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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BFC-1995-10-10 BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS OCTOBER 10, 1995 MINUTES PRESENT: Commissioners Jennings, Romanowski, Nelson and Yahn ABSENT: Commissioner Baker I . Chairperson Jennings called the meeting to order at 1805 hrs . II. Comm. Romanowski made a motion to approve the minutes of the September 12, 1995 meeting as written. Seconded by Comm. Nelson. Carried unanimously. Comm. Romanowski made a motion to approve the minutes of the September 18, 1995 meeting as written. Seconded by Comm. Yahn. Carried unanimously. III. Additions/Deletions to the Agenda - None IV. Persons wishing to speak to the Board of Fire Commissioners - None V. Correspondence: - Memo from Asst. City Attorney regarding ability to certify an eligible list for firefighters to give preference to City and Town of Ithaca applicants. (See Minute Book) - Comm. Romanowski made a motion to approve payment of dues for 1996 to the Central New York Firemen's Assoc. in the amount of $10.00. Seconded by Comm. Nelson. Carried unanimously. (Comm. Yahn noted her objection to the use of the name Firemen. ) - Comm. Nelson made a motion to approvement payment of a bill for $6 .00 to Specialty Trophies for engraving. Seconded by Comm. Romanowski. Carried unanimously. - Letter to Company Captains from Comm. Baker encouraging volunteer activity. (See Minute Book) - Letter to Volunteer Bill Gilligan from Chief Wilbur thanking him for his many contributions to the Department. (See Minute Book) - Memo to Board and Recruitment Task Force from Chief Wilbur dated September 27, 1995 regarding Other Ides for Staffing Alternatives. (See Minute Book) - Letter from Senior Bunker, N.C. Dylan Willoughby regarding status of duty uniforms for non-member bunkers. (See Minute Book) . Discussion of this item followed: - There are 10 or fewer non-member bunkers; - Some are members of their hometown fire departments and BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS 2 OCTOBER 10, 1995 therefore are not eligible to join the Ithaca Fire Department; - Comm. Romanowski feels the companies should not have to pay for non-members' uniforms; - Vol. Coord. Lynch feels uniforms should be made available since standyby duty is required for them; - D.C. Dorman reminded everyone that bunkers aren't eligible for incentive money; - Captain Joseph said his impression was that bunkers weren't included as they receive some clothing items during their initial training; - Most felt that non-member bunkers should receive uniforms as others. Comm. Romanowski made a motion that uniforms for non- member bunkers be purchased from Incentive Monies out of the Fire Department operating account. Seconded by Comm. Nelson. Carried unanimously. - Other - Comm. Nelson asked if there were any opportunities for young people to become involved with the Fire Department. Vol. Coord. Lynch reported that an information meeting was being held on October 18, 1995 at 7:00 P.M. to talk about the possibility of an Explorer Post or other options to have young adults get involved with the Fire Department. This meeting is part of a new thrust to seek younger volunteers as other methods to recruit community members to become volunteers has not been successful. VI. Tompkins County Fire Advisory Board - no report. VII. Membership Changes: Comm. Nelson made a motion to accept the deletion of several people from roles of Volunteer Companies as noted in memo from Vol. Coord. Lynch for non-residency. (See list in Minute Book) . Seconded by Comm. Romanowski. Carried unanimously. Comm. Nelson made a motion to approve the following new members : - David Ayers - Co. #2 - Ron Chapman - Co. #3 - Josh Rich - Co. #1 Seconded by Comm. Romanowski. Carried unanimously. VIII . Committee Reports - Chairperson Jennings reported that he, Comm. Yahn, Chief Wilbur and Deputy Chief Dorman meet with the Mayor and City Controller to have a preliminary discussion of the 1996 proposed budget. Chief Wilbur will discuss this in more depth in his report; however, Charles noted that the fist of the meeting is that revenues are down, contractual obligations alone increase the budget between 4 and 6 percent, and no new positions . The staff and Board's position is that we will persist in requesting BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS 3 OCTOBER 10, 1995 new positions. IX. Chief's report: - 1996 budget request: Chief Wilbur discussed his memo to the Board dated October 10, 1995 regarding budget alternatives . (See copy in Minute Book) He has also met again with the City Controller and the message he is receiving is even more restrictive. Reduction of the budget is needed to preserve programs and avoid layoffs. The Controller has asked to have an alternate budget submitted that includes contractual obligations only. Chief Wilbur will work on this and send it to him. The Chief feels that repeating the cycle (asking for more positions) year and year without success does nothing to address our plight. Therefore, he offered 4 staffing alternatives that the Board discussed at length. Chief Wilbur indicated that there may be many other alternatives, these are his initial ideas. Staffing proposal #1: Convert to staffing-level-driven apparatus assignments : Chief Wilbur and D.C. Dorman described this option that the number of apparatus in service will depend on how many people are on duty (includes career, bunkers and volunteers) . D.C. Dorman provided charts that show how the responses would work out. Both the Chief and Deputy Chief are most in favor of this option. Proposals 2, 3 and 4 require a large amount of research and evaluation. Some discussion of the options included: Option #1: - Goal is to bring a team to the fire ground more quickly and efficiently; - Change the thrust to not how many vehicles arrive at the scene, but how many people are responding; - Daytime, summers and vacation periods are the critical times when fewer personnel are available; - Comm. Romanowski was concerned about the impact on the City/Town Contract - needs assurances of same level of coverage. Chief Wilbur indicated any of the options would not change the responses in the Town of Ithaca; - Comm. Jennings feels Staffing Proposal #1 is the only realistic way of handling calls with the staffing limitations; officers would need flexibility of moving personnel and apparatus around during simultaneous calls; - Cornell involvement in alarms - consideration of changing response to buildings that are fully sprinklered; and more involvement of Environmental Health & Safety. BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS 4 OCTOBER 10, 1995 Option #2: Paid on-call system for volunteers - out of existing resources - currently $32,000 potential; Option #3: Close one or two fire stations permanently - needs lots of analysis, but deserves study and accurate assessment. Comm. Nelson feels the public is not aware of the complexity of the department and this option would generate a great amount of public reaction. Option #4: Consolidate Building & Fire Departments to better deal with the code enforcement issues: with the loss of a Deputy Chief's position (when Brian Wilbur became Chief) - this was the primary function of the position. Currently code enforcement and plan review for fire protection issues is not getting done or not getting done well. Fire Department issues are not being looked at closely. A City/Town code division could be created, but requires much analysis . After discussion of all options, Commissioner Romanowski made a motion to adopt Alternative #1 as a concept, however, additional personnel is still needed. Seconded by Comm. Nelson. Carried unanimously. Chief Wilbur reported that these options will be discussed with staff and labor management groups. He will also provide a report that describes the number of simultaneous responses . - Cornell University/City of Ithaca Memorandum of Understanding - the Board was provided a copy of the agreement and it was duly noted that the monies paid by Cornell will not show up in the Fire Department budget - they will be used to offset City revenue loss. - Apparatus Report: Deputy Chief Tom Dorman reported the following: - The Herkimer ladder truck will be finished this week and put in service; - New aerial coming from Saulsbury - should be delivered sometime between Halloween and Thanksgiving - training will begin immediately upon delivery; - Common Council authorized two capital projects for vehicle replacements: $50,000 (942 replacement) and $860,000 (933 replacement) . The Town Board will meet to consider these projects on Tuesday, November 14, 1995. X. Old Business : - Comm. Nelson again pointed out that the public needs to be educated on Fire Department issues - cost of apparatus, staffing, etc. How does the public perceive the problems of the Fire Dept. ? BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS 5 OCTOBER 10, 1995 Need to let them know. Common Council liaison Pam Mackesey has offered to do a guest editorial in the Ithaca Journal regarding staffing needs and general needs of the Fire Department in an attempt to further educate the public. Assistant Chief VanBenschoten did a Customer Service Survey for the Ithaca Fire Department in 1991 and will furnish copies to Pam and the Board. This will assist in getting a sense of the public's perception of Fire Department issues. XI . At 1935 hrs. the Board moved into Executive Session to discuss a personnel matter. The Board resumed Open Session at 2000 hrs. Comm. Nelson made a motion to approve a request of a needy member. Seconded by Comm. Romanowski. Carried unanimously. XII . The meeting adjourned at 2001 hrs. Respectfully submitted, q/t/t Charles Jennings, Chairperson