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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-09-12 Fire Commission MinutesHAWAII COUNTY FIRE COMMISSION REGULAR SESSION MINUTES SEPTEMBER 12, 2012 WEST HAWAII CIVIC CENTER, BUILDING G CONFERENCE ROOM 74 -5044 ANE KEOHOKALOLE HIGHWAY, KAILUA -KONA, HAWAII CALL TO ORDER Chair Toby Taniguchi called the meeting to order at 10:14 a.m. ROLL CALL Present: Toby Taniguchi, Chair Kaloa Robinson, Vice Chair Laurie Bass, Commissioner Gregory Henkel, Commissioner Carol Kitaoka, Commissioner Luahiwa Namahoe, Commissioner Excused: Kimo Lee, Commissioner Byron Moku, Commissioner A quorum was present. Also Present: Darren Rosario, Fire Chief Renwick Victorino, Deputy Chief Wayne Krug, Volunteer Fire Chief Lincoln S. T. Ashida, Corporation Counsel Josie Pelayo, Secretary APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Namahoe moved to approve the agenda. Commissioner Bass seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS None. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF AUGUST 8, 2012 Commissioner Namahoe moved to accept and file the minutes as amended. Commissioner Henkel seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. (Vice Chair Robinson entered at 10:21 a.m.) FIRE CHIEF'S REPORT (Including but not limited to the items listed below.) Chief Rosario highlighted items on his written report. Hawaii County Fire Commission Regular Session Minutes September 12, 2012 Page 2 BUDGET They had their budget meeting on Monday with the Finance and Budget Directors for the upcoming fiscal year 2013 -14. They got a directive for no increases and to look for areas to cut. Needed items would go on a supplemental budget. They will submit a supplemental budget which continues their fire apparatus replacement schedule and request funding to allow them to get two additional lease purchase contracts for two additional fire apparatuses. The other supplemental request is to refund 15 fire fighter positions currently approved, but are unfunded. They requested it last year. They have spent a lot of money on overtime due to lack of manpower. Currently, they have 41 vacancies, 15 of which are unfunded. They will also put out a supplemental budget for funding of a 3,000 gallon tanker. A new FFA fire code requires homeowners in areas without water infrastructure to provide water for fire fighting. If they provide this water source required by the code for fire fighting in the districts, that would alleviate the concern. They want to put a fire apparatus tanker in nine generalized districts. The Mayor agreed to this program. They currently have a 3,000 gallon tanker going to the Pahoa district. The tanker that is in Pahoa will be moved to a different place. In Ka'u they have a brand new 2,000 gallon tanker, although the requirement is for 3,000 gallons. They have other smaller tankers in the area that will suffice for the total 3,000 gallons. They will be looking at the budget line -by -line and look at areas that they can make cuts. They have been doing this for the past three years, and they are pretty much down to just paying salaries and wages and minimal operational costs. There is not much where they can cut more, unless they cut back on training and prevention. The Finance Department is very open, and they have a good rapport. They were fortunate to be allowed to hire 18 fire fighter recruits, although their vacancies are higher than that. Chair Taniguchi asked if they could bring in people from other departments, such as, "risk management," to testify on the costs "for" and "for not" funding certain budgeted items. Chief Rosario stated that he has not done it, but thinks the Finance Director would be open to it. Chief Rosario further reported that their current budget is in effect with no problems. He is working with the State to maintain funds in their EMS budget. They met with Dr. Linda Rosen who handles their EMS budget, and they got approval to hire an EMS captain to assist with the workload in their EMS office. Right now, EMS training is from KCC, but they are moving to provide their own training. They are working at being self- sustaining. • ALTERNATIVE FUNDING AND GRANTS ➢ FY 2012 SAFER Grant: They put in an application for 15 positions. Hawaii County Fire Commission Regular Session Minutes September 12, 2012 Page 3 ➢ FY 2012 Assistance to Fire Firefighters Grant Application: They requested funding for a "Save a Fire Fighter Obstacle Course" and for a replacement ambulance for Hawaiian Ocean View Estates. They lost the unit in a roll over traffic accident. ➢ FY 2011 CDBG Grant for Pahoa Apparatus: The grant will be completed shortly. Chief Rosario will be going to Wisconsin to do a final inspection and acceptance of three brand new apparatuses. ➢ FY 2012 CDBG Grant for Pahoa Tanker: They applied for a 3,000 gallon tanker for the Pahoa area. HUD awarded funding to the County of Hawaii. Their grant total was for $250,000. The 2010 grant paid for a 2,000 gallon tanker for the Ka'u District. Capital Improvement Projects: ✓ Makalei Fire Station: The power has been tied in, and will have two to three weeks of testing. The contractor is allowed five weeks for testing. The apparatus is co- housed at the Waikoloa station and will be moved over. He is looking at a grand opening in October. ✓ Ka'u Public Safety Package: The lifeguard power for Punalu'u and fire hydrant for Hawaiian Ocean View water well have been completed. Bids have been awarded for the two volunteer apparatus sheds, one for Pahala and one for Naalehu. They have 45 days to complete the project. ✓ Hapuna Water Safety Tower: They are having land ownership issues and are working with Corporation Counsel. Councilman Hoffman is assisting. HUMAN RESOURCES DIVISION ➢ Hiring and Promotions: In his first year, they worked really hard. They did more movements and promotions than in the last several years. They filled ever rank position. They have one vacancy for Fire Medical Specialist 11. They have 10 Fire Fighters in class right now. They finally hired their Accountant I on August 16. An Account Clerk will start next week. They also filled their Water Safety Officer summer hires. Their goal is to have an eligibility list existing so when a vacancy comes up, they can fill it instead of waiting. They had a very small pool of applicants for summer hire. In response to questions, Corporation Council Ashida stated that the names and positions of all county employees can be made available. Chief Rosario will give the commission an updated organizational chart. EMERGENCY OPERATIONS DIVISION ➢ Operations: They are on a new call out system at Civil Defense. It is an upgraded system that allows them to select names for recall. It is more user friendly than the previous one. Hawaii County Fire Commission Regular Session Minutes September 12, 2012 Page 4 ➢ Special Operations ✓ Hazmat: The Hawaii Army National Guard has a full -time staff that they have been working with in dealing with any type of hazardous materials incident throughout the State. They do drills throughout the State for each fire department. They have been working with Jeff Melrose from the Mayor's office, Ben Fuata of Civil Defense, and Mike Kaleikini at Puna Geothermal Ventures (PGV) in trying to assure the public of the safety of PGV and coming up with a response and evacuation plan. They have been working on drills. The Fire Department's response plan is the same as any place else. . ✓ Ocean Safety: A big push has been their Jet Ski Program. They have had a lot of inquiries from organizations who want to donate jet skies. However, they will need more personnel and proper training. Chief Kosaki will be meeting with personnel from the Kauai Fire Department who has a very well -run Jet Ski Program. They had a lot of problems last month with four of their lifeguard towers in Hilo being broken into and equipment stolen. The lock and the door were broken. The AED is a medical device, and it was stolen. They now have to take the equipment to a centralized location for storage. • SUPPORT SERVICES DIVISION ➢ Training Bureau: They got used apparatuses as gifts from the Honolulu Fire Department. The trucks all have manual transmissions. He has personnel 20 years in the department who never drove a standard. They will create a training program for personnel to orient themselves to the vehicles and integrate these vehicles into their daily operations. ➢ Volunteer Training Bureau: They passed out first aid kits for the volunteer apparatuses. Chief Rosario introduced Wayne Krug, the new Volunteer Fire Chief. Chair Taniguchi reported that at the volunteer meeting in August, Wayne Krug was elected as Volunteer Fire Chief. He comes out of the Laupahoehoe Volunteer Station. Volunteer Fire Chief Krug reported that their main goal is safety. He showed the commission a full -face respirator which he thinks is great. . Chief Krug asked for help in purchasing footwear. Chair Taniguchi stated he is sure Chief Rosario is open to working with the volunteers collectively, towards filling both the department's and the volunteers' needs. Chief Krug stated that they have an association meeting every three months. He asked if they could get about $100 from some kind of fund to help pay for lunches. Chair Taniguchi, speaking as a private citizen, offered to help pay for lunch at their next quarterly meeting. He asked Chief Krug to familiarize ourselves with any county solicitation policy, and further suggested they look towards the communities the volunteer station serves Hawai'i County Fire Commission Regular Session Minutes September 12, 2012 Page 5 for support. Commissioner Namahoe asked if they could ask the subdivision associations for assistance with lunch for the volunteer meetings. Corporation Counsel Ashida stated that they would not need a council resolution, just a letter. Chief Krug stated that the date and location of their next meeting has not been set. ➢ Prevention Bureau: They had some funding for a smoke detector program and distributed battery operated smoke detectors to kupunas (elderly). ➢ Dispatch: They hired two new Radio Dispatcher I who started on August 1St. A third position will be filled by a fire fighter who is no longer able to perform the duties of a fire fighter. He is already training as a dispatcher. To accommodate his position, they had to do reasonable accommodations to the building. It is part of the County's mission to be ADA compliant. Chief Rosario summarized the written incident log. He stated that the log is pretty consistent. They receive about 1,900 calls a month. They had low fire calls last month which averages about 16 calls a month. EMS always has high call volume at about 1,300 calls a month. He explained the different types of calls. In response to questions, Chief Rosario stated that for fires on military installations, they generally only give aerial assistance. Through a supplemental agreement, they identify PTA as Company 50. Their jurisdiction is the whole Saddle Road, but Company 50 responds with their fire truck. 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. EXECUTIVE SESSION Vice Chair Robinson moved to meet in executive session to discuss the annual evaluation of the Fire Chief, to consider sensitive matters relating to public safety, and to consult with Corporation Counsel on questions and issues pertaining to the commission's powers, duties, privileges, immunities, and liabilities pursuant to HRS 92 -5 (a) (2) (4) (6) and the Hawai'i County Charter Section 13 -20 (b). Commissioner Kitaoka seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. Executive session convened at 11 :35 a.m. Hawaii County Fire Commission Regular Session Minutes September 12, 2012 Page 6 Regular session reconvened at 12:50 p.m. ANNOUNCEMENTS • Chair Taniguchi announced that the next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, October 10, 2012, at 10:00 a.m., in the Aupuni Center Conference Room, 101 Pauahi St., Hilo, Hawaii. • Chair Taniguchi stated that items for next monthly meeting agenda should be given to him or Ms. Pelayo • Chair Taniguchi stated that they will work on the Chief's evaluation at the next meeting. They will review the evaluation with the Chief in November. • Collection of files and documents. — Done. ADJOURNMENT Commissioner Henkel moved to adjourn the meeting. Vice Chair Robinson seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 12:55 p.m. SUBMITTED: JOSIE PELAYO, SECRETARY APPROVED: TOBY TANIGUCHI, CHAIR