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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BFC-1995-05-09 BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS May 9,1995 Minutes Present: Commissioners Lyman Baker,Charles Jennings,Ch.,Alvin Nelson,Robert Roymanowski Chair Jennings called the meeting in order at 1906 hours. 1. Moved by Comm. Jennings,seconded by Comm. Romanowski to approve the minutes from the April 11, 1995 Board meeting. Approved unanimously. 2. There were no additions or deletions to the agenda. 3. Persons wishing to speak to the Board: Jim Joseph,Co. 6,Chairman of the Captain's Group announced that the Captain's Group is getting representatives from each of the Companies to work on the Company's use of City money issue. He projected that it would take a month or tvo to come up vith a proposal. He said that it is going to be a working group. 1. Correspondence: •The Board received a letter from Chris Wilbur concerning the availability of data used to conduct monthly audits. The Board meeting date,the second Tuesday of each month does not allow all of the bills from the previous month to be tallied. Chris Wilbur was making the Board aware that the audits done after Board meetings are not completely accurate because of the availability of bills. • The Board received a notice from the Ovego Fire Association about events this summer. • The Board received a notice of the Onondaga County softball tournament. •The Board received a copy of the letter Chief Wilbur sent to four student interns that have been accepted to work for the Department this summer. • The Board received a letter dated May 9, 1995 from Assistant Chief Wheaton that which asks that the Board pay half the expenses for firefighters to attend the Ohio Arson School. The amount is$675.50. This issue was referred to the Budget and Finance Committee. •The Board received an announcement that the Central Neer York Fire Association Annual Conference will be held in Ovego,Neer York from July 20-21, 1995. 5. Tompkins County Fire Advisory Board: The Board received the minutes from their April meeting. Chief Wilbur stated that the goal of the Fire Advisory Board is to deal vith things that involve activities or resources beyond the scope of one department. Chief Wilbur gave a status report of the 911 system. Tlx:projected date of its completion has been delayed to October 1, 1995. The situation vith the EMS funding decrease is the same because of the State budget. The Department will try to deal vith the EMS problem in-house by refreshing our on people. Chief Wilbur also sent a letter to the Advisory Board announcing that the City Training Center was temporarily closed for tvo reasons. First,the Center is being worked on. Next,their have been problems of Departments not cleaning up the facility properly after use. A use contract is being put together to change these occurrences. The contract vents to create a situation where Departments are more accountable for the upkeep of the facility. A letter about the concept of getting funding for a regional facility was also presented and reiterated. 6. Membership Changes: Moved by Comm. Nelson,seconded by Comm. Baker to grant preliminary approval of Ernesto. Approved unanimously. 7. Committee Reports: Budget& Finance - an audit of the Department spending will be done after the meeting Buildings Sr. Equipment-the extraction system work has been started •The Common.Council approved spending$37,500 for a used fire truck if the Department needs it. • A Herkimer ladder is being tested this Friday. •The ladder truck chassis will be finished on Friday. It is them going to LTI. •The nay pumper will be completed in two weeks. Personnel& Training:no business Fire Prevention: no business 8. Chiefs Report: • The Department staff is trying to get the information for the new computer network with City Hall vhere local government information can be accessed by computer. • There gill be four students from E. Kentucky University interning in the Department this summer. They will arrive around May 20 or 21, 1995. The students are at different levels in their education. The Department will access their capabilities and get them assigned to suitable duties. One intern will be returning to the Department from a previous summer. •In the Minority Recruitment memorandum,Valerie Saul reported on the applications for the civil service exam. The results were: 184 applications vere submitted, 177 mere valid,36-were female, 17 Mere minority,and 20%did not indicate their race. Sixty-three more applications were were submitted than other times in the last two years. There will be a test preparation session held by the Department before June 3, 1995. Chief Wilbur stated that they did a compressed effort to get people signed up and prepared for the test It is an ongoing effort to make people aware of what the Fire Department offers. The effort starts in the schools.. •A letter from the City of Ithaca Planning Department dated May 3, 1995 vas received by Chief Wilbur asking for Capital Project request by Wednesday,May 31st The Board Buildings and Equipment Committee is usually the arena this decision making process is done in. Since the committee viii not meet again before the deadline,this deadline date is impossible. The City Capital Improvements Reviev Committee will meet on June 28, 1995. It viii go to the City Budget and Administration Committee on August 16, 1995. The draft that is given to the Board of Fire Commissioners usually comes from the staff, and you can add things at anytime. The Board narrows the list given by the Department staff. Chief Wilbur is going to write a letter to John Begg asking to delay the deadline for submitting the requests. • Much weight is being given to obtaining a new training tower. A regional training center mould be better. We are looking at how other people in the county are looking at alternative sources of funding. It would be easier to get grant money if it is a regional effort and will be regional center. • The City Controller approving the City purchasing the Herkimer aerial for the Department restored the Department's equipment to vhere we were before. We are scheduled to buy another aerial in 1996. The City Controller thinks another aerial should be bought in 2001. We are looking to see if ye can consolidate the debt. The nay aerial ladder will replace the 1976 Mac. We are looking at$200,000 to$400,000 to purchase a good used vehicle to last until 2000. • Chief Wilbur passed out a memorandum about a meeting with the City Attorney about the City Charter. Some things can just be deleted and other things need to be added regarding evacuating buildings vhen fire alarms sound. 9. Old Business: •Chair Jennings asked Chief Wilbur about the annual report. Chief Wilbur responded that it is coming. He vas also asked about the report by Linda Robinson targeted towards Service and Retention. She is a focus group trainer and a Professor of Marketing at Ithaca College. The focus groups -were asked to be candid. There is some language that needs to be revised,therefore the final version of the report has not been completed. •Moved by Comm. Baker,seconded by Comm. Romanovski to give the$2,000 in City funds to all Companies that turned in their annual report. This is every Company except Co. 3. Approved unanimously. •Chief Wilbur vas asked what happens to the money that is not given to Companies. That money stays in the Department's operating budget. •Regarding the status of the Cause and Origin equipment request,Comm. Yahn has met u:ith a bunch of owner's of camera equipment stores about d lr alions to the Teen. • The letter vent out to the Board of Public Works concerning traffic calming devices. 10. Executive Session vas held on a personnel matter at 1955 hours and ended at 2000 hours. 11. Moved by Comm. Romaruovski.,seconded by Comm. Nelson to adjourn at 2000 hours. Approved unanimously. 12. The audit vas started at 2000 hours and completed at 2012 hours. $8,082.95 vas spent in the last tiro weeks. •