2023-08-24 Fire Commission Minutes

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Hawaii Fire Commission Regular Session Minutes August 24, 2023 Page 3 • Commissioner Henkel motioned to approve the executive session minutes of July 27, 2023. Commissioner Luke seconded, no discussion, it carried unanimously and the minutes were approved. FIRE CHIEF'S REPORT Assistant Chief Darwin Okinaka highlighted items from the Fire Chief's Report, a detailed report is on file. • Highlights: HFD recently received a new H125 Airbus helicopter as a donation from the Daniel Sayre Foundation, with a blessing ceremony held on July 29th. Currently, they are conducting pilot training and developing a training program for all station personnel. In addition to this, HFD successfully completed its first Junior Lifeguard Program since the onset of COVID-19. He expressed gratitude to various organizations and individuals, including Ocean Safety personnel, the Alex and Duke De Rego Foundation, the Daniel R. Sayre Foundation, Councilmember Rebecca Villegas, Olukai, and the Hawaii Lifeguard Association, for their valuable support in these endeavors. • Budget: AC Okinaka provided a fiscal year 2023-2024 update, stating that the adjusted appropriation for salaries and wages is $40,379,243. As of now, year-to- date expenditures amount to $4,778,266.20, representing 11.83% of the allocated budget, with a target of 12.5%. For the OCE budget, it stands at $6,370,972.15, with year-to-date expenditures totaling $1,078,243.68. The State grant awards for the fiscal year 2024 are pending for EMS, Hapuna, Kua Bay, and Kekahakai State Park. Chair Kosaki inquired about USDA Forest Service Grants and whether they were intended for volunteers. AC Okinaka clarified that these grants are typically for volunteer firefighters and have been used to purchase equipment and provide training in the past. Recently, they have also been used to acquire brush trucks. Chair Kosaki asked whether there was a matching fund requirement from the department or the county for these grants. AC Okinaka indicated that he was unsure about any matching fund requirements. Assistant Chief Chadwick added that he wasn't directly involved in USDA Grants but could speak to the SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) and AFG (Assistance to Firefighters Grant) programs. He mentioned that they're constantly in pursuit of alternative funding. Commissioner Henkel confirmed that only County Council could raise the budget and asked if HFD could prepare requests for increased services and what would be required to meet the growing demand. AC Okinaka responded by explaining that HFD already engages in this process annually. They submit requests for increased services along with supplementary requests as part of their budget planning.