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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BFC-1995-09-12 BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS SEPTEMBER 12, 1995 MINUTES PRESENT: COMMISSIONERS BAKER, ROMANOWSKI, YAHN AND NELSON. ABSENT: COMMISSIONER JENNINGS I . Vice Chairperson Baker called the meeting to order at 1806 hrs . II . Comm. Romanowski made a motion to approve the minutes of the August 12, 1995 meeting as written. Seconded by Comm. Yahn. Carried unanimously. III . Additions/Deletions to the Agenda: One item for executive session. IV. Persons wishing to speak to the Board of Fire Commissioners : - Ernie Jackson reported that the meeting of the Volunteer Recruitment Task Force with the Fire Chief was very productive; Ernie has talked with Lt. Tier regarding a measuring session with the uniform representative for those volunteers who will be ordering uniforms; Mr. Jackson also reported that the group also supports the Chief's request for more staffing. V. Correspondence: - A request from the Vet. Firemen for support (equipment) on Oct. 14, 1995 for Fire Prevention Week was referred to Deputy Chief Dorman; - Letter from Assistant City Attorney regarding legalities of civil service lists and the question of residency; - Town Supervisor Whitcomb regarding Town Haz Mat Response Plan Adoption (Town & City adopt the same plan) ; - Memo from Chief along with magazine articles regarding safety issues - OSHA regulations, manpower, etc. - Letter to Ithaca Police Dept. from Chief Wilbur thanking them for support during the W. State St. Fire; - Letter to Companies from Marcia Lynch asking for membership updates; - Letter to IPFF Union from Chief Wilbur congratulating them for a successful Kid's Day in Stewart Park; - Letter from Bunker Dylan Willoughby to Board of Public Works regarding parking permits (item referred to old business portion of the meeting) ; BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS 2 SEPTEMBER 12, 1995 - Letter from Marcia Lynch to Tom Salm at Ithaca College thanking the College for support of the bunker training program (provision of meals) ; - Letter to Ray McCabe at Time Warner Cable thanking them for providing public service announcements for recruitment campaign; - Letter to Board of Fire Commissioners from Chairperson Jennings regarding his opinions of staffing shortages; - Chief Wilbur reported that an article written by the Ithaca Times took some of his discussion regarding manpower issues out of context. The main point he was attempting to make in the article was that manpower needs to arrive within the first 5 minutes of a fire. VI . Report from the Tompkins County Fire Advisory Board: Chief Wilbur reported that 6 members of the Board dealing with the E-911 System went to Albany today to meet with the Public Service Commission to discuss the disagreements with NYNEX. The PSC will research the information and get back to the group within a couple of weeks . One issue is regarding privacy and unlisted phone numbers; another issue is the use of the 35 cent surcharge. - A survey is being conducted regarding dispatching procedures with regard to intervals between 2nd and 3rd activations . Most departments don't have a problem with the current 3 minute interval - automatic mutual aid after 4 minutes . Although not uniformly used, most departments feel this is appropriate. Chief Wilbur reported that automatic mutual aid requests to the Ithaca Fire Department have been more frequent recently - surrounding departments are having difficulty getting responses particularly during the day. This is an item that we will need to look at closely. - Chief Wilbur reported that Jack Miller's budget for the Tompkins County Fire Coordinator's operations passed the first round of the County budget process . VII . Membership Changes: - Comm. Romanowski made a motion to approve the addition of Carl Linger and Amanda St. Denis to the roles of Company #3. Seconded by Comm. Yahn. Carried unanimously. - Comm. Romanowski made a motion to accept the resignation of Jeffrey Bourck from Co. #5 . Seconded by Comm. Nelson. Carried unanimously. - The Board noted the death of George Snow, a member . BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS 3 SEPTEMBER 12, 1995 of Co. 6 . - The Board noted that Skip Inman was dropped from the roles of Co. #6 for non-residency. VIII . Committee Reports - Comm. Yahn had a phone conversation regarding camera equipment for the C & 0 team. IX. Chief's Report: - Chief Wilbur reported that work on the rear parking lot at Central is scheduled to begin next week. Alternate parking will be available curbside on Green & Fayette Sts. - Chief Wilbur showed the Board new parking permits for Volunteers and Career staff. Once the new permits are ready to be distributed, everyone will be notified to come to the office to get a new one. There will also be "official business" permits for those who need to park on i.e. Cornell Campus, while conducting investigations, etc. - Marks from the most recent Civil Service exam are due out tomorrow. The Affirmative Action Committee has protested the requirement to have a Commercial Driver's License. All candidates will be considered regardless of this requirement. Currently there are no vacancies until the end of February when 2 firefighters are retiring. The process to have 2 firefighters retire as a result of injuries has been tremendously slow . - The 1996 budget process has been a very slow, difficult budget to prepare as departments have been requested to incorporate program budgeting and to breakdown and list fringe benefits, worker's comp. , etc. Chief Wilbur had some questions of the City Controller and Deputy City Controller who are both out of town all week. - The memo from Charles Jennings regarding his concern of additional personnel needs to be addressed by the entire Board. Since he is not in attendance at this meeting, a special meeting has been set for Monday, September 18, 1995 to address this and the entire budget request. The meeting will be held at Central Fire Station at 1800 hrs. Lyman Baker will notify Charles and reminders to Board members - the Clerk will make the official public notification of the meeting. - The Chief read the budget instructions from the Mayor which did not give specific percentages. - The Chief discussed the very difficult personnel problem as it relates to those who are on a long term disability. The New York State Retirement System process to bring this issue to closure is BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS 4 SEPTEMBER 12, 1995 long and grueling. He feels the whole process needs to be revamped. X. Old Business - Deputy Chief Dorman provided the Board with a copy of the request to the Budget and Administration Committee regarding apparatus replacement. (See copy of memo attached) . After considering the information, Comm. Romanowski made a motion to approve the request for replacement of Vehicle 942 (light rescue) with the addition in the resolution to provide for the specification and purchase (see attached resolution) . Seconded by Comm. Nelson. Carried unanimously. Comm. Romanowski made a motion to approve the request for replacement of Vehicle 933 (aerialscope) with the addition in the resolution to provide for the specification and purchase (see attached resolution) . Seconded by Comm. Nelson. Carried unanimously. These purchases are in keeping with the apparatus replacement schedule that was agreed upon many years ago along with the City/Town contract. Support for these requests should be made at the Budget and Administration Committee meeting that will be held on Wednesday, September 20, 1995 at 7 : 30 P.M. in City Hall . - Comm. Baker discussed the dismal numbers of volunteer responses over the last several months . He noted that some companies don't have any active members responding to fire calls at all. Chief Wilbur indicated that prior to 1996, there will be a formal contract between the volunteer companies and the City that describes specifically the relationship and expectations of volunteer companies and their members. Comm. Baker and Volunteer Coord. Marcia Lynch both spoke to the lack of response from the community at the many recent volunteer recruitment activities . - After discussing the long outstanding problem of parking for bunkers at Station 9, Comm. Romanowski made a motion that a memo be sent to the Board of Public Works supporting the issue of parking arrangements for bunkers at Station 9 in the Dryden Rd. parking ramp. Seconded by Comm. Nelson. Carried unanimously. - A request for partial funding for a volunteer to attend a school as part of the Cause & Origin team was referred to the Chief who indicated the request could be supported from the training budget of the Fire Department. XI . At 7 : 30 P.M. Comm. Romanowski made a motion to move into executive session to discuss a personnel matter. Seconded by Comm. Nelson. Carried unanimously. BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS 5 SEPTEMBER 12, 1995 The Board resumed open session at 7 :54 P.M. Comm. Yahn made a motion to approve a request of the 2% Active Firemen's Relief Fund for a needy member of Company #2 . Seconded by Comm. Nelson. The motion carried (with Comm. Baker abstaining) . X. The meeting adjourned at 7:55 P.M. Respectfully submitted, &-)Itritir1L- Lyman Baker Vice Chairperson