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Home My WebLink About2013-01-09 Fire Commission Regular Minutes HAWAI‘I COUNTY FIRE COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 9, 2013 NORTH HAWAI‘I COMMUNITY HOSPITAL CALL TO ORDER Chair Toby Taniguchi called the meeting to order at 10:08 a.m. ROLL CALL Present: Toby Taniguchi, Chair Byron Moku, Vice Chair Laurie Bass, Commissioner Carol Kitaoka, Commissioner Luahiwa, Namahoe, Commissioner Kaloa Robinson, Commissioner Excused: Gregory Henkel, Commissioner Kimo Lee, Commissioner A quorum was present. Also Present: Darren Rosario, Fire Chief Wayne Krug, Volunteer Fire Chief Ryan Kanakaole, Deputy Corporation Counsel Josie Pelayo, Secretary APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Namahoe moved to approve the agenda. Vice Chair Mo motion, and it carried unanimously. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS Î None. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Vice Chair Moku moved to approve the regular session minutes of December 12, 2012. Commissioner Namahoe seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. Commissioner Namahoe moved to approve the executive session minutes of December 12, 2012. Commissioner Robinson seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. FIRE CHIEF’S REPORT Chief Rosario presented his report to the commission as summarized below: HawaiÒi County Fire Commission Meeting Minutes January 9, 2013 Page 2 BUDGET: They expended 53.66% of their budget. Payroll is at 54% and overtime at 76% of budgeted amounts. They are trying to work with the Council to obtain funding for additional positions, which will help reduce overtime. There should also be a reduction in overtime by filling the vacant MICT positions, the addition of the recruit graduating class, and one mechanic. The new apparatus will also help with reducing maintenance costs. On January 18, they will meet with the Department of Finance to go over their budget. The budget goes to the Mayor in February. The Mayor and Council have been very supportive of public safety. This year they put in a supplemental budget request for two lease purchases of apparatus. The Mayor has allowed them to purchase a new tanker each year. Their goal is to get one tanker for each district. They now have five tankers. He plans to have Robert Belcher explain the budget to the commission at the next meeting. ALTERNATIVE FUNDING AND GRANTS FY 2012 CDBG Grant for Pahoa Tanker: The bid was awarded to Freedom Fire Equipment. Arrangements are being made for a preconstruction me Atlanta. FY 2012 SAFER Grant: No word received. FY 2012 Assistance to Fire Firefighters Grant Application: No word received. Capital Improvement Projects Kawailani Fire Station replacement: Funding was proposed to the Mayor for capital improvement. The road widening project will be going in front of the station, so they need to relocate it. Councilman Onishi is assisting them with obtaining property off of Haihai St. Ka`u Public Safety Package: This project for Naalehu and Pahala has been ongoing for almost 10 years, and has finally been completed. Personnel will now be able to store equipment. Hpuna Water Safety Tower: The tower is being stored at the South Kohala station and is still ongoing. HUMAN RESOURCES DIVISION Recruitments Internal: The Fire Captain and Fire Equipment Operator assessments are scheduled for January. Firefighter Abe will be promoted to Fire Materials Specialist. HawaiÒi County Fire Commission Meeting Minutes January 9, 2013 Page 3 Open-competitive recruitments: Three Fire Radio Dispatcher trainees resigned, and they received approval for replacement. Two Fire Fighter Recruits took the make-up agility test; one passed. EMERGENCY OPERATIONS DIVISION Operations Three new apparatus arrived, and a representative from Pierce c training for Kawailani, Kaumana, and Pahoa. The Makalei station went on line on December 1. They applied for a grant through Civil Defense for safety equipment and accountability system. Special Operations Hazmat: They plan to meet with the Nanawale community to discuss the PGV response plan and evacuation. The CST drill is being planned for March 2013. This combat sup full-time National Guard that responds to incidents of hazardous materials, weapons of mass destruction, etc. It is put on by the army and supported by the army. They only pay personnel to attend when off-duty. Rescue The Sayre Foundation is completing this yearÓs requests by resc The Sayre Foundation has provided funding for some upcoming div training. Ocean Safety Two vacant positions have been approved for hire. Ocean Safety is working on its own bargaining unit. New Safety Committee: They have formed a new safety committee to address safety concerns within the department. The committee has reached out to the stations for concerns that their members have. All safety committee minutes will be available for viewing by all members. SUPPORT SERVICES DIVISION EMS Bureau: Five MICT interns successfully passed their internship in December. Two others are on their final month of internship. All seven will have to go through the final stage of getting their state license. st Training Bureau: The 41 firefighter recruit class continues with its training. They brought in a culture trainer, Kahu Hannah Springer, who made a presentation on cultural preservation of the land. Graduation will be on February 16. From firefighter recruit they will go into EMS. HawaiÒi County Fire Commission Meeting Minutes January 9, 2013 Page 4 Volunteer Training Bureau: Volunteer Fire Chief Wayne Krug reported that December and January were busy months for the volunteers. The committee is working on guidelines for volunteers and new applicants. When itÓs done, it will go to the Chief for approval. The next volunteer captainsÓ meeting will be on February 23 at 10:00 a.m. in Laupahoehoe. Chief Rosario further stated that the career employees and volunteers are afforded critical incident scene debriefing, CISD. The CISD is a peer review debriefing session made up by a trained volunteers, employees, and retirees. Prevention Bureau HawaiÒi County had very minimal fireworks incidents this past New YearÓs. Fireworks permit purchases increased over last year. They conducted three fire investigations. One was deemed arson, one was of undetermined origin, and another was accidental. An arson canine was used at two fires. Dispatch They are switching their E911 provider from Solecom to Intrado. SolecomÓs equipment did not work for them. Dispatchers received 22,714 calls in 2012 that became actual incidents. Central runs the most calls, about 150 calls a month, then Kailua, then Pahoa. Auxiliary Services/Warehouse Battalion Chief Michael Gahan retired, and they hope to fill th March. They had several requests to fill the position in a temporary assignment. Five volunteer apparatus from the California Division of Forestry will be arriving on January 11. The mechanic will look them over before being put on line. Maintenance Shop: Three new apparatus were detailed, licensed, serviced, and radio programmed. They have gone out to stations and driver tra conducted. NEW PROJECTS/BUSINESS They completed the CDBG Grant application for an $800,000 quint the Waiakea fire station. ChiefÓs Goals for 2013: Chief Rosario went through the draft of his written goals. He will have a finalized version by the next meeting. Commissioners were afforded an opportunity to provide feedback on the draft goals. Chair Taniguchi informed the Chief his goals will be used for his annual evaluation. HawaiÒi County Fire Commission Meeting Minutes January 9, 2013 Page 5 EMPLOYEE/PUBLIC RELATIONS: Former Fire Chief Oliveira was placed as Civil Defense administrator until the position could be filled permanently. Chief Rosario is planning to meet with Council members in an effort to maintain and foster positive relationships. 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 Chair Taniguchi announced that the next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, February 13, 2013, at 10:00 a.m., West HawaiÒi Civic Center, Building G Conference Room, 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Kailua-Kona, HawaiÒi. Chair Taniguchi asked that items for next meeting agenda be submitted to either him or Ms. Pelayo. Collection of files and documents Î Done ADJOURNMENT Commissioner Robinson moved to adjourn the meeting. Vice Chair Moku seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 12:45 p.m. SUBMITTED BY: JOSIE PELAYO, SECRETARY APPROVED BY: TOBY TANIGUCHI, CHAIR