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HomeMy WebLinkAbout4-1-2013 KFC Open Min APPROVEDCOUNTY OF KAUAI Minutes of Meeting OPEN SESSION Board/Committee: I FIRE COMMISSION Meeting Date I April 1, 2013 Location Mo`ikeha Building, Meeting Room 2A /213 Start of Meeting: 2:05 p.m. End of Meeting: 3:05 p.m. Present Vice -Chair Jimmy Miranda; Members: Jesse Fukushima; Dan Brown; Eugene Jimenez; Savita Agarwal Also: Fire Chief Robert Westerman; Deputy County Attorney Mauna Kea Trask; Boards & Commissions Office Staff: Support Clerk Cherisse Zaima Excused Absent SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Call To Order Vice -Chair Miranda called the meeting to order at 2:05 p.m. with 5 members present, constituting a quorum Approval of ■ Regular Open Session Minutes of March 4, 2013 Mr. Fukushima moved to approve the minutes as Minutes circulated. Ms. Agarwal seconded the motion. Motion carried 5:0 ■ Executive Session Minutes of March 4, 2013 Vice -Chair Miranda called for a motion to approve the Executive Session Mr. Fukushima moved to approve the minutes as minutes of March 4, 2013. circulated. Mr. Jimenez seconded the motion. Motion carried 5:0 Chiefs Monthly ■ Overview for the month of February 2013 and pertinent updates Report ■ Budget Report as of February 28, 2013 Chief Westerman highlighted some of the meetings he attended: Fire Commission meeting; budget meetings with the Mayor in preparation for Fire's budget presentations being held next Monday (April 8) at 1:30 at the Kauai County Council; community outreach meetings; meeting with HGEA regarding jet -ski Step I grievance; meeting with DPS (Department of Personnel Services) regarding some promotional testing and looking into KFD buying the tests in an effort to make them "defensible ". Kauai Fire Commission Open Session April 1, 2013 Page 2 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION The current CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) class will be graduating this week. Chief Westerman invited the commissioners to attend a county -wide CERT pot -luck being held at Lydgate this Saturday at 1:00. Operations Bureau Chief Westerman reported that call load for the current YTD is up and noted that as the tourist count goes up, the call count goes up; he attributes this to the increase in medical calls and rescues resulting from near- drownings and drownings. Apparatus Status Front line vehicles are okay. The second mechanic is fully on board. There is an issue with their two reserve trucks, with one going out of service and the other just barely hanging on. However, they will be replacing one of their vehicles which will allow them to push down one of the current front line vehicles. Station Updates Chief Westerman stated that during this time of year, it's not surprising to see the station reports having a lot of beach rescues and drownings, mostly due to the high surf. They are struggling to get the MDT's (Mobile Data Terminals) on board, using Station 2 and Station 8 as guinea pig stations, with Firefighter III Sean Smith working on the program. Rescue 3 participated in a jet -ski class with the Radon to get the hang of approaching and transferring people from the boat to the jet -ski. Station 7 provided the first aid station at the Waimea Alumni carnival and also brought the new prevention education trailer, which received a lot of good community reviews. Prevention Bureau Kauai Fire Commission Open Session April 1, 2013 Page 3 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Mr. Jimenez asked who in the Fire Department does the building permit plan reviews to which Chief Westerman replied Fire Inspector Bob Craddick. Ocean Safety Bureau A 6 -day rescue craft operator training was held with 4 OSB and 2 firefighter personnel participating. Mr. Miranda stated that he understands the importance of the rescue training, but also feels that it's important to get people educated about the dangers of the ocean; he asked what the Chief thought would be the best way to do that. Chief Westerman provided some information on the number of interventions reported by the lifeguards where they stopped people from going into dangerous waters and suggested safer alternative beaches for water activities. He further offered to include some kind of report on these intervention initiatives. Chief Westerman also noted that they currently do a lot in the community to provide education, highlighting the following: signs at the airport and with the support of the Kapa`a community, putting the video kiosk back up; distribution annually of approximately 200,000 beach safety guides; the WAVE program, which the County administration funds in the budget, where Pat Durkin goes to various hotels to teach the concierge how to talk to guests about the safe places to go and when not to go. However, they are trying to expand upon this and get to the visitors staying at TVR's who are not receiving this information. Mr. Jimenez stated that he is very concerned with the number of drownings on the island and recognizes that public awareness and education seemed to have strengthened due to the recent drownings. He reiterated the importance of prevention and is glad to see that all of the agencies and businesses are now coming together to educate the public. Kauai Fire Commission Open Session April 1, 2013 Page 4 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Ms. Agarwal thanked the Fire Department for their great job and asked the Chief what kind of help or extra things would he like. Would he like more involvement from the hotels, the tourism industry, more awareness in the local population, or more lifeguards on duty? Chief Westerman replied that the issue of drowning is a very complex issue involving everyone. As part of the Water Safety Task Force, one of the challenges is how much education to provide and how effective it is. There is a very small window of opportunity to get that information to the visitors from when they get off the plane to when they get to the beach; they have recently been able to get rental car agencies on board with providing brochures in the vehicles. As part of the discussion, Attorney Trask added that, based on his experience in the County Attorney's Office, drownings are going to happen. He provided examples of efforts that governments throughout the world have taken to warn people of hazards such as: don't drink during pregnancy; smoking kills; don't drink and drive; don't text and drive; yet people still do it. Another thing that needs to be discussed is extending the lifeguard liability protection in legislation. He talked about some past lawsuits filed against the County by the families of drowning victims and how these types of lawsuits will affect both the County as well as individual lifeguards. He further explained the complexities of a lifeguard's job, its challenges, and that it is not strictly limited to just ocean rescues, giving examples of their numerous duties. Advocacy at the Legislature to protect the County and its lifeguards is an extremely important issue. Mr. Brown asked whether everything that Attorney Trask covered is covered by the Good Samaritan law to which Attorney Trask replied no. He further noted the Recreational Use Act, explaining that if you are a private land owner and you open your property for people to use for beach access, you are protected, but the government is not and does not fall under the Recreational Use Act. Kauai Fire Commission Open Session April 1, 2013 Page 5 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Mr. Brown revisited the topic of drownings and the things Chief Westerman has in place to inform the public, but asked, isn't this something that should happen with the Hawaii Visitors Bureau right at the beginning when people are coming over on the plane? He also noted that people are not using their common sense, which could have prevented a lot of the drownings. He stated that the airlines and hotels don't want to mention it because it's a negative portrayal. Deputy Chief Blalock provided testimony, stating that people come to Kauai because it has become known as an eco- tourism destination. Tourists don't want to swim near a lifeguard and are drawn to places like HanakapPai. Further, they spend thousands of dollars to visit Kauai so they are adamant about doing all the activities they planned on even if the conditions are dangerous. The lure and the draw of Kauai are in the places that people shouldn't go. He suggested that part of the education should include seasonal information, to direct them to areas that are safer during certain times of year. Ms. Agarwal stated that she understands that it is a very stressful job and asked what could be done to hire more lifeguards so they are not overworked. Attorney Trask stated that currently they are proposing to raise real property taxes, fuel taxes, all permits and fees, etc. It's allocation of resources at a County level and is dependent on money. Ms. Agarwal argued that if they are concerned about lawsuits, we lose more in lawsuits than in hiring more employees which will save all these lawsuits. Attorney Trask retorted by posing the question of whether that would really be the case and how to justify it considering the numerous other things the county needs, e.g. fixing the roads, building a new landfill, needing more firefighters and police; where is the balance? Ms. Agarwal stated that we have to create the balance but if they are so overworked, maybe adding one Kauai Fire Commission Open Session April 1, 2013 Page 6 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION or two more people won't hurt, and that they can go and ask for funding. Attorney Trask stated that the Chief can do that, but on the other hand, legislation and immunity cost nothing. Ms. Agarwal further suggested that there are so many stress management trainings that are all free and covered by health insurance but most people are not aware that they are available. She feels they need to make use of everything in their possession so people are not so stressed out. Ms. Agarwal asked if bigger signs could be added where there are no lifeguards so the County is off the hook. Attorney Trask explained that the County has a total of about 8 beach parks, which are all signed and lifeguarded. In addition, they are voluntarily lifeguarding at a State beach (Ke'e), for which the State is currently providing us protection. A lot of the beaches where these drownings occur are on State beaches or surrounded by private land owners where there are no lifeguards present. In response to a question by Ms. Agarwal, Attorney Trask further explained that signage is also dependent upon the degree of immunity protection and that it is a complex issue; we cannot put signs on someone's private property and every single beach and trail is almost always a different analysis. Ms. Agarwal argued that if it's DLNR, maybe we can talk to the State to do something about it. She feels that we can't prevent it, but we can do our part to minimize it and that government has not stopped putting out warnings about pregnant women smoking even though people are not listening. Chief Westerman explained the sign ordinances, noting that about 200 signs have been put up around the island, but stated that it is also dependent upon the individual to pay attention to the warnings. Chief Westerman stated that per Council, the State is responsible for State beach parks, and beyond the high water line, it is the private land owner's responsibility. He further stated that there are also about 300 rescue buoys around the island. Also, the Junior Lifeguard program encourages the public to be pro- active by talking to people they see on the beach. In addition, many firefighters are avid surfers and have taken the initiative to educate, inform, and even rescue people while off-duty. Kauai Fire Commission Open Session April 1, 2013 Page 7 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Mr. Fukushima stated that awareness and involvement is much greater now than it was in the 80's because he is beginning to see that the visitor industry is beginning its effort to educate people and seem to be more receptive than they were in the past. He noted that many of the rescues are on State land and to a certain extent, because of the economy, the State may cut back on certain funding such as the visitor tax. He asked the Chief, upon looking at the fire department's involvement in these rescues, is there an annual tally of what the rescue efforts cost at the end of the fiscal year? The reason he asks is that he feels this may be a positive lobbying tool to the State Legislature to show the duplication of effort, and how much it costs the department with no reciprocation from the State. Chief Westerman stated that they do talk with the Administration about how much effort they put out, though they have never given them a dollar figure. He also knows that this information has been taken to the State Legislature, along with the questions as to why they are trying to take the TAT away when the State promotes tourism, only to have the County have to go out and rescue these visitors. He stated that it is not impossible to put together those dollar figures but it takes time and effort to do that kind of accounting, and what is the gain for the department? Mr. Fukushima reiterated that any time you show the figures to anyone in elected office that definitely opens their eyes and makes them look at it more seriously. Mr. Jimenez commented that in the past several years, this jurisdictional issue between the County and State has garnered the response o£ that's why you have the TAT, use that to beef up your ocean safety. He agrees that when you approach our legislators, it's good to have hard data. On the other hand, there are so many competing interests that many times the legislature will look at it and say that it is the responsibility of the County to take care of it. Kauai Fire Commission Open Session April 1, 2013 Page 8 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Mr. Miranda stated that the bottom line on tourist dollars is banked on airline seats and he feels that the check -in area at the airport is where the education should start. Chief Westerman continued with his monthly report and budget report, noting that they are short 4 firefighters and there is still a vacancy in the Administration Bureau. The clerk position has not been filled and they are currently working on reallocating it up to a higher position. Ms. Agarwal asked if there is enough support in the Administration area or if they are still short. Chief Westerman replied that they are still short; he has no clerk at all and his secretary is on vacation. Ms. Agarwal asked if it would make it easier if they had a part-time position to cover to which Chief Westerman replied that they have a volunteer that comes in every Friday to do clerical work for Prevention. He is hopeful that they will have the vacant admin. position filled within the next month or two. Vice -Chair Miranda called for a motion to approve the Chief's monthly Mr. Fukushima moved to accept the reports. Mr. report and budget report. Jimenez seconded the motion. Motion carried 5:0. Business KFC 2013 -08 Nomination and selection of Chair Mr. Fukushima nominated Mr. Miranda as Chair, seconded by Mr. Jimenez. Mr. Fukushima stated the reason for his nomination being that Mr. Miranda has had the opportunity to Chair the past two meetings and has gotten familiar with parliamentary procedures and is also getting familiar with the inner workings of the Fire Department. Mr. Brown supported Mr. Mr. Jimenez moved to close the nominations. Fukushima's recommendation. Mr. Fukushima seconded the motion. Motion carried 5:0. Mr. Miranda accepted the position of Chair. Mr. Brown nominated Mr. Fukushima for the position of Vice - Chair, Kauai Fire Commission Open Session April 1, 2013 Page 9 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION stating that as a former council member, he has experience working with the Council and would be able to advise them on any budgetary questions they Mr. Jimenez moved to close the nominations. may have. Ms. Agarwal seconded the motion. Motion carried 5:0. Mr. Fukushima accepted the position of Vice - Chair. Mr. Fukushima volunteered to attend the budget session coming up on April 8. Announcements Next Meeting: Monday, May 6, 2013 — 2:00 p.m., Mo`ikeha Building, Meeting Room 2A /B Adjournment Prior to adjournment, Mr. Brown reiterated the importance of ocean safety education and awareness and how to get the word out. He asked Attorney Trask if it is appropriate for the Commission to discuss that and see what they can do to help out. Attorney Trask suggested they agenda an item for the Chief to present on and decide what they would like to do based on that presentation. Mr. Jimenez clarified that whatever they decide at the meeting will filter through the Chief. Attorney Trask stated that the commission could vote to support to select legislation at the local or State level; he will Mr. Fukushima moved to adjourn the meeting. work with the commission on whatever goals they wish to achieve. Mr. Brown seconded the motion. Motion carried 5:0. The meeting adjourned at 3:05 p.m. Submitted by: Cherisse Zaima, Support Clerk () Approved as is. O Approved with amendments. See minutes of Reviewed and Approved by: meeting. Jimmy Miranda, Vice Chair