton also reported Engine 52 being out of service for pump repairs. Norwich: Chief Scandariato reported their newest recruit is currently attending the fire academy and will be graduating in May. The department responded to 247 calls in February with a noticeable percentage increase in overlapping calls. An awards meeting is planned for April to recognize a number of individuals who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to perform exceptional lifesaving work. A notice will be send out with more information. Chief Scandariato reported apparatus as status quo, all equipment receiving the usual amount of maintenance. Regarding renovations, the replacement windows are in the capital budget, and a meeting will be held tomorrow regarding breaking ground for the new garage. Emergency Operations Center: Chief Scandariato reported he has attended seven meetings reviewing fleet, facilities, and administration. They are looking to upgrade the fleet at no cost to the city. He requested Laurel Hill collaborate along with other volunteers in identifying needs. On  February 27, 2017 Chief Scandariato received an engineering analysis of the Taftville Dam completed by First Light Power Resources. The report identified what impact failure of the dam would have on the city. Chief Scandariato highlighted several key points of the report and stated there will be further analysis and emergency planning in the near future. A discussion followed between several committee members present including Alderman Braddock, Chief Jencks, Chief Blanchard, and Chief Milton regarding the history of Taftville Dam failures and the possibility of future failures. American Ambulance: None Norwich Police Department: Chief Daley reported having four officers currently receiving field training. Aside from normal department activities they recently completed a successful drug raid with assistance from Waterford PD seizing both drug paraphernalia and cash. There are no significant injuries or other activities to report at this time. Chief Daley recently met with Town of Preston regarding their interest in changing their participation in the Resident State Trooper program. VII. Other: Gregory Stott of Yantic requested permission to ask questions of Chief Scandariato which Alderman Nash granted. After several minutes of discussion between Mr. Stott and Chief Scandariato, centered mainly around a power point presentation made by Chief Scandariato in September 2016, Alderman Nash stated the discussion would best be classified as New Business to be added to a future agenda as per Robert's Rules of Order. Alderman Martin and Alderman Braddock supported this opinion. Mr. Stott informed Alderman Nash that he will indeed contact him if he wishes to have the topic added to next months agenda and thanked the committee for the opportunity to speak. Alderman Martin announced the subcommittee meetings will reconvene on March 22, 2017 at Yantic and the topic of discussion will be Human Factors. He has now returned all surveys back to their respective departments and eagerly anticipates working with all department chiefs to move forward and hammer apart all issues identified. Alderman Nash asked if there was an update from the chief meetings. Chief Blanchard reported there have been two meetings held thus far discussing topics from the City Manager's directive. Both were very positive. The chiefs have a meeting with the City Manager tomorrow then the next chief meeting will be scheduled. Greg Schlough stated the convention preparations are moving along at a nice pace. They are still shorter on funds then they would like to be. Formal invitations will be going out soon to those those they would like to have speak at the convention. Greg recently met with Chief Daley and Lisbon First Selectman Thomas Sparkman regarding public safety. There will be many road closures and detours. There is another meeting planned for April 4, 2017 with Chief Daley after which Greg will send a tentative plan approval request to CT DOT. He thanked all fire department members for their meeting attendance, support, and input in the convention planning.  VIII. Future Agenda Items: None. IX. Adjournment: Upon a motion by Alderman Nash, seconded by Alderman Martin, the meeting was unanimously adjourned at 7:43 PM. Respectfully submitted, Tia Marie Michaud Recording Secretary