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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012_1001 Fire Minutes (Approved) COUNTY OF KAUAI Minutes of Meeting OPEN SESSION Approved as circulated 11/5/12 Board/Committee: FIRE COMMISSION Meeting Date I October 1,2012 Location Mo`ikeha Building, Meeting Room 2A/2B Start of Meeting: 2:00 p.m. End of Meeting: 2:44 p.m. Present Chair Linda Ka'auwai-Iwamoto; Vice-Chair Darnney Proudfoot; Members: Guy Croydon; Basilio Fuertes, Jr.; Mike Nagano; Jesse Fukushima; Jimmy Miranda(in at 2:17 p.m.) Also Fire Chief Robert Westerman; Deputy County Attorney Mauna Kea Trask; Boards &Commissions Office Staff. Administrative Specialist Lani Agoot; Support Clerk Ihilani Laureta; Administrator Paula Morikami Excused Absent SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Call To Order Chair Ka`auwai-Iwamoto called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. with 6 members present which constituted a quorum. Approval of ■ Regular Open Session Minutes of September 4, 2012 Mr. Fuertes moved to approve the minutes as Minutes circulated. Mr. Fukushima seconded the motion. Motion carried 6:0. Chiefs Monthly ■ Overview for the month of August 2012 and pertinent updates Mr. Miranda in at 2:17 p.m. Report Chief Westerman gave an overview of the Fire Department's activities for the month of August as described in the Chief's Monthly Report. In addition, the Chief went over the department's 2011-2012 fiscal year budget as circulated. Highlights from his report were as follows: Kauai had won the Junior Life Guard Championship for the 9t'year in a row; the department had a booth at the Kauai Farm Bureau Fair that included Fire Prevention CERT and Fire Wise;he attended the FRI along with the Commission Chair and Deputy; Ocean Safety quarterly meetings are held North, South, East, and West and stated this is when they bring in personnel early to the stations for information and feedback; they attended 100-year Anniversary for Hanalei Kauai Fire Commission Open Session October 1, 2012 Page 2 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Bridge in support of Senator Inouye at the request of the Capital Police and that they need to be more prepared on Kauai to support the Senior Senator; and there was a commendation from Tropical Fish thanking Inspector Curtis Langstaff for his prevention presentation on August 21, 2012. Operations Bureau: Chief Westerman reported earlier in the year they were about 250 calls ahead of last year and they are gaining momentum back to a 5,000 plus year. He added that Medicals are usually the increase due to increased tourism. Apparatus Status: Spares are starting to wane. Spare 6 is partially incapable and Spare 7 is not listed and has been taken out of service, it is yet to be determined whether or not it will be put back in service. Stations: We are running out of working radios and batteries. We recently completed a major purchase of radios that are digital versus the old analog radios; some of them will not work on the new system,but most of them will. The purchase of new radios is appropriate to accommodate the conversion. The Koke`e fire was the largest fire for the month as well as the largest fire recorded history on Kauai where 12 power poles and power to Koke`e was lost for 3 '/2 days. Training Bureau: There were 18 on-island training sessions and 2 off-island training sessions, a total of 160 training hours. The Live Fire Training at the Kahului Joint Training Center conducted by MFD was to observe how they set-up their new training center. Ideas include the use of old Sealand containers and modifying them in different fashions; this form would serve less costly as compared to building an expensive training center. Prevention Bureau: The Bureau investigated fire access lane blockage at the Point at Po`ipu, and informed management of compliance. Ocean Safety Bureau: The Bureau conducted meetings for all 3 districts. No drownings were listed in August. Administration Bureau: For the month of August there was one resignation and no other hires or terminations throughout the month. A Fire fighter III was promoted effective September 1, 2012 who left the Prevention Bureau in August and in September reported to the line. Mr.Nagano asked who that personnel was, to which Chief Westerman replied Curtis Langstaff; no Kauai Fire Commission Open Session October 1, 2012 Page 3 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION changes were reported for Worker's Comp Claims; Recruitment efforts continue as there will be Battalion Chief Promotion, Captain promotion, and Fire Fighter II and III promotions. We received applicants from Personnel Department for the Mechanic position and will be conducting selection interviews soon. Mr. Fukushima asked as promotion progress into more administrative roles like Batallion Chiefs, if there was a policy, SOP, or mandatory requirement to becoming a Battalion Chief. Chief Westerman responded there is none and that he believed discussion was going into an administrative role versus an operation role. In operations there is a very rigid testing and an interview process that is governed by rank and seniority. For the administrative roles, other than meeting eligibility criteria, the interview selection is based on the performance during the time the individual was a Captain. Mr. Fukushima expressed his opinion that when you get into a management position, in looking at the job experiences getting to that point, if that would be considered a prerequisite to help anyone in an administrative role due to the fact that there would be a better understanding of what the frontline operations consist of. Deputy County Attorney Trask stated that given the parameters of the Commission as compared to the Department, and the Commissions powers and duties as far as ensuring an effective Department contrast to the Chief s duties which is the administration of the department,he recommended deferring the discussion,however it could be appropriate to agenda the item in order to keep the respective lines clear. Mr. Fukushima agreed and thanked Mr. Trask for the recommendation. Mr. Fukushima asked what the anticipated percentage of recovery is for the fires,to which Chief Westerman responded approximately 25%. He stated Kauai Fire Commission Open Session October 1, 2012 Page 4 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION that they do not recover any of their costs in the Department, it is the external Departments like Public Works that forward costs to the Fire Department for processing through an MOU from the State and are paid from the VFA grant. Mr. Fukushima asked if the recovery is only after the Governor declares it was a disaster area, to which Chief Westerman confirmed that in some cases that is true. Mr. Fukushima asked Chief Westerman if previous Commissions had an opportunity to learn about what the budget process. He believed one of the tasks is to have a budget presented to the Commission prior to it going to the Mayor and then the Department Heads submit their budgets to the Mayor in December/January. He asked the Fire Chief the status of the next budget to which Chief Westerman asked if giving the Commission an overview of the Mayor's Budget process as an agenda item for next month's meeting would help to understand the timeline the Department is on. He stated that Friday, October 5 is the first meeting internally in the Department to assemble their budget request for the next Fiscal Year. Chief Westerman noted that the budget could change depending on what happens with the Charter submission because there may only be 1 submission this year versus the normal 2 submissions. Vice-Chair Proudfoot informed Mr. Fukushima that the Commission normally receives a copy of the budget before it goes to the Mayor. Mr. Fukushima asked if they could adjust the budget,to which Mr. Croydon asked if that is what he wanted to do. Deputy County Attorney Trask recommended posting an Executive Session agenda item to the rights, duties, and obligations of the Commission and the Department to have a clear understanding of where the Commission can go to the extent of their Kauai Fire Commission Open Session October 1, 2012 Page 5 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION powers. ■ Budget Report as of August 31, 2012 Budget is at 16.67% of the year with Administration at 16.31%; Operations Bureau is at 15.10%and reminded that four(4)trucks were purchased this year; Fire Prevention Bureau underspent and some savings come from OPEB, and some over expenditures from retirement and health fund accounts that are underestimated; Fire Prevention is at 16.27%; Fire Training is at 12.49%; Ocean Safety Bureau is at 14.91%; and the Fire Commission is at 24.59% expended. Overall the unassigned appropriation is $188,890.42. Communications ■ KFC 2012-15 Letter to Mr. Fukushima from Chief Westerman regarding the 2008 SAFER Grant Chief Westerman reported he had provided a written explanation and asked Mr. Fukushima if he wanted further clarification. Mr. Fukushima asked if there is a requirement to have 129 firefighters staffed, and that the term to the grant is 5 years, to which Chief Westerman confirmed. Mr. Fukushima commented that once the grant expires at the Kaiakea Fire Station,there will be 15 positions that will need to be funded, to which Chief Westerman confirmed. Mr. Fukushima then asked about the 2-3 positions in Lhu`e. Chief Westerman replied that there was a different SAFER Grant for those Lzhu`e positions. Mr. Fukushima asked how many grants the Department was looking at as far as positions and how it is going to effect the County in terms of the budget increases anticipated in this upcoming budget or when the grants start to expire. In addition, Mr. Fukushima inquired about other grants that can be used to purchase equipment. He used the example of purchasing a fire truck using a Federal grant, what would the language be on those types Kauai Fire Commission Open Session October 1, 2012 Page 6 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION of grants where they would need to continue those grants 5 years after it expires, and at that time would a new fire truck need to be purchased by the County. He further stated that the purpose of asking for grants is to project future built-in increases in the budget that will take place within the next 5-year period. Chief Westerman suggested a future agenda item as it relates to existing grants, equipment purchased with the existing grants, and what the 5-year out cost for those grants may be. He added that the current positions funded by the SAFER Grant has already been approved by the County Council,therefore there will be no additional costs and that it has been budgeted to have those firefighters in the station. Chief Westerman asked if there was a minimum dollar grant amount that Mr. Fukushima would like a report on, to which he responded any grant that would affect the County down the road and will be picked up by the County because the grant language says"you must continue the program"; anything that has a continuance of"you must", that most definitely will have an impact on the budget. Mr. Croydon asked Chief Westerman if there are grants that had that provision,to which he responded very few. Chief Westerman noted that the discussion began to enter into operations. He added as an example of another grant they received for SCBA, you buy an SCBA that has maintenance costs year after year,whether they got it through the grant or paid it through the County Budget,the maintenance will still be there year after year. Even though there are continuing costs, there is no additional cost to the County because that cost is being bourne by the County. Mr. Deputy County Attorney Mauna Trask Fukushima clarified his concern of any grants that will have a continuing recommended to the Commission that a motion cost that will be above normal costs to the County. to receive both the Chiefs Monthly Report and KFC 2012-15 be received for the record. Vice-Chair Proudfoot asked Chief Westerman if the continuing costs are included in the budget,to which he responded that they are; some costs are Mr. Fukushima moved to receive. Ms. Proudfoot Kauai Fire Commission Open Session October 1, 2012 Page 7 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION already included, and if it is there it is part of the routine budget, i.e.— seconded the motion. SCBA. Motion carried 7:0 ■ KFC 2012-16 Fire Safety Training; Mahalo letter from Tropical Fish Kauai, LLC Ms. Proudfoot moved to accept. Mr. Fukushima Chief Westerman informed that he had sent a thank you letter to individuals. seconded the motion. Motion carried 7:0 Business KFC 2012-17 Election of Delegates to attend the Hawaii Fire Chief s Annual Conference on Maui,November 8-11, 2012 Mr. Croydon asked if it would be wise to nominate a senior member and a newer member to go along to the conference so that they can be educated. Chair Kaauwai-Iwamoto stated that she had sent an email to Boards & Mr. Fukushima nominated Mr. Basilio Fuertes, Commissions staff if it would be okay that the Commissioners nearing their seconded by Mr. Miranda. end of their term would be the attendees at the conference. Lani confirmed only 2 were budgeted. Mr. Basilio nominated Chair Kaauwai-Iwamoto, seconded by Mr. Fukushima. Vice-Chair Proudfoot said additional members would pay their own way if they were interested as she did last year. Motion carried 7:0 Executive Chair Kaauwai-Iwamoto noted for the record that she preferred to convene Deputy County Attorney Mauna Kea Trask read Session directly into executive session. the Hawaii Revised Statues as described on the agenda that would take the Board into Executive Session for item ES-9. Mr. Fukushima moved to convene into Executive Session at 2:40 p.m. Mr. Miranda seconded the motion. Motion carried 7:0 Return to Open The meeting resumed in Open Session at Session 2:42 p.m. Ratify Commission actions taken in the Executive Session for item: I Ms. Proudfoot moved to ratify the Commission's Kauai Fire Commission Open Session October 1, 2012 Page 8 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION ES-8 and ES-4 KFC 2012-09 actions taken in the Executive Session. Mr. Fukushima seconded the motion. Chair Kaauwai-Iwamoto noted for the record to update the header date on Motion carried 7:0 page 2 of the Executive Session minutes to reflect September 4, 2012. Announcements Next Meeting: Monday, October 1, 2012—2:00 p.m., Mo`ikeha Building, Meeting Room 2A/B Adjournment Mr. Fukushima moved to adjourn the meeting at 2:42 p.m. Mr. Fuertes seconded the motion. Motion carried 7:0 Submitted by: Reviewed and Approved by: Ihilani Laureta, Staff Support Clerk Linda Ka`auwai-Iwamoto, Chair ( ) Approved as is. ( ) Approved with amendments. See minutes of meeting.