HomeMy WebLinkAboutrepaug14.pdfEXHIBIT 2014-029
September 16, 2015
Honorable Kate Supron
Board of Trustees
Village of Cayuga Heights
Monthly Report – July, 2014
There were 53 calls for the fire department in July. There were 39 calls in the Village of Cayuga Heights,
11 calls in the Town of Ithaca and 3 mutual aid requests. We had 18 EMS runs and 35 fire calls. On July
8th a storm moved through the village causing multiple calls for trees and power lines down. The fire
department, police department and Department of Public Works were extremely busy that evening. The
volunteers of the fire department handled 13 calls in a two hour time period. We cleared many trees from
the roadway to keep them open and blocked off several areas until NYSEG could get the power lines
secured.
On July 15th we did training at the station on roll in drills. We split the members up into truck companies
and practiced responding to calls. The crews had to deploy hand lines, establish water supply and initiate
searches for victims. With these drills we try to develop our exterior firefighters by placing them in
leadership positions. Several months ago we went to Dryden with our FAST members and did a drill with
Dryden and Cortlandville on skills. That training went very well and we formed a group to plan further
joint trainings. We decided to plan for joint FAST training on the fifth Tuesday of months that have five
Tuesdays. We held training at the mall facility on the 26th of July. There were six fire departments from
three counties. We did FAST drills for several hours with all the departments. This went very well and the
next one is scheduled for September at the facility in Cortland.
We have been having an ongoing problem with the left side hydraulic lift cylinder on L231. Several years
ago the cylinder was leaking from the “Cushing nut”. We had it repaired but the problem occurred again
last year. While the truck was in for service in July it was found to be leaking again. Tyler Fire Equipment
looked closely and found that there was a sharp surface where the “O” ring sat in the cylinder. We were
told by E-One and Texas Hydraulics that this part was out of warranty and that we could replace the entire
cylinder for around $5,000. After some animated discussions with both companies we came to the
agreement to ship the cylinder to Texas Hydraulics (the company that made the unit) and they would
attempt to fix the problem under a special warranty situation. We hope to come to an agreement with them
and E-One that will take the major burden of cost off the village. We have also found that U243 is having
an issue with rusting on the driver’s side rear quarter panel and the bottom of the driver and passenger
doors. The vehicle was taken to McGuire Dodge and in speaking with them hope that they will cover the
cost of repairing the rust on the vehicle at minimal or no cost to the village.
We are still dealing with the broken air handling unit that controls the heat and air conditioning for the
training room and kitchen. We have been told by HSC Associates that the unit is obsolete at this time and
they are unable to get parts to fix it. We were told that these were “old” units when the station was built in
2000. HSC Associates is working on a price quote to replace the air handler at this time. We have had
problems with the physical plant of the station for many years. We have had to replace the boiler, all the
circulation pump motors have been replaced several times, we have replaced two stand-alone air
conditioning units and we have had continuous problems with all the air handling units at the station. I
have tried to find a way to get some of this work covered by warranty but many of the sub-contractors who
had worked on the station are out of business now. This is a very frustrating and costly problem.
Morale at the station is very high at this time. It always seems that our members are happiest when we are
busy. For those who have stayed in the area for the summer it has been a banner time to raise call
percentages. We are looking forward to getting back to full staffing at the end of August and starting our
fall recruit process.
Sincerely,
George Tamborelle
Fire Chief/Fire Superintendent