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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-07-11 Fire Commission Minutes HAWAI‘I COUNTY FIRE COMMISSION MINUTES OF JULY 11, 2012 THE HILO LAGOON CENTRE 101 AUPUNI ST., HILO, HAWAII CALL TO ORDER Chair Toby Taniguchi called the meeting to order at 10:03 a.m. ROLL CALL Present: Toby Taniguchi, Chair Kaloa Robinson, Vice Chair Laurie Bass, Commissioner Gregory Henkel, Commissioner Kimo Lee, Commissioner Byron Moku, Commissioner Excused: Carol Kitaoka, Commissioner Luahiwa Namahoe, Commissioner A quorum was present. Also Present: Darren Rosario, Fire Chief Gerald Kosaki, Battalion Chief Tom Brandt, Volunteer Chief Wayne Krug, Volunteer Captain Ron Ebert, Volunteer Captain Ken Shisler, Volunteer Lincoln S. T. Ashida, Corporation Counsel Josie Pelayo, Secretary APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Moku moved to approve the agenda. Commissioner Henkel seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS None FIRE CHIEF’S REPORT Fire Chief Darren Rosario highlighted the following items from his written report. BUDGET UPDATE FY 2011-2012 close out Chief Rosario reported that the $2,423,972 balance reflects ongoing grants and private contributions. Balances normally go into the general fund. He requested HawaiÒi County Fire Commission Minutes of July 11, 2012 Page 2 funds for additional apparatus if monies were left over. Some of the balance was due to vacancies. Of the balance, they still have to pay out on the apparatus leases. There will be some carryover from 2012 to 2013. Their goal is to get fleet replacement as a line item in the next budget. FY 2012-2013: The budget reflected 1.8% increase which included two additional Class A pumpers. ALTERNATIVE FUNDING AND GRANTS FY 2011 CDBG Grant for Pahoa Apparatus: They expect completion in mid September to early October at the Pierce Manufacturing Plant in Wisconsin. FY 2012 CDBG Grant for Pahoa Tanker: The bid specifications were completed and will be sent to purchasing shortly. FY 2011 SAFER Grant: This grant is for additional 32 positions. If 2011 grant application is not approved, they apply for the 2012 grant. FY 2012 Assistance to Fire Firefighters Grant Application: The application period ended last week. They submitted applications for an ambu CPR devices, and fire fighter ground survival course. The total grant is upwards of $300,000, of which 70% is federal funding and 30% is matching. Capital Improvement Projects Makalei Fire Station: They put in orders for things such as lockers, bedding, and kitchen supplies and are waiting delivery. A punch list sti completed. Issues between the outside contractor and the utility have been resolved. They do not want to occupy the building until it is turned over to them officially. They are on budget. KaÓu Public Safety Package: The tower for PunaluÒu was delivered and is working well. They will be able to stow most of the equipment in the tower. The second part of this package was the two volunteer garages structures. That bid was finally awarded. They are finalizing the contract with the awardee, and hopefully they will start construction soon. Hpuna Water Safety Tower: The tower was delivered. It is currently at the South Kohala fire station. Battalion Chief Kosaki is working on tower on the beach. They want it in an area owned by the Hpuna Prince Hotel. ThereÓs a lot of permitting involved. If they put it on State land, it will be right next to an existing tower (not desired). They prefer to locate it on the far north portion of the State beach so it would give a view of the portion of the beach fronting the hotel. The hotel does not provide lifeguard services for the area. The tower was paid with CIP funding. For manpower, they will just move HawaiÒi County Fire Commission Minutes of July 11, 2012 Page 3 one person over. ItÓs a State beach, but they did not get any additional funding for additional positions. HUMAN RESOURCES DIVISION Hiring and Promotions: They are actively doing recruitment. The agility test was done. All those who pass will take the COMPASS test. They are working on a recruitment class for September. All other assessments were completed. Accountant I will be filled. The Water Safety recruitment was completed. Personnel were placed in permanent, part-time positions as well as summer hire position. Labor Relations: Negotiations for the HawaiÒi Fire Fighters As continues. They are now one year out of contract and have a one-year extension. Generally, the contract has been for two years. This last contract was for four years. They anticipate a shorter contract this time around. EMERGENCY OPERATIONS DIVISION Operations They had several large brush fires in the Pahala area. It is cu maintained by on-duty crews. They also had two major fires in the Kona area which have been extinguished. They just completed a large search and rescue effort for a young vacation. Personnel did a great job in assuring family all efforts were being made to recover their son. The public who assisted also did a great job. They extended the search because of the nature of the event and at the familyÓs request. They completed another T/A to Battalion Chief Training Program. Four fire captains attended. This allows them the training necessary in case the Battalion Chief of Operations on the east or west side is absent or on leave, so they can bring in a qualified captain to take over that position. (Commissioner Lee entered at 10:33 a.m.) They continue to get a lot of special service requests for events, and will support them if they can. They completed an inter-state mutual aid exercise on Oahu. The simulation was a large earthquake on the Big Island that decimated all public safety resources. They presented a request out to the inter-state mutual aid system which is made up of the four counties, HawaiÒi National Guard, and Civil Defense. They did an exercise where equipment from the Honolulu Fire Department was to be flown over to the Big Island. HawaiÒi County Fire Commission Minutes of July 11, 2012 Page 4 Special Operations Hazmat: The draft of the Standard Operating Guides was submitted for review by AC Arbles, himself, and Corporation Counsel. The guide allows for flexibility because every emergency incident is dynamic and they need to be flexible. Rescue They continued with the signing up of clients for Project Lifesaver. New tracking devices were purchased and will be utilized at rescue stations. They are 95% caught up with the purchase of the Sayre equipment. Resolutions all passed, allowing them to utilize the equipment as they arrive. The new rescue drill schedule was implemented and is being used. Ocean Safety The new Water Safety Officer I was hired on July 2. They are working on revising the aquatics self-certification program to include ocean safety. It will identify skills required for USLA standards. New SOP and discipline procedures were distributed to ocean safety personnel. The first session of the Junior Lifeguard program was completed. championships will be held on July 21 in Hpuna. The State championship will be held on Oahu on July 28, and they will be sending their Water Safety Officers and their Junior Lifeguards. Battalion Chief Kosaki reported that the Act 190 signs have been purchased and are here. There are also non-Act 190 signs such as shark sightings. The signs have a high cost. The CountyÓs sign making division makes excellent signs, and he will bring this up with the Chief. SUPPORT SERVICES DIVISION EMS Bureau: Ten personnel in the MICT class left for Oahu on June 2 to start their Clinical phase of MICT training. They were provided orientation to OahuÓs EMS system and did clinical rotations at Kapiolani WomenÓs and ChildrenÓs Hospital and Queens Medical Center. Training Bureau: The Tactics portion of the Hazmat Technicians class concluded on June 4-15. Twenty-two of their personnel completed the course. They are actively working on the schedule for the upcoming Fire Fighters recruit class for September. Volunteer Training Bureau: They received additional PAK radios. HawaiÒi County Fire Commission Minutes of July 11, 2012 Page 5 Tom Brandt, Volunteer Fire Chief, reported that their next meeting will be on August 18 at 10:00 a.m. at the Kaiminani station (7 Bravo). This will also be his last day as Volunteer Chief. Volunteer Captain Wayne Krug and former Fire Commissioner John Bertsch are nominees for his replacement. Voting will be done by the volunteer captains. Chief Brandt further reported that their training has been pretty much hands-on. The challenge has been to incorporate the Fire Fighter I training program. It was a two-year process for them, and they completed it about a year ago. Ron Ebert, Volunteer Fire Captain from Pahala, reported that the brush fire in Pahala was big and driven by the wind. They lost no structures or lives. It was a huge fire, and coordination worked well. Everyone worked well, be proud of the Fire Department. Chair Taniguchi stated that often times they forget to be grateful. On behalf of the commission, he commended them all for the time and dedication that they put into the craft that they do. As a private citizen, he thanked them very much. Captain Ebert further stated that 5,600 acres burned. You donÓt know how tired a person gets from fire fighting. From the first morning, they had some people from Volcano, three to four from Discovery Harbor, and three from Pahala were there at various times. Some people helped the career fire fighters. Chair Taniguchi Toby asked for the list of captains so they could thank them individually. Chief Rosario will give it to him. Chief Brandt stated that that they do their monthly training so they know protocol and do not panic. Chief Rosario thanked the volunteers. Chief Rosario reported that they had an after action review. They had to evacuate the hospital. The StateÓs point of contact came out of Hilo Medical Center, and that person was out on leave. The winds were definitely in their favor. Everyone did a great job. The bottom line is that there was no life or major property loss, although the landowners may have a different view about the loss. Prevention Bureau: Chief Rosario reported that he was in the GovernorÓs office the day before, and the State-wide ban on luminary devices was signed. HawaiÒi County already has a ban on this. Maintenance Shop: The received their two tankers and fire apparatus from the Honolulu Fire Department. They are in the process of getting them licensed. They will be involving the volunteer division as well as augmenting their career HawaiÒi County Fire Commission Minutes of July 11, 2012 Page 6 vehicles. There are sections of their volunteer division that have no apparatus. Five more apparatus are coming from the California Division of Forestry. NEW PROJECTS The EMS festivities will be at Liliuokalani Park on July 29. They will show case their EMS, Fire, and Ocean Safety equipment. It will be jump started with their EMS Run. They will participate with the Relay for Life on July 21 at Wong Stadium and will provide the first aid booth. COMMITTEE REPORTS Budget and Finance (Committee Chair Taniguchi): No report. Office Management and Staffing (Committee Chair Taniguchi): No report. Rules and Policies (Committee Chair Lee): No report. Public Relations (Committee Chair Henkel): No report. Training and Education (Committee Chair Namahoe): No report. ANNOUNCEMENTS At Chair TaniguchiÓs request, Corporation Counsel Ashida explained Senate Bill No. 2737 in which the Sunshine Law allows a meeting via audio connection, i.e. telephone call. The requirements are: 1) It has to show on the agenda where audio will be held. 2) The location must be accessible to the public, i.e., West HawaiÒi Civic Center. 3) If it is agendized, and the audio location goes down, the meeting has to be cancelled. Chair Taniguchi announced that the next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, August 8, 2012, at 10:00 a.m., at the North HawaiÒi Community Hospital, 67-1125 Mamalahoa Highway, Kamuela, HawaiÒi. Chair Taniguchi announced that the next Volunteer Fire Fighters meeting and election of the Volunteer Fire Chief will at on August 18 at 10:00 a.m. at the Kaiminani fire station (7 Bravo). Items for next monthly meeting agenda: None noted. Collection of files and documents. Î Done. HawaiÒi County Fire Commission Minutes of July 11, 2012 Page 7 ADJOURNMENT Commissioner Moku moved to adjourn. Commissioner Bass seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 11:24 a.m. SUBMITTED BY: JOSIE PELAYO, SECRETARY APPROVED BY: TOBY TANIGUCHI, CHAIR