Public Safety (Subcommittee of the City Council)

PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MINUTES Wednesday, December 13, 2017 Emergency Management 16 South Golden Street, Norwich 7:00 P.M. Committee Members Present: Alderman William Nash, Alderman Joseph A. DeLucia, and Alderwoman Joanne Philbrick. Committee Members Absent: None. Administration and Staff Present: Captain James Veiga, Norwich Police Department; Barry Ellison, Integrity Manager, Norwich Public Utilities; and Mark Greczkowski, Director of Operations, American Ambulance. Volunteer/Central Fire Departments and Others: Yantic Assistant Chief Paul O’Connell, and Ron Stolz; Norwich Chief Kenneth Scandariato, Captain Michael Dziavit, Battalion Chief Scott Merchant, and Kyle Seitz; Taftville Chief Timothy Jencks, Deputy Chief Tom Jencks, and Assistant Chief William Hadam; Laurel Hill member Gerald Martin; and East Great Plains Deputy Chief Rich Huntley. Citizens Present: None I. Call to Order and Quorum: Alderman Nash called the meeting to order at 7:03 PM. There was a quorum present. a) New Member Introduction: Alderman Nash introduced and welcomed new committee members Alderman Joseph DeLucia, and Alderwoman Joanne Philbrick, although Alderwoman Philbrick had not yet arrived at the meeting. Alderman DeLucia Said he is thrilled to be a part of the Public Safety Committee and is looking forward to working with everyone over the next two years. II. Approval of Minutes: Minutes of October 11, 2017 Alderman Nash motioned, seconded by Alderman DeLucia, to approve the October 11, 2017 meeting minutes. The motion passed unanimously. III. Correspondence: None. IV. Citizen Comment: None. V. Old Business: a) Apparatus/Equipment Financing: Taftville Chief Timothy Jencks, Laurel Hill member Gerald Martin, East Great Plains Deputy Chief Rich Huntley, and Yantic Assistant Chief Paul O’Connell all reported they are working on the specs for their replacement apparatus and some have begun looking at apparatus available to purchase. Alderman Philbrick raised concerns regarding the replacement process indicating she thought the RFP process was required. Alderman Nash shared the same concern and said he will follow up with City Manager John Salomone and report his findings back to the committee members prior to the next meeting. VI. New Business: a) Norwich Public Utilities Update: Barry Ellison reported the water reservoirs are currently at 91% capacity and the new water tank at Mohegan Park is expected to be online at the end of January. He also reminded all to please contact NPU as soon as possible after using any hydrants so they can be drained properly to avoid freezing during the winter months. Barry also asked anyone who has feedback or comments regarding the iPad hydrant app that rolled out in October to please contact him. b) Fire House Status Updates: Occum: None. Yantic: Assistant Chief Paul O’Connell reported having 54 calls last month. Five members will be attending FFI at the end of the month and membership is close to 60. Asst. Chief O’Connell also reports Yantic will be attending Rapid Intervention Team training at the end of March 2018. Taftville: Chief Timothy Jencks reported 133 calls since the last meeting on October 13, 2017. They have participated in several standard educational events and passed out approximately 480 bags of candy for Halloween. The 86 Pierce experienced a pump problem and was down for two weeks at the city garage for repairs. Membership is holding steady at 46 and the monthly breakfast will be held this coming Sunday. East Great Plains: Deputy Chief Rich Huntley reported 86 calls this past month. They participated in active shooter training held by NPD, had three members pass the EMR class, and one member started FFII training. Station renovations including the bay floors, walls, and ceiling are complete and the new exhaust system is operational. Deputy Chief Huntley also reported plans are in progress for their 75th anniversary celebration coming up in August 2018. Laurel Hill: Member Gerald Martin reported they also attended the active shooter training held by NPD. Ten new volunteer members have joined. The floors and walls have been painted as part of the station renovation and they are currently in the process of switching to LED lighting. Mr. Martin also reported their most recent boot drive raised $1600.  Norwich: Chief Scandariato thanked the chiefs and members of Laurel Hill, Occum, Taftville, and East Great Plains for their special get-well-wishes during his medical absence. Chief Scandariato reported a new fire inspector will be starting in February and will be attending related schooling as required. The building behind Central has completed construction and received its certificate of occupancy. Chief Scandariato has met with five vendors regarding the marine unit to be acquired and will be going to RFP through Bill Hadley. He is working with the finance department to ensure boilerplate language is used to protect the city so it gets what it pays for. The 14’ flat-bottomed boat at Central is available to any other department that may be interested. The boat is old but is still serviceable. Emergency Operations Center: Chief Scandariato reported the EOC garage repairs are complete and the garage can now be used to store equipment such as filled sand bags, barricades, and a plethora of iodine pills to be distributed in case of a nuclear disaster. The EOC, though better prepared now, is no longer a response agency but has transferred back to being a support office. There will be an overall group of people to make decisions to support all departments with training paid for through state funding. Chief Scandariato also mentioned the need for a citizen’s emergency response team with training to be grant funded. Chief Scandariato also reported the extrication and pump system has been transferred to laurel Hill which only involved a shuffle of paperwork. Updated flood plain maps available at back of meeting room for all departments to take a copy. Norwich Police Department: Captain James Veiga reported responding to 4147 calls in November with 106 accidents and 167 arrests. Three new cruisers will be delivered in March or April. The new rifle racks were delivered last week and installation will be complete by the end of January. All patrol cruisers have been outfitted with the new onboard computers while the three K9 units are still being processed. NPD had difficulty scheduling for the city’s sole IT person to perform the install so they hired an outside vendor. Alderwoman Philbrick inquired as to the ability of NPU sharing their IT personnel with the city as needed. There was discussion in this regard ending with Barry Ellison agreeing to look into the matter and bring his findings to the next meeting. American Ambulance: Mark Greczkowski reported participating in a grant-funded “active aggressor” training which he highly recommends. He is in the process of writing a plan to propose to the state regarding obtaining additional ballistic protection including level 3 vests, helmets, and medical equipment. VII. Other: Chief Scandariato mentioned, for the benefit of the two new council members, there are a number of big ticket items which have been pushed off for some time now that will need to be purchased under this council including Scot air packs and AEGs. Chief Scandariato expressed the need for council members to be understanding and supportive regarding the allocations. There was also a brief discussion among several present regarding the NPD not being currently trained to administer Narcan and the NPD not being labeled as first responders. VIII. Future Agenda Items: Chief Daly - Radios. IX. Adjournment: Upon a motion by Alderman Nash, seconded by Alderwoman Philbrick, the meeting was unanimously adjourned at 7:54 PM. Respectfully submitted, Tia Marie Michaud Recording Secretary