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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020_1102_KFC_Minutes_Open_Approved COUNTY OF KAUAI Minutes of Meeting OPEN SESSION Board/Commission: FIRE COMMISSION Meeting Date: November 2, 2020 Location Teleconference via Microsoft Teams Start of Meeting: 2:02 p.m. End of Meeting: 3:59 p.m. Present Chair Alfredo Garces. Vice Chair Jennie Chahanovich. Commissioners: Linda Kaauwai-Iwamoto (joined at 2:07 p.m.), Alfred Levinthol, Michael Martinez (joined at 2:09 p.m.), Thomas Nizo (left at 3:41 p.m.) and Chad Pacheco. Deputy County Attorney Jenna Tatsey. Fire Chief Steven Goble (left at 3:04 p.m.) and Secretary Soncy Tamashiro (joined at 2:10 p.m. and left at 3:04 p.m.). Office of Boards and Commissions Staff: Administrator Ellen Ching and Commission Support Clerk Sandra Muragin. Excused Absent SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Chair Garces, Vice Chair Chahanovich, Commissioner Nizo, Commissioner Pacheco, Deputy County Attorney Tatsey, Fire Chief Goble, Administrator Ellen Ching and Commission Support Clerk Muragin were logged onto Microsoft Teams by video. Commissioner Levinthol entered the meeting by audio. Call To Order In Open Session /Roll Call to Ascertain Quorum Chair Garces called the Open Session meeting to order at 2:02 p.m. and requested a roll call. Commission support clerk Sandra Muragin verified attendance by roll call and requested a verbal response of present or here; Commissioner Kaauwai-Iwamoto – no answer. Commissioner Levinthol replied present. Commissioner Martinez – no answer. Commissioner Nizo replied here. Commissioner Pacheco replied present. Vice Chair Chahanovich replied here. Chair Garces replied present. Deputy County Attorney Jenna Tatsey replied present. Fire Chief Steven Goble replied present. Secretary Soncy Tamashiro – no answer. Administrator Ellen Ching replied present. Quorum was established with Fire Commission Open Session November 2, 2020 Page 2 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Commission Support Clerk Sandra Muragin replied present. five commissioners present. Chair’s Comments/Anno uncements Including But Not Limited To: Next Meeting: Monday, December 7, 2020 – 2:00 p.m., Teleconference by Microsoft Teams Public Testimony No testimony from the public. Approval of the Open Session Minutes of September 14, 2020 Meeting Mr. Pacheco moved to approve the Open Session minutes of September 14, 2020, as circulated. Mr. Levinthol seconded the motion. Motion carried 5:0. Approval of the Open Session Minutes of October 5, 2020 Meeting Vice Chair Chahanovich moved to approve the Open Session minutes of October 5, 2020, as circulated. Mr. Pacheco seconded the motion. Motion carried 5:0. Fire Chief Monthly Reports, Pertinent Updates / Announcements Kaua‘i Fire Commission Report for the Month of September 2020, dated October 20, 2020. A. Chief of the Department B. Fire Operations C. Training Bureau D. Prevention Bureau E. Ocean Safety Bureau F. Lifeguard Tower/Roving Patrol Updates Kaua‘i Fire Department Appropriation Balance – FY 2019-2020 as of September 30, 2020. Fire Commission Open Session November 2, 2020 Page 3 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Fire Chief Steven Goble congratulated Commissioner Kaauwai Iwamoto and Commissioner Leventhol on their reappointment for a second term on the fire commission. He thanked them for their service to the commission, community and the fire department. Commissioner Kaauwai Iwamoto joined the meeting at 2:07 p.m. Chief Goble stated that amendments to the 2018 fire code was finalized. He said the prevention team worked with other counties to create a draft that was submitted to the county council for adoption. He shared that his team continues to provide support to Kaua‘i emergency management agency. Commissioner Martinez joined the meeting at 2:09 p.m. Assistant Chief Solomon Kanoho was assigned as incident commander and Battalion Chief Gary Hudson was assigned to planning operations. Several other personnel assist with logistics and answering incoming phone calls. Chief Goble reported three residential fires and brush fires in September. Air one helicopter performed a couple of rescues on remote trials. Chief Goble said he received a final draft of the utilization study that addressed council’s request to review staffing levels, deployments, locations of fire stations and outlined basic evaluation of changes for the best use of the department’s resources. They are implementing recommendations in November and results should be noticed around July 2021. The department has worked over a year to achieve a 100% training on the blue card program; which about 95% are certified. The blue card program defines best standard command practices on everyday incidents as well as high level threat environment processes and system deployments. Fire Commission Open Session November 2, 2020 Page 4 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Provided hands on driver operating training of apparatus and pumps. Received good feedback from crew that it enhanced their driving skill levels. Finished hazmat training. They recruited an instructor who was a former fire captain with the Phoenix fire department, who now resides on Kaua‘i, to conduct hazmat refresher training. There are 30 current recruitments in session and on track to graduate on December 11. The new recruits attended Kaua‘i Community College for National Registry of Emergency Medical Technician training and have a final exam on November 5. They organized a 911 memorial by climbing 110 floors, five floors at a time, in memory of the fire fighters who lost their lives that day. Fire inspectors have been busy due to the increase in residential construction. The ocean safety training bureau has become creative in delivering training in smaller groups and avoiding overtime by completing CPR and AED certifications at tower locations to avoid overtime and allow the crew to continue to offer coverage. The roving patrol was able to modify schedules to 4-10, four ten hour days. This has allowed more coverage and effective response across the island. Chief Goble mentioned that the budget remained mostly on track. He said there were three frontline inoperable apparatus with major repairs. They have reached out to their counterparts on Oahu for advice on how to begin the repair process. Ms. Kaauwai Iwamoto addressed concerns received from the community regarding the recent structure fire on Anahola Road. She said residents noticed that the fire trucks used fire hydrants that were further out and were not aware of ones that were located closer to the area. Chief Goble stated that the crew that managed that fire came across several challenges with access to the property and water supply. They had to shuttle water back and forth due Fire Commission Open Session November 2, 2020 Page 5 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION to the low water pressure. He said the water supply is independent from the county and they plan to map out the area. Mr. Pacheco expressed concern that there were three inoperable apparatus trucks and inquired if it affected the stations. He also asked about recruitment in July 2021 due to the end of year retirements. He said the utilization study reviewed staffing levels and wanted to know if that would affect hiring and also if they did recruit would they take from a list of those that went through the training but not selected. Chief Goble clarified that the recruitment and utilization study did not impact each other and he was not aware of any list, so the new recruits would have to go through the entire training from the start. He said they have smaller trucks in reserve to use if it impacted the stations ability to deploy emergency assistance. Mr. Levinthol moved to receive the Kauai Fire Commission Report for the Month of September 2020, dated October 20, 2020 and the Kauai Fire Department Appropriation Balance-FY 2019-2020 as of September 30, 2020. Ms. Kaauwai Iwamoto seconded the motion. Motion carried 7:0. Business KFC 2020-5 Update on the Kaua‘i Fire Departments audit regarding overtime usage. (On-going) Chief Goble reported that he touched basis with consultants, Aspire Group. The consultants were pending receipt of information from the Employee Retirement System and finally received the data request in mid-September. Chief Goble asked if they could separate bargaining agreement cost and discretionary cost. They offered to include that information in the final submittal and complete by the end of October. To date no draft has been received. Chief Goble said despite the delay they know what the challenges are and have begun to take action to mitigate problem areas. They are not waiting for the audit document Fire Commission Open Session November 2, 2020 Page 6 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION to begin improvements. With no further updates to share, Chair Garces moved on to the next agenda item. KFC 2020-7 Update of the Kaua‘i Fire Department’s five (5) Year Strategic Plan meeting with Playgroup Consultant Leslie Mullens. (On-going) Chief Goble attempted but was not successful in sharing his strategic planning document online. He said the consultant worked with everyone in the fire department and he was pleased with the end product. Using the data collected the consultant defined three major categories that would drive the action planning. Overall they outlined a great staff with great ideas but lacked the coordination to implement and follow through. The first category was Service Delivery. This defined who we are and how to do it. The consultant found that they needed to assess risk and build on their unique set of plans and processes. The second category was Professional Standards. This defined good practices and the ability to share with everyone so the department operated with the same set of standards. The third category was Effective Training and Career Development. This linked training with operating procedures and communicating expectations across the board so everyone had a centralized vision and understanding of the same processes. They would also need to update policy procedures and guidelines with the latest version and archive older versions that were still being used. Executive Session Administrator Ellen Ching read the Hawaii Revised Statutes to move the meeting into Executive Session. Pursuant to Hawai‘i Revised Statutes §§92-4, 92-5 (a) (2) (4), 92-9 (a) (1-4) and (b), 76-47 (e) the purpose of this Executive Session is to receive and approve Executive Session minutes, to consider the hire, evaluation, dismissal or discipline of an employee or officer of the County where consideration of matters affecting privacy will be involved; and to consult with the Commission’s legal counsel on questions and issues pertaining to the Commission’s and the County’s powers, duties, privileges, immunities, and/or liabilities as they may relate to this agenda item and take such appropriate action. Vice Chair Chahanovich moved to enter into Executive Session. Fire Commission Open Session November 2, 2020 Page 7 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Mr. Pacheco seconded the motion. Motioned carried 7:0. The commission and staff, disconnected from open session at 3:04 p.m. and connected into executive session. Return to Open Session Chair Garces, Vice Chair Chahanovich, Commissioner Kaauwai-Iwamoto, Commissioner Martinez, Commissioner Pacheco, Deputy County Attorney Tatsey, Administrator Ellen Ching and Commission Support Clerk Muragin were logged onto Microsoft Teams by video. Commissioner Levinthol entered the meeting by audio. Call To Order In Open Session /Roll Call Chair Garces called the Open Session meeting to order at 3:56 p.m. and requested a roll call. Commission support clerk Sandra Muragin verified attendance by roll call and requested a verbal response of present or here; Commissioner Kaauwai-Iwamoto replied present. Commissioner Levinthol replied here. Commissioner Martinez replied here. Commissioner Pacheco replied here. Vice Chair Chahanovich replied here. Chair Garces replied here. Deputy County Attorney Jenna Tatsey replied present. Administrator Ellen Ching replied here. Commission Support Clerk Sandra Muragin replied here. Quorum was established with six commissioners present. Ratify Actions Ratify actions taken by the Fire Commission in executive session for agenda items: ES KFC 2020-04. Mr. Pacheco moved to ratify actions taken in Executive Session for ES KFC 2020-04. Mr. Levinthol seconded the motion. Roll Call Vote: 6-Ayes and 0-Nays. Motion carried Fire Commission Open Session November 2, 2020 Page 8 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION 6:0. Adjournment With no further business to conduct, Chair Garces called for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Pacheco moved to adjourn the meeting. Vice Chair Chahanovich seconded the motion. Motion carried 6:0 Chair Garces adjourned the meeting at 3:59 p.m. Submitted by: ________________________________________ Reviewed and Approved by: _________________________________________ Sandra Muragin, Commission Support Clerk Alfredo Garces, Chair ( X ) Approved as circulated. 12/07/20 ( ) Approved with amendments. See minutes of ___________ meeting.