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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011_0606_MinutesOpen_APPROVED COUNTY OF KAUAI Minutes of Meeting OPEN SESSION Approved as circulated 7/5/11 Board/Committee: FIRE COMMISSION Meeting Date I June 6, 2011 Location Mo'ikeha Building, Meeting Room 2A/213 Start of Meeting: 2:00 pm End of Meeting: 3:12 pm Present Chair Basilio Fuertes, Jr.; Vice-Chair Wayne Mukai; Members: Guy Croydon; George Simpson; Linda Kaauwai-Iwamoto; Darnney Proudfoot Also: Fire Chief Robert Westerman; Deputy County Attorney Marc Guyot; Board& Commissions Office Staff: Support Clerk Barbara Davis; Administrative Aide Paula Morikami Excused Member: Jan Rudinoff Absent SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Call To Order Chair Fuertes called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. Approval of Ms. Proudfoot moved to approve the agenda as Agenda circulated. Mr. Croydon seconded the motion. Motion carried 6:0 Approval of Regular Open Session Minutes of April 4, 2011 Ms. Proudfoot moved to approve the minutes as Minutes circulated. Ms. Kaauwai-Iwamoto seconded the motion. Motion carried 6:0 Chiefs Overview for the months of March and April, 2011 Monthly Report Chief Westerman provided an overview of the Fire Department's activities as described in the Chief's Monthly Reports noting Commendations for Greg Stutzer,who assisted an injured hiker on Ha'ena Trail, and the Ocean Safety Bureau team, who assisted an injured boogie boarder at Brennecke's Ms. Proudfoot moved to receive the Chief's Beach. reports. Mr. Croydon seconded the motion. Motion carried 6:0 Budget report as of April 30, 2011 The current year's operating budget is at 83% of the year while 84% of the budget has been expended. Payroll is over budget in some of the Bureaus so the monies that have been encumbered but not expended will be used to Kauai Fire Commission Open Session June 6, 2011 Page 2 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION help cover payroll and other expenses for the rest of the fiscal year. Response Analysis April, 2011 Response time to Fires within 5 minutes is 50%. The 10 minute response time to Medical calls is 93% and Rescues within 15 minutes is 100%. Monthly Report on Building Permit Information for March and April, 2011 The maximum number of days for a plan review in March was 13 and in April it was 3. The average for March to review commercial plans was 3 days and April came in at 1 day. There was only 1 residential plan that Mr.Croydon moved to receive the Chief's reports. required review. Ms. Kaauwai-Iwamoto seconded the motion. Motion carried 6:0 Business KFC 2011-02 Status from Ms. Morikami on HR 47 & HCR 54; SR 32 & SCR 58 (House and Senate bills on automatic fire sprinklers for new one- and-two family dwellings) Ms. Morikami reported that of the four resolutions that went before the Legislature, only House Resolution 47 survived. The State Building Code Council will now look at certain criteria described in the Resolution and report back to the 2015 Legislature to discuss their findings. Chief Westerman said if the Chair would like to put an item on the agenda for next month, he could report on all the bills the State Fire Council proposed and those that did get approved. Out of 15 bills that were being monitored, 12 did not make it through but they could be rolled-over for the next year. Ms. Morikami commended Chief Westerman for his follow through with the Office of Boards and Commissions on all of the testimonies for those bills. Chair Fuertes requested a July agenda item for a report on the State Fire Council's proposed legislative bills. Kauai Fire Commission Open Session June 6, 2011 Page 3 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Mr. Croydon moved to receive Ms. Morikami's verbal report. Ms. Kaauwai-Iwamoto seconded the motion. Motion carried 6:0 KFC 2011-08 Update from the Chief's Office on the Kaua'i Fire Department's Accreditation Process Chief Westerman reported the accreditation process has gone from an active to a passive mode because the Department no longer has adequate staffing to fully engage in the process. We will continue to do things in the passive mode such as the BORA (Building Occupancy Risk Assessment)which is done by the fire crews in the stations as they evaluate their community. We will continue to go through some of questions and answers in the accreditation process with some of the members and finish the SOGs (Standard Operating Guidelines). However, because there are no people dedicated to working on it every day, this item has been removed from the Goals until we have the resources to do it actively. Ms. Kaauwai-Iwamoto moved to receive Chief Westerman's verbal report. Mr. Croydon seconded the motion. Motion carried 6:0 KFC 2011-09 Ocean Safety Reorganization Discussion Paper When the Ocean Safety Bureau was folded into the Fire Department, there was an increase in the number of employees but there was no support staff such as clerks, upper level supervisors or managers. We have managed to get 3 district supervisors, a WSSO supervisor and a trainer but the organization is still too close in rank structure. The reorganization proposes a closer level of supervision for each of the 10 towers and the water safety officers. What is needed in each tower is a"lieutenant" level supervisor to supervise 4 to 5 people. In order to move staff around, the job descriptions have to be reworked to create minimum qualifications and job classifications for those levels. This will not increase the amount of staff but it will step up some pay rates. The process will take about one year to Kauai Fire Commission Open Session June 6, 2011 Page 4 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION complete and will increase the budget by around$20,000 for the year. Mr. Simpson expressed his support of the reorganization saying it is one of the best things that could happen to Water Safety and asked if it would be appropriate for the Fire Commission to support this proposal in writing to the Mayor and the Council. Attorney Guyot said it would be appropriate for the Commission to indicate their agreement or disagreement with the Department's position. Mr. Mukai questioned if this was considered Operations and out of the jurisdiction of the Fire Commission. He felt the Chief was presenting this issue as a courtesy rather than looking for approval. Mr. Simpson moved that the Fire Commission wholly support the Chief's position with the Ocean Safety reorganization and let the Mayor Ms. Proudfoot did not feel it was warranted; the Chief is moving along and and the Council know of this support. everyone is on board with it. If he runs into problems that would be a more appropriate time to let everyone know of the Commission's support. Chief Westerman agreed that at this point there is good support but if in the near future there are problems, he could bring this back to the Commission and ask for their support. On the other hand, if it were pre-empted then it could make it easier to get through the process. Mr. Croydon felt it was premature (for the Commission to take action) and suggested they keep it on the agenda on an ongoing basis and take appropriate action when it is needed. Ms. Kaauwai-Iwamoto agreed, noting this is still a work in progress. Motion died for lack of a second. Chair Fuertes requested that this item remain on the agenda for July. Ms. Kaauwai-Iwamoto moved to receive the Kauai Fire Commission Open Session June 6, 2011 Page 5 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Chief's report on reorganization of the Ocean Safety Bureau. Ms. Proudfoot seconded the motion. Motion carried 6:0 KFC 2011-10 Fire Department Budget for FY 2011/2012 Chief Westerman noted the Department had not received the official copy of the approved budget but thought it was still intact. Although it is a very, very lean budget, the dollar funded positions were all funded and approved for hiring. Hiring for the new recruit class begins July 1. There is no capital equipment in the budget. The Department will be getting a second mechanic from Public Works; this is not an increase in the personnel costs to the County but simply a move from one department to another. Asked what the biggest challenge is to running a lean budget, the Chief said it is maintaining the daily staffing at 80%. With union negotiations hopefully completed by the next meeting and a signed budget, the Chief said he should be able to provide a copy of the budget to the Commission. Chair Fuertes requested that this item remain on the agenda for July. Mr. Croydon moved to receive the Chief's verbal report on the FY 2011/2012 Budget. Ms. Proudfoot seconded the motion. Motion carried 6:0 KFC 2011-11 Draft: Fire Department Goals for 2012 Chief Westerman said they removed the goal of moving to an Accredited Agency status for this year. For now, the Accreditation will be to continue to develop base line statistics for the Accreditation Program, i.e., the BORA program(#7), the Mobile CADS integration(#4) and the CADS integration with RMS (#5)which will help with the data gathering that goes into the base line data statistics (#8). Staffing of all engine companies with 4 FF was reduced from 80%to 70% of the time which is based on the budget. Kauai Fire Commission Open Session June 6, 2011 Page 6 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION The Chief noted there are some goals that were carried over and while they are attainable, they may not have a priority on them. The Chief told the Commission the goals were open to additions, deletions and modifications. Chief Westerman to provide copies of the updated Strategic Plan to the Commission. Ms. Proudfoot moved to receive the Chief's goals for the next fiscal year. Mr. Croydon seconded the motion. Motion carried 6:0 Chair Fuertes requested that this item remain on the agenda for July. Announcements Next Meeting: Tuesday, July 5, 2:00 pm Ms. Proudfoot said she would not be available for the July meeting. Adjournment Mr. Croydon moved to adjourn the meeting at 3:12 p.m. Ms. Proudfoot seconded the motion. Motion carried 6:0 Submitted by: Reviewed and Approved by: Barbara Davis, Support Clerk Basilio Fuertes, Jr., Chair ( ) Approved as is. ( ) Approved with amendments. See minutes of meeting.