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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BFC-1993-08-10 Minutes : Regular meeting, Ithaca Fire Department, Board of Fire Commissioners, held on August 10, 1993 at Central Fire Station. I . The regular monthly meeting of the Board of Fire Commissioners of the Ithaca Fire Dept. was called to order at 1905 hrs . on August 10, 1993 by Chair Stuart Grinnell . Commissioners Susan Begg, Joe Bargher, Lyman Baker, Clayton Hamilton were in attendance. II . The Chair asked for any additions/deletions to the agenda - there were none. III . The Chair asked for persons wishing to speak to the BFC and there were none. At this time Chief Wilbur presented C. Thomas Parsons, newly appointed Lieutenant, who was sworn in by Chair of the Board, Stuart Grinnell . Following the swearing in, Chief Wilbur affixed Lieutenant ' s badge to Lt. Parsons . Next, Chief Wilbur presented newly appointed Assistant Chief, Leon LaBuff, and Stuart Grinnell administered the oath to Assistant Chief LaBuff. Following the oath, Chief Wilbur affixed the Assistant Chief ' s badge to Assistant Chief LaBuff . IV. The audit was approved. V. Membership changes - there were no membership changes for volunteers . Chief Wilbur reported on three new hires for career Firefighters - being Thomas Crowley, Martin Gissini and Joseph Bargher. At this time, Joseph Bargher submitted his resignation as Fire Commissioner to Chairman Grinnell . VI . Committee Reports : - Budget & Finance - Commissioner Hamilton spoke and acknowledged the partial donation by Wholesale Depot towards the purchase of a self-contained TV/VCR unit for Juvenile Firesetter' s Program and acknowledge the assistance and effort of Firefighter Greg Stevenson in organizing that purchase for the program. Comm. Grinnell spoke for the Budget & Finance Committee and indicated that no one was available to meet at this time of the year due to vacations; therefore there will be no report at this time. Personnel & Staffing Committee - Joe Bargher indicated that the process of seeking a Board Clerk was going to continue through the efforts of the Committee and that he had talked with Val Saul from City Personnel Dept. concerning extent of • Minutes August 10, 1993 Page 2 the pool of City staff with shortened hours available to do this work. They also discussed the appropriate salary range for the position based on the skills required. The Committee suggested that the Commission advertise for the position based on the criteria established and that they request the City Attorney to draft a sample contract for use in contracting with a person to do the board work. - Training & Volunteer Committee - Commissioners Bargher and Hamilton reported for the Training and Volunteer Committee. They reported that the balance of money, amounting to $4, 000 in the volunteer incentive account be used to support the newsletter, various other means of communication, and advertising for recruitment of volunteers . Comm. Hamilton then reported on the discussion that was held regarding the Fire Science program at TCIII . The Committee recommends that the Board of Fire Comm. from Ithaca meet in joint discussions with the BFC from the City of Cortland and representatives from TCIII to consider the possibility of restarting the fire science training program at TCIII . A motion to do this was made by Comm. Hamilton, seconded by Comm. Begg for discussion. Many of the pros and cons of the program were discussed, and the cost of the program to volunteers . It was established that this motion was simply to authorize discussions to determine feasibility. The motion was approved. Comm. Hamilton then moved that the $4,000 reserved out of the volunteer incentive fund be used for education/communications purposes . This was seconded by Comm. Begg for discussion. Additional discussion suggested the use for Juvenile Firesetters Program, C&O Team, and the possibility of considering discretionary requests on a case- by-case basis . The motion was amended to permit the Commission to dispense the $4,000 reserve on a case-by-case basis on the determination of need by the Commission. This was approved. Comm. Hamilton noted that the Training & Volunteer and the Personnel & Staffing Committees would be meeting monthly. - Comm. Grinnell reported on the Building & Equipment Committee indicated that also due to vacations, etc. , there had been no meeting of this Committee, thus no report. VII .Chief ' s Report: Chief Wilbur reported that due to the computer system being down, there was no report. He reminded the Board of the budget deadlines approaching and Minutes August 10, 1993 Page 3 he indicated he would attempt to have some information to them as soon as possible for those considerations . VIII .The monthly fire reports distributed to the Commissioner for their review. XI .Other - Chairman Grinnell reviewed several open issues as follows : - The Town/City Contract - Stu and Brian will get together to meet and discuss the direction to take with regard to the contract. - Board Resolution Project - the project will move along once a Board Clerk has been hired. - He asked about the status of the dog that had been requested by the career staff - report was that this is moving slowly. - In response to Chairman Grinnell 's question - Lee LaBuff reported on the physical fitness program that has been initiated by the career staff and indicated that there would be a formal proposal for the 1994 budget that would support that program as started. He described the aerobic fitness program that has been started by the A & B shifts where they are hiring Carolyn Peterson to lead them in aerobics and funding is coming from each person individually. It was indicated that volunteers could participate and it would probably be easier to do so as the program evolved and more predictable schedules were developed. - The Chief indicated that the space study report that was referred to the staff for review was still in the review process and a report will be forthcoming in future months . - The training tower status was inquired about - Chief Wilbur indicated that the capital budget would try and request planning funds and that the long term solution utilizing a regional approach to providing a training facility would probably provide more fruitful results than simply trying to fund it at the City level . - Comm. Hamilton made an announcement regarding the 1st Annual Beverly J. Martin Career Festival at Southside community Center on Aug. 14th and expressed his appreciation for involvement of the Fire Dept. in that activity. At 1947 hrs . the Board moved to adjourn to exec. session to discuss a personnel matter. • Minutes August 10, 1993 Page 4 At 2007 hrs . the Board reconvened in open session and moved to authorize staff to proceed in the direction they had been taking on a personnel matter, and they indicated to Comm. Bargher that he could continue to participate as his time allowed, until such time as the Mayor makes a replacement. At 2020 hrs . the meeting was adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Stuart Grinnell, Chairman (Minutes prepared and certified by Chief Brian H. Wilbur)