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Home My WebLink About2003-09-10 Fire Commission Minutes HAWAII COUNTY FIRE COMMISSION REGULAR SESSION - MINUTES September 10, 2003 Royal Kona Resort 75-5852 Alii Drive Kailua-Kona, HI 96740 Resolution Room CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Commissioner Neil Brazier at 10:05 am. ROLL CALL: PRESENT: Stephen Bowles (10:15 am arrival) Neil Brazier Rudolph Hart Louis Kaoiwi Karen Maedo Laura Ward Terry Wallace (10:13 am arrival) A quorum was present. Excused: Dale Fergerstrom Absent: Natalie Flattes ALSO PRESENT: Lincoln Ashida Martha Rodillas Darryl Oliveira Laurie Kaneta Desmond Wery Sanford, Noni Joe Whitney STATEMENTS ON AGENDA ITEMS None APPROVAL OF MEETING PROCEEDINGS Commissioner Maedo moved to accept the August 13, 2003, regular session minutes. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Hart and unanimously car APPROVAL OF WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS Commissioner Kaoiwi moved to accept communication numbers 03-56 through 03-65. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Ward and unanimously car CHIEFÓS REPORT Chief Oliveira recognized HFD personnel Fire Rescue Specialist David Cecil & wife Laurie Î did video. Fire Rescue Specialist Scott Crozier & Firefighter EMT Gifford Matsuoka & Firefighter/MICT Chad Toyomura. The HFC applauded this talented group of dedicated workers and complimented them on a very enlightening and professional video. Budget: Communications have been sent to the Governor asking not to cut the EMS budget by 10%. Support from the HFC is greatly appreciated. Waiting to see what the stateÓs revenue projection is. No department is isolated or exempt from budget cuts. Commissioner Ward stated that the Governor would be on this island next week Tuesday at a public meeting. Commissioner Ward planned to attend the meeting and will speak about that matter. There will be a Finance workshop on September 8 regarding budget matters. Grants: Submitted an application to obtain money for a trailer. This trailer will be used for education in fire prevention, hurricane safety, earthquake safety, etc. The trailer is designed to be taken into communities to target schools and elderly projects. HELCO will donate a truck for this cause. CIP: Puna public safety complex: discussing the replacement of the Puna fire station. Looking at the site owned by Shipman located nearby Kamehameha Schools. Parcel of land has approximately 30 acres with excellent visibility and the ability to provide the site with a training facility. Pahoa fire station: met with a private landowner thatÓs interested in providing land to the County, which is located by the new bypass road (old Pahoa/Keaau highway). This would be an ideal site with high visibility. Kalaua fire station: met with Roger Rule regarding access to the lot. Fire Administration Building: Mayor has given the approval to move to a larger office within the County Building (across the hall from current location). Continuing to work on a permanent home for Fire Administration. Tentative sites have been identified. 2 nd Promotions & hiring: 2 recruit class continuing with firefighter training. There will be an agility test of 107 candidates on Saturday. Looking at hi this list of candidates. Operations division: HFD received a letter of intent of closure of the KMC station with a date of January, 2005. This will allow HFD the time to get levels of st station. Senator Dan Inouye will look for funds to help defray costs with this project. Vehicles and facilities will be available for use. ÐWeapons of Mass DestructionÑ training in partners with military response team involved a week long process that provided Ðtable top and exercisesÑ. Hurricane Jimena: it was learned that there needs to be better coordination in the response communication. Areas along the coast need to be Ðb Thank you to the CommissionerÓs who showed up at the leadership graduation. Training division: EMT training involved personnel from various districts. Volunteer division: Next volunteerÓs meeting is scheduled for October 25, 2003. Fire Auxiliary Services Division: A dispatcher will do a presentation at the October meeting in Hilo. New projects: Started implementation of records management system. Samples of data that can be extracted from the system network were circulated. Information in the system will be made available instantly. This will allow the HFD to measure how operations can be improved. EMS Division: EMT training involved personnel from various districts. Public Relations: KTA bag brigade; Thanks to all that came out! Raised over $3,000. nd Fire prevention week is 2 week of October. Events to be held in East Hawai`i at the Wailoa Visitors Center. This will be the 20-year anniversary for the rescue helicopter being in Hilo. The helicopter will be re-blessed. Everyone is welcomed to attend. Chief Oliveira attended the ÐMeth summitÑ co-sponsored by the Mayor, Police Department & Senator InouyeÓs office. HFD will be looked at part of the solution to this on-going problem. Chief Oliveira attended a conference on Maui regarding communications - comparing different types of communication centers, i.e. HFD & HPD being dispatched from one area, etc. UNFINISHED BUSINESS NONE 3 COMMITTEE REPORTS Budget & Finance (Bowles/Hart) Commissioner Hart reported that he met with Representative Dwight Takamine. Representative Takamine is concerned about the proposed budget cut. Communication will be kept open with Representative Takamine after Chief Oliveira & Mayor meet regarding budget situation. Office Management and Staffing (Fergerstrom/Wallace) none Rules and Policies (Kaoiwi/Flattes) none Public Relations (Ward) none NEW BUSINESS Commissioner Wallace stated that the HFD has a great canoe team and expects them to do well. Commissioner Wallace led a moment of silence to reflect on the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Commissioner Kaoiwi is concerned about the medical budget cuts a recommending that a letter be sent to the legislators in addition to the Governor Commissioner Bowles met with Chief Oliveira about this matter. Deputy Managing Director Pete Hendricks expressed concern of the budget cuts bec heard anything about this matter. There will be a meeting tonight in Waimea at 5:30 p.m. Commissioner Bowles is concerned that the word is not going out. He will assist the Chief in this venture. Chief Oliveira stated that cutbacks will impact service. A determination needs to be made regarding which community will be impacted. Helicopter operations may be scaled back to a 12-hour window operation. Aircraft schedules and availability will need to be adjusted. The ambulance fleet is in need of replacement. Commissioner Ward will work on a letter with the Chief addressed to the Governor and Legislators. Chief Oliveira expressed to each Commissioner to communicate their interests to the communities of the districts that they each represent. Commissioner Bowles read a letter that was sent to the Chief from Donna Maiava dated July 14, 2003. Commissioner Bowles partially read the ChiefÓs letter to Donna Maiava. 4 Corporation Counsel Ashida advised the HFC that they cannot speak about this matter unless it is submitted to the HFC secretary and is placed on the agenda. Commissioner Maedo stated that these letters should be placed on the agenda then it will become a public record. Corporation Counsel Ashida asked that these letters be provided to Martha. Commissioner Bowles moved to put these letters on the next agenda. Commissioner Ward seconded this motion. Commissioner Wallace asked if it would be ok for a Commissioner to write a letter to the newspaper about information that arises from the HFC meetings. Corporation Counsel Ashida advised that it is ok to write to the newspaper without identifying yourself as a ÐFire CommissionerÑ. It is best to write and identify yourself as a private citizen. Remember to keep in mind if you are able to segregate (in your mind) what is privileged and not privileged. You lose your qualified immunity if this information is disclosed. Commissioner Bowles would like to represent the HFC to the Governor regarding concerns of the budget cuts at the upcoming public meeting. Corporation Counsel Ashida advised that if you are a ÐFire CommissionerÑ you are always a ÐFire CommissionerÑ. If something needs to be discussed, it must be placed on the agenda to discuss or take any action. PUBLIC STATEMENTS None. ANNOUNCEMENTS The next meeting is to be held on Wednesday, October 8, 2003, at 10:00 a.m. at the Hilo Lagoon Centre, Liquor Control Conference Room. Set agenda for October 8, 2003 meeting. Dispatch presentation to be held at October meeting & review of the drug program. It was noted that Commissioner Kaoiwi and Commissioner Bowles will not be present at the October meeting. ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned at 11:13 a.m. SUBMITTED BY: __________________________ MARTHA A. RODILLAS Secretary 5 B&C:Fire Commission:Regular Session Minutes 9-10-03 LSA/mr 6