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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022 3-15 FC Draft Open Session Minutes.docx MO 3-29-22.pdf COUNTY OF KAUAI OPEN SESSION MEETING MINUTES Board/Commission Kauai Fire Commission Meeting Date March 15, 2022 Location Microsoft Teleconference Teams Meeting Start of Meeting: 2:00 p.m. 3:35 p.m. Present Chair Chad Pacheco ; Vice Chair Jen Chahanovich ; Commissioners: Alfredo Garces Jr., Linda Kaauwai-Iwamoto, Alfred Levinthol, Michael Martinez (joined the meeting at 2:33 p.m.), and Rodney Yama. Also present: Board & Commissions Office Staff: Support Clerk Mercedes Omo; Administrator Ellen Ching; Office of the County Attorney: Deputy County Attorney Jenna Tatsey; Kauai Fire Department: Fire Chief Steven Goble and Chief’s Secretary Soncy Tamashiro. Excused Absent SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Call To Order At 2:00 p.m. Chair Pacheco called the Fire Commission March 15, 2022, meeting to order. Roll Call to ascertain quorum Chair Pacheco called on staff to conduct a roll call to ascertain quorum. All six (6) Commissioner’s present voiced that they were present and alone to conduct business. Approval of Agenda Chair Pacheco called for a motion to approve the agenda as circulated. Vice Chair Chahanovich moved. Mr. Levinthol seconded. Hearing no objections. The motion carried 6:0. Chair’s Announcement Chair Pacheco announced that the next regularly Fire Commission meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Public Testimony Chair Pacheco asked staff if there were any registered speakers who wanted to testify on any of the agenda items to which Ms. Omo replied that there was no one from the public who registered to testify. KFC Open Session Minutes Of March 15, 2022, Meeting Page 2 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Approval of Minutes of February 15, 2022, Meeting Chair Pacheco called for a motion to amend or approve the meeting minutes as circulated. Mr. Garces moved. Ms. Kaauwai-Iwamoto seconded. Hearing no objections. The motion carried 6:0 to approve the minutes of the Commission’s February 15, 2022, meeting as circulated. Chief’s Monthly Reports CHIEF’S MONTHLY BUREAU REPORTS AND PERTINENT UPDATES a) Fire and Ocean Safety, Partnerships, Covid 19 and Resources Highlights b) Administrative Bureau/Budget Update & Fire Operations c) Fire Prevention & Training d) Ocean Safety e) Goals and Objectives f) Kauai Fire Department’s five (5) Year Strategic Plan update g) Quarterly update on the Utilization Study due March 2022 Fire Chief Goble highlighted items from his written report: Fire and Ocean Safety Highlights: • Budget proposals were submitted to the Administration’s budget team to review and to make recommendations which will be forwarded to council as part of the budgetary process. • Doctor Kyle Perry of the Queens Medical Hospital was named new the Medical Director. He will oversee the RMS and the AED Programs for first responders and emergency medical technicians. • Fire mechanic Lance Gonsalves and Ocean Safety Officer John Carmack were selected the Kauai Fire Department’s Outstanding Employees of the Year. • KFD’s Fire Captains held their quarterly virtual meetings with members of the ocean safety team. KFC Open Session Minutes Of March 15, 2022, Meeting Page 3 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION • Ocean Safety is switching over to a Records Management System. The RMS will give staff the ability to extract data for reporting purposes and identify what their needs are. Partnerships Highlights: • Revitalization of the CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) Program. • Work is continuing with the Department of Water to address the water flow. Chief Goble reported that the group have shared valuable information to give them a better understanding for future planning. • KFD has applied for Firefighters Grant to provide Health & Wellness opportunities for the fire fighters and a CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) to replace Engine 5 in Kalāheo. • KFD is tracking three legislative bills. The first bill would increase the maximum fines for illegal fireworks; Second bill is to conduct an audit of harbor inspection procedures of state departments and federal agencies for shipping containers to prevent the importation of illegal fireworks into the state; the Third bill is to protect lifeguards/first responders from civil lawsuits for actions taken in the course of their duty; Fourth bill relates to EMT licensure for non- ambulance EMT’s to be extended to the neighboring islands. Currently, the licensure is limited to O‘ahu and counties with a population over 500,000. KFC Open Session Minutes Of March 15, 2022, Meeting Page 4 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION COVID 19 Highlights: • The county’s emergency rule on group size limitations ended on March 1, 2022. • The state Safe Travel Program, vaccine attestation or negative testing for county and state employees ends on March 25, 2022. • Daily confirmed Covid cases, rolling 7-day average. • Covid positivity rate on Kauai is 3.9%. • 72% of Kauai residents are fully vaccinated, 77% initiated and 38% received their booster shots. Resource Highlights: • The 31st Recruit Class is on track to graduate in May. • The start date for Firefighter trainees who transferred from the other counties is March 16, 2022. • Bargaining Units 11 and 15 are in arbitration. • Request to hire seasonal staff to support extended hours was denied. • Requisition to replace Truck 6 is in progress. • Procurement for two outboard motors for Radon boat is still in process. • Request to replace engine six, purchase new SUVs for the department’s battalion chiefs, and new service truck for maintenance personnel were approved. • The architect to design Air One helicopter hanger has been selected and is now working the design and engineering phase. • Procurement for state grant resiliency equipment center is being processed. KFC Open Session Minutes Of March 15, 2022, Meeting Page 5 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Administrative Bureau: FY 2021-2022: Chief Goble reported that the Department is continuing to under spend. Most of their expenses are payroll related. Overtime costs are being managed well by staff is on track. As for FY 2022-2023 budget, based on budget projections they have submitted a flat budget and although they will have to do more with less, they will stick to their principles in the strategic plan on service delivery operational readiness and risk reduction. As for the overarching goals on planning and budgeting recommendations that came from the utilization study it gave them some specific targets to shoot for to address the budget requirements. As the department continues to move forward with their training models overtime costs related to those trainings are occurring so they will continue to adjust. This year, the department was able to save $90,000 to use towards other important initiatives. A request for an administrative battalion chief position did not make the grade so they are working on refining that role from an administrative standpoint. Support staff vehicles was another ask as part of the department’s overall inventory replacement scheduling for vehicles/apparatus as they reach the end of their useful lives. Fire Operations Bureau Highlights: The bureau has several thermal imaging equipment, some hazardous materials equipment that is on warranty. The department was successful in obtaining a new SCBA filling station to fill the firefighters breathing air cylinders. Additionally, the department applied for grant money to purchase a response vehicle for the west side of the island (which became evident during the rockslide that occurred in Waimea) and two outboard motors to replace the aging motors on the zodiac. KFC Open Session Minutes Of March 15, 2022, Meeting Page 6 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Fire Prevention Bureau Highlights: The bureau worked through the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) fire codes and standards and as a result managed to clean up some revenue pieces. Also, the county implemented an online payment system to collect fees that are due and to make sure that the bureau is applying the fees accordingly. Fire Training Bureau Highlights: The bureau is continuing to adjust its on- duty training model shifts. Trainings include helicopter rescue equipment training and creating a cache for equipment that can be quickly accessed to help rescuers be timelier in their response. The second training is conducting live fire training using environmental shipping containers. The bureau has looked at purchasing additional shipping containers that are costly but with the help of good partnerships on island they were able to do so. Ocean Safety Bureau Highlights: OS staff created a replacement schedule for the bureau’s aging ATV equipment. With the record management system in place staff can now conduct meetings while out in the field using their county issued iPads of which ten (10) are going be replaced with new ones in the next budget year. Some of the challenges staff is facing is having to pick-up their gear every morning from the Hanalei base yard and then transport the gear to their work location that itself causes a bit of a time lapse in coverage, so the department is looking for a way to get a storage container to down to ‘Anini beach park. OS is also looking for a solution to accommodate the extending beach coverage during the hours from dusk to dawn. A request to hire additional fulltime staff was denied so they have stretched their existing staff and the roving jet ski patrol staff to cover those hours. *Note – Commissioner Michael Martinez joined the meeting at 2:33 p.m. KFC Open Session Minutes Of March 15, 2022, Meeting Page 7 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION FY 2023 Budget Proposals: Fire Chief Goble referred to his Budget Proposal Report for FY 2023 reflecting data of what the department asked for that would require additional funding that may be beyond their reach this time around as well as items that were deferred out, fire and ocean safety budget process, notable proposals and exceptions for KFD administration, fire operations, fire prevention, fire training and ocean safety, operational budget priorities regarding service delivery, operational readiness and risk reduction, a spread sheet reflecting payroll and opex summaries for administration, fire operations, fire prevention, training bureau and water safety, and a list of capital improvements priorities concerning fire station 3 bay extenstiondesign and construction, lifeguard towers for ocean safety in Keālia and Lydgate, fire station 6 addtion to house SCBA equipment/PPE cleaning and storage, east district supervisor office at the Kapa‘a Armory, reroof station 4, fire training facility and fire hydrant for training purposes, pad for high water vehicle storage. Deferred items: addition for vehicle storage/equipment/PPE cleaning materials at fire station1, replace fire station air conditioning system at fire station 1 (alternate funding has been identified), relocation of fire station 2, addition for fire station 5 for PEE cleaningequipment and storage and Vice Chair Chahanovich moved. Mr. Levinthol seconded. Hearing no objections. The motion carried 7:0. KFC Open Session Minutes Of March 15, 2022, Meeting Page 8 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION KFC 2022-2 Discussion and decision-making on Fire Chief Steven Goble’s Goals and Objectives for FY July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023. (Deferred on 2/15/2022) Vice Chair Chahanovich moved to adopt Fire Chief Steven Goble’s Goals and Objectives for FY July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023. Mr. Garces seconded. Hearing no objections. The motion carried 7:0. KFC 2022-3 Discussion and decision-making on establishing a policy on time limit for public testimony. Mr. Garces moved to adopt the Fire Commission Policy No.1 regarding Oral Testimony. Mr. Levinthol seconded. Hearing no objections. The motion carried 7:0. Executive Session None. Adjournment With no further business to conduct, Chair Pacheco called for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Vice Chair Chahanovich moved. Ms. Kaauwai- Iwamoto seconded. Hearing no objections. The motion carried 7:0. At 3:35 p.m. the meeting adjourned. Submitted by: __________________________________ Reviewed and Approved by: _________________________________________ Mercedes Omo, Staff Support Clerk Chad Pacheco , Chair ( ) Approved as circulated on ( ) Approved as amended. See minutes of ___________ meeting.