2014-03-12 Fire Commission Regular Minutes

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Hawai‘i County Fire Commission Regular Session Minutes March 12, 2014 Page 2 (Commissioner De Luz entered at 10:15 a.m.) FIRE CHIEF’S REPORT (Including but not limited to the items listed below.) Chief Rosario asked for feedback and suggestions on how his report is presented to the commission. When they are in Hilo, he will bring his operations personnel to give a report and answer questions and showcase equipment to the commission. He highlighted items from his written report: BUDGET STATUS FY 2013/2014: They continue to be on track. They were told they have to absorb the union raises from the current budget. They expect to be in the black by the end of the fiscal year but could have to cut back on some items such as training. New Accountant Lorenzo is doing a great job at monitoring the budget. FY 2014/2015: On April 2, the Fire Department will do their presentation to the full Council. He asked the commission for assistance during statements from the public. A lot of times Council members will ask why the stations are not staffed with more personnel. They are behind in NFPA staffing guidelines. They followed Mayor Kenoi’s directive of 5% cut. The Mayor afforded them supplemental budgetary resources. Commissioner De Luz suggested they give visual presentations to help the Council understand their needs. Chief Rosario said they will make a Power Point presentation. ALTERNATIVE FUNDING AND GRANTS FY 2012 Assistance to Fire Fighters Grant Application: They are looking forward to rolling out this Train the Trainer course for fire ground training. FY 2012 Assistance to Fire Fighters Prevention Grant Application: This grant is for smoke detectors for people at high risk, usually elderly. FY 2013 CDBG Grant for Waiakea Quint: The department received a no-cost grant deadline extension, and the quint is scheduled to be delivered to Hilo on August 1. Capital Improvement Projects: The Fire Administration Training Dispatch Center on Mohouli is in the design stage, but at this time there is no funding for construction. The Kawailani station relocation to Haihai St. is moving ahead (Chief Honda is currently working with DLNR and Council member Onishi). GOALS AND OBJECTIVES UPDATE Chief Rosario reported that he is actively working on revamping the department’s strategic plan. Twenty-eight volunteers from the department reviewed the mission and vision statement and core values; suggestions for improvement are being collected. They want to have an updated strategic plan out sometime in July. They’ve modeled