Public Safety (Subcommittee of the City Council)

PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MINUTES Wednesday November 14th, 2018 Laurel Hill Volunteer Fire Department 509 Laurel Hill Road, Norwich 7:00 PM Committee Members Present: Alderman Joseph A. DeLucia and Alderwoman Joanne Philbrick. Committee Members Absent: Alderman William Nash. Administration and Staff Present: Mayor Peter Nystrom, Chief Patrick Daly and Captain Jim Veiga, Norwich Police Department, Joey Hundley, Director of Operations, American Ambulance and Chris LaRose, Operations Manager, Norwich Public Utilities. Volunteer/Central Fire Departments and Others: Taftville Chief Timothy Jencks, Deputy Chief Tom Jencks and Assistant Chief William Hadam; Norwich Battalion Chief Gregory Despathy, Lieutenant Jake Manke and Mike Dzavit; East Great Plain Chief Keith Milton; Occum None; Laurel Hill Chief Aaron Westervelt, Captain Pete Clark, Michael Carlos and Ed Martin; and Yantic: Chief Frank Blanchard, Ray Henry and Ron Stolz. Citizens Present: None. I. Call to Order and Quorum: Alderman DeLucia called the meeting to order at 7:01 PM. There was a quorum present. II. Approval of Minutes: Minutes of Wednesday October 10, 2018 Alderman DeLucia motioned, seconded by Alderwoman Philbrick, to approve the Wednesday October 10, 2018 meeting minutes. The motion passed unanimously. III. Correspondence: Alderman DeLucia motioned, seconded by Alderwoman Philbrick to approve the 2019 Meeting Schedule. The motion passed unanimously. IV. Citizen Comment: a) Chief Timothy Jencks spoke as Taftville citizen in regards to the Taftville Little League vandalism that occurred the past Sunday. Chief Jencks said he spoke to Chief Daly about possibly putting in a security camera system as it was cut from last year’s budget. Discussion ensued, Alderman DeLucia said they would discuss the issue further at next month’s meeting. V. Old Business: a) Apparatus/ Equipment Financing: – City Manager John Salomone reported the Fire Apparatus Bond was opened approximately two weeks previous. Mr. Salomone said he requested a report to be done that compares the bond authorization number to the bid number and stated that depending on if you go off of the lowest or highest bid there is about a 200-240 thousand dollar excess over the budget allocation. Mr. Salomone said that currently all fire departments have received a copy of the bids to review for adherence to their specifications and currently Yantic has returned the bid with the other departments still reviewing. City Manager Salomone added that there may be additional funds for the departments if the Police Department’s radio acquisition does not require all the funds that were allocated for it. Mr. Salomone said Chief Daly is currently working on a final number so they would have more information once that is available. Alderwoman Philbrick stated the gap in funding is frustrating and asked when Mr. Salomone thought the bids would be awarded. John responded it depending on when the departments are able to return the bids but also if there is sufficient funding available to award the bids. Chief Aaron Westervelt reported on behalf of Laurel Hill Fire Dept. that the bid they just received on November 5th is identical to the one they got in 2017 except the 2018 bid is $20,000 higher due to the gap in time. Chief Frank Blanchard said Yantic’s truck committee met the previous week to revise all three bids page-by-page and sent it to purchasing with five of the available options removed to reduce cost. Chief Timothy Jencks stated Taftville is hoping to have a recommendation by the upcoming Monday. Chief Keith Milton reported that they have a meeting coming up with their vendors and are trying to having their recommendation ready as soon as possible. Alderman DeLucia asked John Salomone if the reviews take another three weeks what would be the lead time on awarding the bids. Mr. Salomone said it comes down to if we want to all award all the bids at once or some accordingly; if the Committee wants to award the bids simultaneously all funding gaps would need to be filled, the bid would have to go back to the Committee and then to the Council. Mr. Salomone said that if the Committee chooses to allocate or transfer funds instead as long as it’s within the bond cost there isn’t any issue. VI. New Business: a) Norwich Public Utilities Update – Operation Manager Chris LaRose reported all reservoirs are still over 100% due to rain and the water system flush has been completed. Mr. LaRose reminded that we are entering the frozen hydrant season so all firehouse please let NPU know if  any hydrants are used for fires or training so they can be drained properly. Chris LaRose states 95% of LED streetlights have been replaced and should be completed the first week of December. Norwich Public Utilities has also conducted a new roof-top solar panel installation at 7 Old Salem Road. b) Emergency Management: Lieutenant Jake Manke reported they have been working with DHMAS on a daily basis and conducted the Host Community rehearsal on November 3rd where they received minor changes from DHMAS. Lieutenant Manke stated the Exercise would be done for the first time that upcoming Saturday with all departments on stand-by. Lieutenant Manke said Emergency Management has been in contact with DHMAS and FEMA regarding funding for Yantic from September flood damage but the region may have hit its threshold. Lieutenant Manke said he and Chief Blanchard have been in contact but it may be something that comes up on the capital budget. Emergency Management needs include acquiring a stake body pickup to replace the dump truck. c) American Ambulance: None. d) Norwich Police Department: Captain Jim Veiga stated they responded to 3,200 calls in the last month and should be receiving new vehicles in December. Captain Veiga said the Police Department was recently able to enter into a partnership with Wayland Energizing as a testing facility for new lights on their vehicles at a discounted price. Chief Daly stated Captain Veiga worked extremely hard on acquiring the partnership and is allowing the department to pay ⅓ of the cost for high quality lighting. Chief Daly added Detective Wilburn Kelsey received awards in the past month for theft detection and insurance fraud. Chief Daly stated the Department would be meeting with communications vendor in the next week to try and get the best price possible on the radios so that every saved dollar can be allocated to the firehouses. e) Firehouse Status Updates: Taftville: Chief Timothy Jencks said it was a busy month with 78 calls, an ongoing EMR class, completing DOT inspections and their apparatus has been out with minor mechanical problems. Chief Jencks the firehouse addition is still ongoing and down to punch-list items. Taftville’s capital budget items include a parking lot expansion, Fire Marshall upgrades, the 95 Pierce and turnout gear. Chief Jencks said some unexpected budget expenses included replacing meters that they can no longer get replacement parts for. East Great Plain: Chief Keith Milton reported EGP had 86 calls in the past month and routine trainings. Chief Milton stated their Assistant Chief unexpectedly passed away which was a large blow to the firehouse but he thanked all departments for their support on behalf of EGP and  the Assistant Chief’s family. Chief Milton the fire escape project is ¾ of the way done and the firehouse A/C replacement is their priority budget item. Occum: None. Yantic: Chief Frank Blanchard reported membership is the same, all apparatus are in service and as he reported at last month’s meeting Engine 32’s generator was burnt so he does not have a written estimate but states it’ll be about a $10-12,000 replacement. Chief Blanchard said they are also planning to put Engine 3 and their Squad put into a bill for replacement. Chief Blanchard said the bids they received for the Fire Marshall Abatement project are higher than expected and while they have money in capital even on the lowest bid they are short $200,000 which will show up in capital requests as well along with first floor underground fuel tank installation and ventilation for trucks. Chief Blanchard said Yantic met with FEMA regarding September flooding, moisture has been removed, everything has been inventoried and now they are waiting on the insurance company. Laurel Hill: Chief Aaron Westervelt said they have three people interested in certification and the fire abatement is ongoing with the kitchen hood having started on Monday, fire suppression being installed the following week and plumbers and electricians coming in within the upcoming days. Chief Westervelt said an unexpected expense was a crack in the back staircase which leaked onto equipment downstairs which costed about $3,000 to repair. Norwich: Battalion Chief Gregory Despathy reported that the various Battalion Chiefs are still operating as rotating chiefs, recruit Davis graduates from CFA on December 7th and their remaining three vacancies have tentatively been filled. Chief Despathy said the Fire Marshal Office is currently down to two personnel while one of the Marshals is on medical leave. Norwich responded to 185 incidents in the past month with a 3:13 average response time and their new Marine unit is still on track for December delivery. Chief Despathy said Marine 1 and 2 are both decommissioned with one sold and the other being advertised in the near future. Chief Despathy reported that Mashantucket Pequot Fire Department recently contacted the City Manager to request the loan of Truck 2 for an extended period of 6-8 months while their aerial is being refurbished and that he is currently working with Mr. Salomone and Corporate Counsel to see if an agreement is possible. He stated Norwich has no needs at this time. VI. Other: a) IMC Bridge Update: City Manager John Salomone said the bridge is on hold currently due to a software glitch with the manufacturer. b) Fleet Maintenance: Alderwoman Philbrick asked if the departments have felt an impact from Norwich Fleet Maintenance losing its lead mechanic. Ed Martin of Laurel Hill Fire Department stated it seems like  Fleet Maintenance is overwhelmed more than normal and questioned why the city does not invest in more personnel for Fleet as they save a large amount of money from in-house mechanics. Chief Blanchard added that while Fleet is always able to tend to Yantic’s needs he agrees with Mr. Martin that Fleet, just like the IT personnel, can get easily bombarded and are integral to the flow of the city. VII. Future Agenda Items: a) IMC Bridge Update b) Mold Issue at Laurel Hill c) Taftville Security Cameras VIII. Adjournment: Upon a motion by Alderman DeLucia, seconded by Alderwoman Philbrick, the meeting was unanimously adjourned at 8:04 pm Respectfully Submitted, Katherine Rose