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Home My WebLink About2015-12-21 Fire Commission Regular MinutesHAWAII FIRE COMMISSION REGULAR SESSION MINUTES DECEMBER 21, 2015 WEST HAWAII CIVIC CENTER, BUILDING G CONFERENCE ROOM 74-5044 ANE KEOHOKALOLE HIGHWAY, KAILUA-KONA, HAWAII CALL TO ORDER Chair De Luz called the meeting to order at 9:12 a.m. ROLL CALL Present: David De Luz, Jr., Chair Kimo Lee, Vice Chair Robert Becker, Commissioner Carol Ignacio, Commissioner Mapuana Waipa, Commissioner Carol Kitaoka, Commissioner (partial attendance) A quorum was present. Also Present: Darren Rosario Fire Chief Jennifer Ng, Deputy Corporation Counsel Josie Pelayo, Secretary APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Ignacio motioned to approve the agenda. Commissioner Waipa seconded, and it carried unanimously. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS (None.) APPROVAL OF MINUTES • November 25, 2015, regular session and executive sessions: Commissioner Ignacio motioned to approve the regular session minutes. Commissioner Waipa seconded, and it carried unanimous. Commissioner Ignacio motioned to approve the executive session minutes. Commissioner Becker seconded, and it carried unanimously. DISCUSSION ON FIRE CHIEF'S WRITTEN REPORT FIRE CHIEF DARREN ROSARIO highlighted items on his written report: Budget and Finance: They expect to close out 2015-16 in the black and are looking to see if they will have funds to purchase replacement equipment. A meeting is scheduled with the Finance Director this week to go over the 2016-17 budget. They are working with the County Council and Mayor for additional staffing at the fire stations. Chair De Luz asked for a report on any differences in the new budget. Hawaii Fire Commission Regular Session Minutes December 21, 2015 Page 2 • Alternative Funding and Grants: No change from the previous report. Their request for night vision goggles for their pilots was not approved. Quotes were up to $10,000. They will continue to work on this. • Human Resources Division: They were given approval to hire 5 extra dispatchers. Turnover is high. A lot of the applicants are young with children, and working shifts is a problem. They are looking at another fire fighter recruit class around summer. Assessment centers will be conducted for internal recruitments and promotions. • Emergency Operations Division: Captain Wong was recognized as County Supervisor of the Year. They do not have arson investigators, and they haven't had much success at pin pointing origins of brush fires. Their team is small, but they work very hard. • Support Services Division: The 44th recruit class is progressing on schedule. Eight MICT students completed and passed their MICT curriculum. They are actively participating on the Dengue outbreak which is now up to 165. They had to stop using Sparky the Fire Dog due to payment issues with its name. They now have a new state mascot named Poki. 7,296 children completed their Firefighter Safety Guide Booklet. Volunteer Commander Lakin reported that they are happy with their radios. Training includes preserving the scene and evidence. The next captains' meeting will be in February in Discovery Harbor. They have 19 captains and 20 volunteer stations. Honokaa's captain fills in for the vacancy in Laupahoehoe. New Projects: They are moving into community based home inspections and public education, especially for those who utilize their services often. Assisting the elderly with services such as Meals on Wheels helps to alleviate EMS use. They do work closely with the County's Office of Aging. In response to questions about stations meeting national standards, Chief Rosario stated that it's just the staffing. The average apparatus age is 17 years. The mayor has been very supportive. Although, they did not get a budget line item for replacements, every year their supplemental budget for replacements has been approved. In the last 4 years, they replaced 50-75% of their Class A pumpers. They are in the process of replacing one per year. Regarding the accreditation process, their stumbling block is the lack of a training division and clerical staff. There is a lot of paperwork and documentation. Maui is ahead of them, and they are learning from Maui's accreditation process. They are starting dialog with the finance department for contract workers. Hawaii Fire Commission Regular Session Minutes December 21, 2015 Page 3 COMMITTEE REPORTS • Budget and Finance (Ignacio): No report. • Office Management and Staffing (De Luz): Chair De Luz reported that Ms. Pelayo received a new computer and printer. • Rules and Policies (Kitaoka): No report. • Public Relations (Lee): No report. • Training and Education (Waipa): No report. • Rules and Regulations Review Committee (Kitaoka): No report. Commissioner Becker reported that he has already started working with the Chief on grants as requested by Chair De Luz. NEW BUSINESS Election of Chair and Vice Chair of the Fire Commission for 2016. Chair De Luz announced that Commissioner Kitaoka texted him that she would be coming to the meeting, and that he would like to hold off on the election of the Chair and Vice Chair until she arrives. ANNUAL EVALUATION OF FIRE CHIEF The commission will work on the annual evaluation of Fire Chief Darren Rosario. The public may provide oral testimony under "Statements from the Public on Agenda Items." Written testimony may be sent to: Hawaii Fire Commission, 101 Pauahi St., Ste. 9, Hilo, HI 96720 or faxed to (808) 932-2949. The commission did not receive any written or oral testimony. EXECUTIVE SESSION (Closed to the public.) Commissioner Ignacio motioned to meet in executive session to consult with Corporation Counsel on questions and issues pertaining to the commission's powers, duties, privileges, immunities, and liabilities; to consider sensitive matters relating to public safety; and to work on the annual evaluation of the Fire Chief. Commissioner Waipa seconded, and it carried unanimously. Executive session convened at 10:50 a.m. Commissioner Kitaoka arrived during executive session. Open session reconvened at 11:40 a.m. NEW BUSINESS Election of Chair and Vice Chair of the Fire Commission for 2016. Commissioner Ignacio nominated Commissioner Becker for Vice Chair. Commissioner Lee seconded, and it carried unanimously. Commissioner Ignacio nominated Commissioner De Luz as Chair. Commissioner Lee seconded, and it carried unanimously. Chair De Luz turned the voting over to Vice Chair Lee. The vote for Commissioner De Luz as Chair and Commissioner Becker as Vice Chair was unanimous. Hawaii Fire Commission Regular Session Minutes December 21, 2015 Page 4 EXECUTIVE SESSION Commissioner Ignacio motioned to meet in executive session to consult with Corporation Counsel on questions and issues pertaining to the commission's powers, duties, privileges, immunities, and liabilities and to continue working on the annual evaluation of the Fire Chief. Commissioner Waipa seconded, and it carried unanimously. Executive session convened at 11:44 a.m. Commissioner Kitaoka exited during executive session. Open session reconvened at 1:42 p.m., at which time Fire Chief Rosario was present. Commissioner Ignacio motioned to accept Fire Chief Rosario's annual evaluation as discussed in executive session. Commissioner Waipa seconded, and it carried unanimously. Chair De Luz explained the evaluation process to Chief Rosario. He will be given the final copy prior to January's meeting, and they will discuss it at the January meeting. It was suggested that the Deputy Fire Chief and the administrative staff participate more in the commission meetings, the concept being that they would be able to fill in for the Chief when he is not available. At the next meeting, the commission will work on the goals and objectives for 2016 and the commission's 2015 annual report. ANNOUNCEMENTS Chair De Luz announced that the next meeting is scheduled for January 13, at 10:00 a.m. in the Aupuni Center Conference Room, 101 Pauahi St., Hilo, Hawaii. ADJOURNMENT Commissioner Ignacio motioned to adjourn the meeting. Vice Chair Lee seconded, and it carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 1:57 p.m. SUBMITTED BY: JOSIE PELAYO, SECRETARY APPROVED BY: DAVID DE LUZ, JR., CHAIR