Public Safety (Subcommittee of the City Council)

PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MINUTES Wednesday January 10th, 2018 Yantic Fire Department 151 Yantic Road, Yantic 7:00 PM 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; and Chris LaRose, Utility Operations Assistant/General Manager, Norwich Public Utilities. Volunteer/Central Fire Departments and Others: Yantic Chief Frank Blanchard; Norwich Chief Kenneth Scandariato, 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; Occum: 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 7:01 PM. There was a quorum present. II. Approval of Minutes: Minutes of December 13, 2017 Alderman Nash motioned, seconded by Alderwoman Philbrick, to approve the December 13, 2017 meeting minutes. The motion passed unanimously. III. Correspondence: None. IV. Citizen Comment: None. V. Old Business: a) Apparatus/Equipment Financing: Alderman Nash remarks he spoke to City Manager John Salomone regarding re-instating fire chief meetings and conducting them in a timely fashion with updates given at council meetings. He also asked departments to turn in their specifications as soon as possible so bids can go out before July. Alderman Nash stated that all five trucks will be going out to bid as a package and if one company cannot do a truck per specifications then  it will be split out to a vendor that can. He said they are mirroring the RFP process that other towns have done and found success with. Laurel Hill is the only department so far with completed specifications. Yantic Chief Blanchard said their specifications will be ready in approximately three months and while he agrees with the process he suggests doing a lump sum price and separate pricing on the apparatuses to save time. Chief Blanchard also mentioned that he had reached out to the City Manager within days after tax payers’ approval of the bond to have a meeting regarding the confusion with submitting bids and it never came to fruition. Alderwoman Philbrick said she would speak to City Manager regarding lack of communication. Laurel Hill stated they have a preferred manufacturer through the Texas bid site with a guaranteed quote until February 1st. The bids go in three-year cycles with the third year having the lowest cost; this is their third year and the cost is lower than what the city allotted. Taftville Chief Jencks said they are hoping to have their new squad unit specifications ready by mid-to-end of February and their new rescue pumper specification done approximately 4-5 months from now. He expressed concerns with finding out the trucks will be going out to bid and not using HGAC. VI. New Business: a) Norwich Public Utilities Update: Barry Ellison reported that they are expecting large rain and potential flooding with the upcoming storm this Friday but are ready to go. They have had special meetings on how to handle the potential sewer issues and are ready to assist the fire department on shutting down electric or gas to affected buildings. The expected rain should bring the capacity of the reservoir from its current 94% up to 100%. They again encouraged all to contact NPU if they are using hydrants during the cold weather so they can be properly drainer to avoid freezing. They will be kicking off their next session of gas and electric safety training, departments have 12 months to complete. Fire House Status Updates: Norwich: Chief Scandariato stated this Fall is their Milestone community event. He said their marine unit would be on the list serv tomorrow for RFP. He is still dealing with their communications equipment problems; they know what needs to be done just not sure if it’s in the budget. An ET42 was added to the Stonington Road Estates Auto Dispatch. Norwich managed 48 issues during the course of the 12-hour snow storm the week previous. Emergency Operations Center: Regarding the Emergency Operation Center they are now taking cues from the Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security. They need help with the bench depth but hopes their new training will resolve that issue. Emphasized participation in all trainings from volunteer departments. EOC should be outfitted with grant funding by end of January and then they will start brining everyone in to get acclimated. Yantic: Chief Blanchard reported current member count is 59 with one on application and they’ve responded to 21 calls already this year. They have secured funding for and schedule a rapid intervention course on March 21st which is training to enhance skills and abilities to provide fast response and have their annual OSHA blood borne pathogen training in February. Firefighter 1 Class is now complete and they are just waiting on test results. Invited all to Smoke Reading Class at 7PM on January 29th.They are having several issues with their boat but John Raymond is handling it and all apparatuses are in working order. Their mutual aid agreement with the counties is signed and Yantic has also signed a contract with Wheelabrator to provide confined space rescue. Chief Blanchard stated the firehouse would like to replace downstairs air conditioners with something more efficient. Alderwoman Philbrick stated that she does not like that the council gets the “cleaned-up” budget request and would like to see the fire houses’ original budgets that have full needs listed. She hopes the Budget & Finance Review committee resolves this issue. Taftville: Chief Timothy Jencks reported that they too have had a large increase in calls with 33 so far. They visited the known homeless camps in their area to warn people about the incoming rain and to encourage them to go to a warming center. On January 1st they began moving to emergency management reporting but it is not working out for them; for example they do not have the CAD interface yet are getting billed for it. He is working to resolve issue. They have signed their county mutual aid agreement and their building addition is currently in the state’s hands as they have submitted their paperwork. Jencks reported that all companies assisted in short-term request for help with Wreaths Across American and successfully in total laid out 1,000 wreaths. Occum: An Occum member reported their station upgrade grant from last year is about 99% spent and they are in good shape regarding energy efficiency updates. Their membership is going strong and so far have only had one issue with someone allegedly jumping into the river from the bridge but ended up being a false alarm. They are working on their 75th anniversary this year. East Great Plains: East Great Plains reported they have had 66 calls for the month of December and 971 total in 2017. They’ve been conducting routine maintenance on apparatuses and while there haven’t been major issues the fleet is aging. They will be looking to replace Engine 51 through a bond as it can go any day. East Great Plains have been working in conjunction with City Departments to replace the fire escape on their building and will be submitting architectural drawings to zoning. They will also be celebrating their 75th anniversary this year. Deputy Chief Huntley said he does not have an ETA for their specification completion and that Chief Milton would be the one to answer that. Laurel Hill: Laurel Hill member reported that Chief Westervelt is at paramedical school and unable to attend. The department has just completed their conversion to LED lights in the station and, accordingly to NPU, should be a 3-year payoff. Norwich Public Utilities also assisted with truck specifications by shooting the elevations to make sure the new truck will fit in the garage with the incline. The station’s HUD replacement is stalled right now because contractor is not responding back. They have 3 new recruits, one being already fully trained. Their budget is submitted and they have had great success in their training working with certification teams. Their 20-hour class started with 10 original  sign-ups has gotten 10 more attendees. Truck 61 is now their fair-weather truck as it froze up on the last call. Norwich Police Department: Captain James Veiga reported they had a little over 3,300 calls, 179 accidents and 202 arrests for the month of December. They’ve got 2 trainees in the academy with one graduating in March and the other in June/July. He was not certain but he estimated they have roughly 88 members total; 77 patrol, 17 supervisors, and then the 2 in the academy. They received bids for three new cruisers but nothing has been awarded yet and they were disappointed they will be receiving less on their trade-ins than in the past. When the department was over at the EOC they noticed an issue with the radio system and have tactical working on it. American Ambulance: None VII. Other: Alderman Nash asked all departments to make sure they list house issues as part of their firehouse updates since as items needed, maintenance, etc. He still wants to hear about call status, member updates and the like but he would like to hear budget issues prior to council meetings as the Public Safety Committee meetings are the time to bring those issues up. Alderman DeLucia added that he would also be interested in hearing more about the firehouses’ success stories. Laurel Hill asked if there are any updates regarding the IM system. Alderman Nash responded that it is in the City Manager’s hands but he would reach out to him again. VIII. Future Agenda Items: Chief Daly – Radios, as he was not ready to discuss at this meeting. IX. Adjournment: Upon a motion by Alderman Nash, seconded by Alderman DeLucia, the meeting was unanimously adjourned at 7:59 PM. Respectfully submitted, Katherine Rose Recording Secretary