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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BFC-2012-11-13CITY OF ITHACA BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS MEETING MINUTES Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - - - -- 4:00 p.m. Central Fire Station — 310 West Green Street PRESENT: Chair Gilligan Commissioners: Hoard, Ellsworth, Baker, McGonigal OTHERS PRESENT: Fire Chief — Parsons Information Management Specialist — Myers Executive Assistant — Overslaugh Raymond Wheaton David Cornelius Jack Gould EXCUSED: Alderperson and Liaison to Board — Clairborne I. CALL TO ORDER: Chair Gilligan called the meeting to order at 1608 hours. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: A. Approval of the October 9, 2012 Board of Fire Commissioners Meeting Minutes — Resolution By Commissioner Baker: Seconded by Commissioner Hoard RESOLVED, That the minutes of the October 9, 2012 Board of Fire Commissioners meeting be approved as corrected. Carried Unanimously III. ADDITIONS TO OR DELETIONS FROM THE AGENDA: Commissioner Baker requested the addition of the following items to the agenda: A. Proposal Regarding Active Firemen's Relief Fund and Veteran Volunteer Firemen's Relief Fund B. Chi Psi Fraternity House Fire Remembrance Chair Gilligan noted these items would be placed under "New Business" on the agenda. No Board Member Objected. Executive Assistant Overslaugh stated that Alderperson and Liaison to Board Clairborne would not be able to attend today's meeting. He wanted to know if the start time of the Board meetings would continue to be 1600 hours instead of 1800 hours. Chair Gilligan responded that the Board voted in September to continue the start time of the meetings at 1600 hours through June 30, 2013. November 13, 2012 IV. PERSONS WISHING TO SPEAK BEFORE THE BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS: The members of the company will begin work soon to update the by -laws; the Fire Chief and others have made suggestions which will be considered for incorporation into the by -laws as well. V. CORRESPONDENCE: Chair Gilligan reported that the bank statement from the Tompkins Trust Company Donation Fund dated October 1, 2012 had a beginning balance of $1,058.51 and an ending balance of $1,058.51 reflecting no activity as of October 31, 2012. Chair Gilligan reported that Dan Novack donated $50.00 for the department's car /safety seat program, which will be deposited into the donation fund to help support the program. Chair Gilligan further reported that a letter from Neriton Company #9 dated November 13, 2012 had been received by the Board — confirming the transfer of the members who had requested that. A copy of that letter will be attached to the minutes. Chair Gilligan stated that volunteer hours for October were received as follows: Lyman Baker — 6 hours; Raymond Wheaton — 6 hours. VI. MEMBERSHIP CHANGES: Chair Gilligan stated that there is still an outstanding issue to resolve regarding the transfer of active members to Neriton Company #9 which was raised by Robert Romanowski. That issue is still under review by the Board and will be discussed under "New Business" regarding the classification of volunteer members into various categories of membership. Mr. Romanowski's request to transfer is pending at this time. VII. MISCELLANEOUS REPORTS: A. Town of Ithaca: No report at this time. B. City of Ithaca: No report at this time. C. Audit: The audit was reviewed and completed by Commissioner Ellsworth. November 13, 2012 VIII DEPARTMENT REPORTS: A. Chief and Deputy Chief Reports (including fire prevention, codes division, fire investigation unit, public education, and fire /police report): The Fire Chief's monthly report dated November 13, 2012 with detailed information on the above divisions of the department will be attached to the minutes. He further expanded on a few of the items as follows: A. State Diner fire was determined to be accidental B. Public Education: Each of the four shifts at IFD has an elementary school(s) assigned to it. He explained that the fire fighters from each shift will develop a relationship and rapport with the students and staff in this way and be able to work with them to develop specific educational needs. In addition, the fire fighters will work with staff on development or updating of their emergency management plan. He stated that fire department staff did attend an emergency plan review meeting with staff from the middle schools and high school recently. C. The Ithaca Fire Department and Town of Ithaca are working to develop a memorandum of understanding regarding reimbursement for building inspections. The contract is now in the process of being reviewed by the City and Town attorneys. D. An application was received to become a volunteer for Neriton Company #9, and an interview is being arranged. Commissioner Ellsworth asked for an update on the department's water and boat rescue deployment to Long Island to assist in evacuation efforts as a result of Hurricane Sandy. Chief Parsons responded that the department of Homeland Security has a list of different municipalities' teams that are available for certain situations. In this case the call came in to the department on Sunday, October 28th, after checking with the Mayor and determining that the City of Ithaca was not expected to suffer any significant flooding, the city's team (7 members) was deployed to Long Island, just prior to Hurricane Sandy making landfall. The team was assigned to the North Shore, in Nassau County. The team from the Ithaca Fire Department assisted in about sixty rescues /evacuations during the forty -eight hours they were deployed. He explained that the bill for this deployment (approximately $25,000) will be sent to Tompkins County, who will send it onto the State for reimbursement through FEMA funds. It will probably take about a year for the reimbursement to be made. A brief discussion followed on the floor regarding the lack of progress with program changes to the county's Computer Aided Dispatch System (CAD). Board members asked whether they could do anything to assist in getting the program changes implemented sooner. Chief Parsons responded that he would keep the Board informed, and if need be they, as well as Common Council, might need to provide additional support. 3 November 13, 2012 Discussion followed on the floor regarding the Coast Guard Auxiliary being put on alert recently for possible deployment, and whether a joint training with the Ithaca Fire Department, Tompkins County Emergency Responders, and Auxiliary might be necessary. Chief Parsons stated that recently a team from Tompkins County and the Fire Department joined in and watched a drill on Oneida Lake in anticipation of doing a similar drill here in Ithaca. X. OLD BUSINESS: A. Update on 2013 IFD Budget Proposal: Please see Chief Parsons monthly report (attached) dated November 13, 2012 for details. B. Update and Follow -Up on Common Council Action Regarding Volunteer Companies: Chair Gilligan reported that the resolution approved by the Board of Fire Commissioners was discussed by the City Administration Committee; Common Council approved it at their meeting on November 7, 2012. He noted that the word "inactivate" was changed to "disbanded" in the resolution. He stated that there is no follow -up or subsequent action required by the Board of Fire Commissioners at this time. Chief Parsons explained that the City Chamberlain would send out a letter to the disbanded companies regarding the need to provide an accounting of the company's assets. He stated that every item in those fire stations belongs to the City, and nothing should be removed without the Board of Fire Commissioner's authorization. He further stated that all items should stay in the building until a determination has been made as to who it belongs to. Chair Gilligan stated that the Board would send a letter to the fire companies to explain that the distribution of the company's assets, including memorabilia still needs to be worked out. He further stated that any items that have been removed should be returned pending the determination by the Board. He noted that some items have been removed and a report has been filed with the Tomkins County Sheriff's office. He explained that the Board needs an inventory of all items in each company's possession. He stated after that is done, representatives from the company's should make a request to the Board regarding the appropriate disposition of the property which will most likely be either to the Veteran Company or the Historical Society. It was reiterated that items from the individual companies should not be leaving the building and definitely should not be going into someone's home that is not appropriate at all. Commissioner McGonigal stated that it seemed wrong to him that the wording of the Board's resolution regarding changing the word "inactive" to "disbanded ". He feels that the resolution should have stood as written. He wondered how other commissioners felt about that change. A brief discussion followed on the floor in which it was noted that the Board's original resolution was received by Common Council, and then it was written in the language that they preferred, and the change was not done maliciously. 4 November 13, 2012 C. Recognition of Former Volunteers with the Ithaca Fire Department: Chair Gilligan distributed the membership lists to the Clerk for the companies that had submitted them to him. It was noted that a membership listing for company #4 is still needed. Discussion followed on the floor regarding the best way to express the Board's thanks and appreciation to volunteers of the various fire companies. It was determined that doing a notice of appreciation and thanks in the Ithaca Journal would be too expensive. It was felt that doing individual certificates would be the best way to recognize these special individuals for their many years of service to the community and its citizens. It was also decided that the certificates would be distributed at a special meeting /forum with refreshments at a time and place to be determined. It was felt that given the number of certificates that need to be prepared and the time of year, that it would be best to schedule this event in February or March 2013. The Board wants to make sure that this process is done in a thoughtful and correct way so time will be taken to make sure that everyone who should receive recognition is included. Commissioner Baker has created and maintained an extensive database of all the names of the vast number of volunteers for all the volunteer companies for the past approximately 180 years. He was able to use the index cards from the volunteer coordinator's office at the Ithaca Fire Department to enter the information into the database. It was suggested that this information be shared with the City Clerk's office and the Fire Department so that it can be maintained in the future. The Board expressed its appreciation to Commissioner Baker for his work in this way to maintain an accurate record of all the volunteers throughout the years. It took a lot of work and time to enter all that information and to update it as needed. X. NEW BUSINESS: A. Consideration of Distribution of 2% Funds to Company 9 — Resolution By Commissioner Baker: Seconded by Commissioner Hoard WHEREAS, the Board of Fire Commissioners is, per the Ithaca City Charter, responsible for overseeing the distribution of the tax on premiums of foreign and alien fire insurance companies (2% Funds) received annually by the City, and WHEREAS, a portion of these funds are available to be paid to the active volunteer company, and WHEREAS, the Board has delayed the normal distribution of all 2% funds received by the City in 2012 pending the reorganization of the volunteer company component of the Ithaca Fire Department, and WHEREAS, the portion of the funds available for distribution can now be calculated by the City Chamberlain and distributed to Neriton Company 9, the active volunteer company serving the Ithaca Fire Department, now therefore be it, November 13, 2012 RESOLVED, That the City Chamberlain is requested to calculate per City Charter and applicable State regulations and laws, the portion of foreign fire insurance premium tax (2% Funds), received by the Chamberlain's Office in 2012, that are available for payment to the active volunteer Company and to disburse this amount to Neriton, Company 9. Carried Unanimously B. Active Firemen's Relief Fund and Veteran Volunteer Firemen's Relief Fund Commissioner Baker read the following statement for the record: "Proposal for consideration that the Trustees of all monies now constituting of the "active firemen's relief fund " Ithaca City Charter, Section 6.4, No. 6 be distributed to the Ithaca Veteran Volunteer Firemen's Association. Also the trustees consider the distribution of the Veteran Volunteer Firemen's Relief Fund to the Ithaca Veteran Volunteer Firemen's Association. Ithaca City Charter 6.4, No. 7. The Active Firemen's Relief Fund has been in existence since 1908. The Veteran Volunteer Firemen's Relief Fund since 1919. Thank you for your consideration, Lyman Baker, Ithaca Board of Fire Commissioners" C. Chi Psi Fraternity House Fire Remembrance: Commissioner Baker read the following invitation for the record: "At 8:00 a.m. at the Ithaca Fire Department Memorial Section, December 7, 2012, A very short memorial service will be held, to remember the seven lives lost in the tragic fire that killed four Cornell students and three Volunteer Firemen, whose names are engraved on the Firemen's Memorial. The Commissioners and all others are invited to attend this 106 year Anniversary. The easiest way to the Firemen's Memorial is to drive up University Avenue to Cornell Avenue, turn right, drive about 112 a block. Stewart Avenue is also a good route, turning left onto Cornell Avenue driving about !12a block. Respectfully, Lyman Baker, Commissioner, City of Ithaca Board of Fire Commissioners" N November 13, 2012 Chief Parsons noted that he would extend an invitation to New York Senator Nozzolio as Chi Psi was also his fraternity. D. Recruitment and Membership: Chair Gilligan stated that he would like to have a couple of Board members meet with members of Neriton Company #9 and the Fire Chief (or his designee) to work on the following: recruitment, categories of membership, classifications of membership, rules, criteria for membership, etc. This would be a type of "working" group to focus specifically on these items and provide a recommendation for the Board's consideration. Commissioners Baker and Hoard volunteered to serve in this capacity. Chair Gilligan stated that he would be in touch with Neriton Company #9 to formally extend the invitation to those members who would like to participate in the "working" group. Chief Parsons requested that the Board consider the creation of an "Explorer Post" type volunteer membership and set age limits as it convenes the working group to review recruitment and membership processes. He would like to see the department build a sustainable membership of individuals who will want to stay in the community and this fire department after they finish school. He would like to focus on the local BOCES, and high schools for recruitment efforts for volunteers. He would like to see a policy built into the recruitment and membership process for an "apprentice" type membership as well. XI. EXECUTIVE SESSION: On a motion the Board adjourned into Executive Session at 1725 hours to discuss matters relating to assets of the disbanded volunteer fire companies. Reconvene: The Board reconvened into regular session at 1740 hours. Chair Gilligan reported that follow -up will be needed to clarify with volunteer members the City's determination that property at the stations belongs to the City. If any of the former active companies wish to submit input on the handling /disposition of specific assets or property located in a Fire Station and provided by a volunteer company, they should provide the Board of Fire Commissioners with a list of such items and indicate what they recommend as the appropriate handling /disposition of the items they have listed. Any memorabilia missing from the various stations should be returned as soon as possible. Item for December 11, 2012 Board of Fire Commissioners agenda would be follow -up regarding preparation of recognition certificates for the many volunteers. Also, discussion of what information /recognition could be placed on the city's website. XII. ADJOURNMENT: On a motion, the meeting adjourned at 1750 hours. Sarah L. Myers William Gilligan Information Management Specialist Chair r CITY OF ITHACA 310 West Green Street Ithaca, New York 14850 -5497 OFFICE OF THE FIRE CHIEF Telephone: 607/272 -1234 Fax: 607/272 -2793 MEMORANDUM To: Board of Fire Commissioners From: Tom Parsons, Fire Chief Date: November 13th, 2012 Re: Fire Chief's Monthly Report to the Board of Fire Commissioners LIFE SAFETY DIVISION Administration 1) Career Personnel Report PERSONNEL STAFFING LEVELS 1 Chief 0 Deputy Chief (vacant) 5 Assistant Chiefs 9 Lieutenants 49 Fire Fighters 64 Uniform Personnel 1 Administrative Coordinator Total employees as of 11/1/2012 — 65 a) Hiring/Recruitment Committee • None b) Retirements: • We have one firefighter who has informed us that he will be retiring at the end of the year. C) Promotions: • None d) Recruit Fire Fighters: • None Page 2 of 5 - Fire Chief's Monthly Report 2) e) Vacancies: November 13th, 2012 • Deputy Fire Chief. Tom Dorman will be working one day per week as a part-time Deputy Fire Chief. Tom will continue to work through 2013 and the savings in the budget will be used to fund the two firefighter positions restored to the 2013 budget. Budget Status a) A budget Status Report: On November 7th, 2012, the Common Council approved the 2013 budget for the City of Ithaca. The budget eliminated one administrative assistant, and two fire fighter positions in the fire department. The two fire fighter positions were eliminated in the budget are through pending retirements. The two fire fighter positions proposed to be eliminated through layoffs were restored and was partially funded by reducing the Deputy' Chief's salary to $25,0000. The fire prevention bureau was retained and fire inspections will be performed by the fire department for 2013. The adopted budget also reduces funding by $25,000 in administrative and program accounts. b) Capital Budget — The City of Ithaca signed an agreement with Solar Liberty Inc. to install photovoltaic solar panels on the main roof of Central Fire Station. The agreement will allow Liberty Solar to put the panels up on the fire station for 20 years. Because the panels will be installed on the roof, the City Engineer's office performed an analysis of the roof, and found that the roof membrane system will need to be replaced. A Capital Project plan has been developed by the City's Engineering Department for $35,9735.75 to replace both roofs of Central Fire Station. As part of this project, the City Engineering Department will also perform analysis of the roof systems for the East Hill, West Hill, and South Hill Fire Stations. The roofs on these buildings are at or past their life expectancy and the analysis will determine if and when these roofs should be replaced. C) Town of Ithaca — The Town of Ithaca passed its budget in October. I met with the Herb Engman last week and we discussed the budget. Mr. Engman expressed his concern over the high cost of fire protection and he stated that the Town of Ithaca can not afford to pay the high costs of fire protection. The fire department's 2013 budget is only increasing by less than I% over the 2012 budget, however the Town of Ithaca voted on lowering it's tax rate for Fire Protection by 5 %. It should be noted that over the past five years, the fire department budget has increased by an average of 1.5 %. L, Page 3 of 5 - Fire Chiefs Monthly Report November 13th, 2012 3) County Communications and 911 Program: a) The consultant hired by Tompkins County to review the 911 Center Operations has sent a draft of his written report to the County. The County is still waiting for the final version of the report to be delivered by the consultant. b) I met with the Joe Mareane, the County Administrator, on November 2nd, 2013, and expressed my concerns regarding the lack of progress with the programming changes to the county's Computer Aided Dispatch System. I requested changes to the CAD programming in September so that the closest engine to an emergency incident would be announced first when dispatching the assignment. The Manager of 911 Center, Brian Wilbur, explained in an earlier meeting that the delay of reprogramming of the CAD was in part due to the lack of computers for the CAD system administrators. I have also requested that our response plans be expanded so that both Cornell University and Ithaca College were segregated in separate response plans. There has been no progress in with this request either. 4) Grants and Donations a) Training Center Project Funding: No Report b) Governor's Traffic Safety Grant: Received approval for funding of our Child Safety Seat Program from 10/15/2012 — 10/15/2013 5) Resource Recovery Legislation No Report 6) City Charter Update No Report Operations 1) Mutual Aid Calls: 2) Selected Calls — No Report 3) Support No Report Quarterly Report t Page 4 of 5 - Fire Chief: s Monthly Report LIFE SAFETY DIVISION Fire Prevention Bureau 1) Code Enforcement Division: November 13th, 2012 The Codes Enforcement Division received 21 complaints for the month of October. There were 9 complaints forwarded to the City of Ithaca Building Department and 3 complaints forwarded to the Town of Ithaca. There were 15 complaints closed out, and 45 complaints remain open since January 1 S` 2012. Some of the complaints that remain open are complaints referred to other agencies or departments. The Code Enforcement Division performed 73 fire safety and property maintenance inspections or re- inspections, witnessed 4 fire alarm test, and witnessed 2 fire sprinkler system tests. The Code Enforcement Division issued: 23 Operating Permits for Assembly Occupancies; 1 Operating Permit for Hazardous Occupancy; 3 Fire Alarm Certificate of Compliance; 1 Fire Sprinkler System Certificates of Compliance; and 11 Certificates of Compliance for Fire and Property Maintenance Inspections for October 2012. 2) Fire Investigation Unit: The fire investigation team performed one fire investigations in October: The investigation was a fire that occurred at the State Diner at 428 W. State St in the City of Ithaca. The cause of the fire was accidental. 3) Public Education and Special Events: There were 8 public education events, 4 fire drills, and 2 child car seat inspections performed by the department in October. The department has been performing public education activities in the Ithaca City School District this Fall. The Department will be providing regular public education opportunities throughout the year for all the Elementary Schools in our Response District. 4) Town of Ithaca: I met last week with Bruce Bates, TOI Director of Code Enforcement, and Herb Engman, Town Supervisor. We are working on an agreement for the Ithaca Fire Department to assist the Town with Fire Inspections in the Town. The next step in the process is to have the City Attorney and the Town's Attorney to work out the details of an MOU. There seems to be some legal issues that need to be addressed regarding the contract language and reimbursement for the inspections. Page 5 of 5 - Fire Chief's Monthly Report OPERATIONS DIVISION Response 1) Quarterly Call Report 2) Emergency Management No report Support 1) Training Center Quarterly Report Training Quarterly Report — Volunteer Recruitment and Retention 1) Summaries of Service Hours: Quarterly Report 2) There are currently 15 Active Volunteer Firefighters and Fire Police November 13th, 2012 3) Requests from Company Members to become active: No Requests Received 4) We have received 1 application for membership. We have attempted to schedule an interview but have not been successful making contact with the applicant. Neriton Hose November 13, 2012 2 Sunset W Ithaca. NY 14850 neritonfireco90 g mai (.corn &Ladder Company AN" Board of Fire Commissioners Ithaca Fire Department 310 West Green St Ithaca, NY 14850 Commissioner Gilligan, I am pleased to confirm that Neriton Fire Company #9 accepts the transfer of the following active members of the Ithaca Fire Department onto the membership rolls of Neriton Fire Company #9 as active members: • Andrew Adams • Lyman Baker • Jack Bordoni • Frank Cantone • Raymond Canzler • Jeffrey Cook • David Cornelius • William Gilligan • Scott Gingras • Jack Gould • Robert Longo • James Rogers • Raymond Wheaton` • Richard Wilbur We look forward to working with the Board of Fire Commissioners, the officers of the Ithaca Fire Department. and the other members of the Ithaca Fire Department to provide continued service to the department and the community. Sincerely, DanieMraas Company Cz cc: Secretary V V