Public Safety (Subcommittee of the City Council)

PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MINUTES Wednesday September 12th, 2018 Taftville Volunteer Fire Department 134 Providence Street, Taftville 7:00 PM Committee Members Present: Alderman William Nash and Alderman Joseph A. DeLucia Committee Members Absent: Alderwoman Joanne Philbrick Administration and Staff Present: John Salomone, City Manager, City of Norwich; and Barry Ellison, Norwich Public Utilities. Volunteer/Central Fire Departments and Others: Taftville Chief Timothy Jencks, Assistant Chief William Hadam, Deputy Chief Tom Jencks, Captain Scott Boenig and Jennie Armenakes; Norwich Battalion Chief Tracy Montoya and Lieutenant Jake Manke; East Great Plain Captain Jay Coleman; Occum Chief Bob LaChapelle; Laurel Hill Chief Aaron Westervelt; and Yantic: Chief Frank Blanchard and Assistant Chief Paul O’Connell. Citizens Present: Ronald Stolz of 5 Sunnyside West Road and Mike Dzavit of 248 Browning Road. I. Call to Order and Quorum: Alderman Nash called the meeting to order at 7:03 PM. There was a quorum present. II. Approval of Minutes: Minutes of Wednesday August 8th, 2018 Alderman Nash motioned, seconded by Alderman DeLucia, to approve the Wednesday August 8, 2018 meeting minutes. The motion passed unanimously. III. Correspondence: None. IV. Citizen Comment: a) Ronald Stolz of 5 Sunnyside West Road stated that due to the current construction on the New England Railroad at the Sunny Side railroad crossing in Yantic by the former post office that there is only one route to get in and out of the area. Mr. Stolz wished that there was better communication between the Railroad and the citizens in that area. b) Mike Dzavit of 248 Browning Road wanted to thank all of the chiefs for being able to meet with him, on behalf of the Norwich Fire Fighters Local 892, and stated that the meetings have been very productive and positive. V. Old Business: a) Apparatus/ Equipment Financing: – City Manager John Salomone reported that he met with three out of the four chiefs that are purchasing equipment the day previous and had asked them to provide him with anything that needs to be corrected in the bid that went out so that he can relay those changes to purchasing. He stated he had received corrections from EGP and Yantic and was expecting to hear from Taftville and Laurel Hill the following day. Mr. Salomone clarified that the bid itself has gone out and that these changes would be an addendum. Chief Blanchard added that there was a preconstruction meeting the day before which had brought in prospective bidders for the truck bond. Chief Blanchard said communications are in place and that Mr. Hathaway has been working diligently to get everything in order and that he feels when the bids do come in they will be getting a good package at a good price. VI. New Business: a) Norwich Public Utilities Update – Barry Ellison reported that the current LED streetlight project is 40% complete with over 2000 LED lights installed currently. They are focusing on streetlights first and then moving onto flood lights with a target completion date of mid-October. Mr. Ellison added that the reservoirs are currently at 94%, they are continuing hydrant flushing in low pressure zones through October and that the Mohegan tank is currently online. b) Emergency Management: Lieutenant Jake Manke stated that with the retirement of Chief Scandariato the City Manager asked him to step in as Emergency Management Manager. Mr. Manke reported that their community drills have been ongoing and they are monitoring the current 4 actively named storms along with the state DELMAS as we are currently in the middle of hurricane season. Emergency Management developed a pre-storm check list in case of any issues and they’ve also held 2 additional community trainings for an extra 35 people. Mr. Manke said they are in high need of female members as well as evacuee volunteers for their final training this upcoming Saturday at the Millstone facility on Stott Avenue. Emergency Management’s current needs are a mason dump and pickup truck replacement which Mr. Manke said the most economical solution would be to replace both vehicles with a single retrofitted truck. c) American Ambulance: None. d) Norwich Police Department: None. e) Fire House Status Updates: Taftville: Chief Timothy Jencks reported they services 70 calls in the past month including mutual aid to Yantic, New London and Jewett City. He stated their membership has been steady and their renovation is moving along though the deadline was pushed back a bit due to weather. The Chief reported their apparatus was down at fleet maintenance for its annual inspection, their Millstone training is mostly complete and they have several community events coming up in the next month. Chief Jencks said the department’s current needs would be a larger parking lot in the next year and possibility of replacing their furnace as it is from 1969. East Great Plain: Captain Jay Coleman reported they serviced 97 calls in the past month, gained two new members and have been conducting regular training and apparatus maintenance. Captain Coleman wished to thank everyone who participated in their recent 75th Anniversary. He also stated that their fire escape project is set to begin the following week. Occum: Chief Bob LaChapelle reported that their membership is stead and they just sent two members to Fire 2 class and three members to Fire 1. Yantic: Chief Frank Blanchard stated their membership is still at 58, currently running environmental disaster preparedness training; they’ve received a few additional applications for the fire academy and serviced 58 calls in the past month. 3 of those being back-to-back. Chief Blanchard reported their Engine 32 water leak has been repaired and they ordered new air packs which they expect to have in 3 weeks. Chief Blanchard stated the Fire Marshall Abatement program is still in the hands of Mr. Hathaway but he let Chief Blanchard know he is waiting on the state to put it out to bid. He said the abatement deadline is next month but they were planning to request extensions. Chief Blanchard said the firehouses current needs are a replacement HVAC system for the main floor as it is currently unbearable and they also need to hire an engineer to begin addressing the issue of replacing Yantic’s underground oil tank. Chief added that they have money available for repaving their lot which they will put out to bid. Laurel Hill: Chief Aaron Westervelt stated that membership is holding steady at 36 and there was an issue the previous week with a wiring on one of the trucks but it is now fixed. He said regarding their current projects they were hoping to begin work on their hood but it was pushed off due to rain and they are also hoping to begin installing thermal energy cameras next week depending on fleet maintenance availability. Norwich: Chief Tracy Montoya stated that Chief Scandariato wished to thank all who attended his retirement ceremony. Chief Montoya reported there were no major changes with Marine 1 or Marine 2 and that their needs still include the replacement of Squad A since it now has suffered a generator fire since the last meeting. VI. Other: City Manager John Salomone stated he discussed the Chief’s Meetings earlier in this meeting but the next one is planned for October. VII. Future Agenda Items: a.) IMC Bridge Update VIII. Adjournment: Upon a motion by Alderman Nash, seconded by Alderman DeLucia, the meeting was unanimously adjourned at 7:28 pm Respectfully Submitted, Katherine Rose