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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022 6-21 FC APPROVED OS Minutes.pdf COUNTY OF KAUAI MINUTES OPEN SESSION MEETING Board/Commission Kauai Fire Commission Meeting Date June 21, 2022 Location Piikoi Building, Boards and Commissions Conference Room Start of Meeting: 2:00 p.m. 3:01 p.m. Present Chair Chad Pacheco; Vice Chair Jen Chahanovich; Commissioners: Alfredo Garces Jr., 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 Steve Goble and Deputy Fire Chief Gibson. Excused Commissioners Alfred Levinthol, Michael Martinez, and Linda Kaauwai -Iwamoto Absent SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Call To Order Chair Pacheco called the regular Fire Commission Monthly Meeting of June 21, 2022,to order. Roll Call Chair Pacheco called for a roll call to ascertain quorum. A call roll to ascertain a quorum ensued with four (4) Commissioners present to conduct business. Commissioners Garces, Yama, Vice Chair Chahanovich and Chair Pacheco. Approval of Agenda Chair Pacheco called for a motion to approve the June 21, 2022, meeting notice and agenda. Vice Chair Chahanovich moved. Commissioner Garces second the motion. Hearing objections, the agenda was approved. Chair’s Announcements Next regular monthly meeting – 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, July 19, 2022, in the Boards and Commissions Conference Room. KFC Regular Meeting Minutes Of June 21, 2022 Page 2 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Public Testimony on any of the agenda items There were none. Approval of Minutes May 17, 2022, Meeting Chair Pacheco called for a motion to amend or approve the open session minutes of May 17, 2022, meeting. Vice Chair Chahanovich moved to approve. Commissioner Yama second the motion. Hearing no objections, the minutes of the May 17, 2022, meeting were approved. Chief’s Monthly Bureau Reports & Pertinent Updates for May 2022 Fire Chief Steve Goble made his usual presentation on his Monthly Report to the Fire Commission for the month of May 2022. Copies of the Report was submitted to Boards and Commissions and distributed to the Commissioners in their meeting packets. Update on Kauai Fire, Ocean Safety, including updates on Partnerships, Covid 19 and Resources Highlights: • The Department’s FY 2023 Budget was approved by the county council on June 1, 2022, meeting. The budget reflected a 2% across the board incremental increases in overall cost largely attributed to an increase in personnel cost. No new positions were approved. • Fire Bureau continues to work with the planning department and the water department to address any issues relative to the department’s residential plan review process. • Graduation Ceremony was held for 31st Recruit Class. The class consisted of 8 new firefighter recruit and 3 three firefighter transfers. All eleven recruits were well trained to execute their duties and responsibilities. KFC Regular Meeting Minutes Of June 21, 2022 Page 3 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Partnerships: • Discussions are on-going with the Department of Water personnel to address future and current concerns related to water hydrants and standpipes. • KFD’s chief officers along with folks from the mayor’s office, police department and public works took a tour of Ninini Point to discuss and address wildfire and life safety issues in the surrounding the area. Since the tour a plan will be implemented to open the area up by widening the roads to improve access points. • KFD’s rules and regulations discussions with HR have been successful. The concept to have rules and regulations were well supported by outside agencies as well. The discussions are on-going. Covid 19: • As of June 8, the island has seen an surge in new covid 19 cases. Test positivity rate was up 26% compared to 16.9% the last time. • Numbers do not reflect home tests. • There was a moderate impact to KFD staffing in both fire and ocean safety responders. Resource Update: • Ocean Safety Captain James Ingham retired • Battalion Chief are temporarily filling the assistant chief vacancy • Waimea fire station flooring project is 90% complete with added improvements. • Outboard motors for the radon boat on order • Design for Air1 hanger is in progress • KFD’s resiliency truck was shipped on May 29 from Oakland, California. KFC Regular Meeting Minutes Of June 21, 2022 Page 4 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Administrative Bureau: • As of May,2022 the FY 2022 overall budget of $35,990,288.00, 77% of the budget has been expended. YTD Expenses amount to $27,597,416.13. The budget is on track. • Overtime budget is trending at 4.22% largely due to vacancies. The overtime expenses were covered by unexpended monies within the budget. • Payroll budget is on track to remain under the overall budget. • Staffing – 4 firefighter trainee vacancies, 1 assistant fire chief vacancy was short funded will be fill by Oct 1st, 1 fire inspector II vacancy was removed from the FY2023 budget, 1 fulltime ocean safety officer, and 2 ocean safety officer part-time position open for recruitment. Fire operations bureau: • There was a total of 584 calls for service ranging from 6 fire incidents, 13 land rescues, other incidents include two traffic collisions, one in Kilauea and one at Knudson Gap. Fire Prevention Bureau: • There was a total of 587 calls for service ranging from fire investigation, ADU permit application reviews, building permit reviews, planning department reviews, business occupancy inspections, witness acceptance tests, fire safety presentations, complaint investigation, fireworks display inspections and numerous telephone and email inquiry. • Two IT summer Interns were hired. KFC Regular Meeting Minutes Of June 21, 2022 Page 5 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Fire Training Bureau: • There were a total of 2110 hours of training in the month of May ranging from task performance training, PADO certification training, opportunity/refresher training, including 116 additional planning and additional training hours. Ocean Safety Bureau: • Drowning statistics up in May. 8 drownings were report to date compared to 4 this time last year. OSO1 conducted an open recruitment agility test, promotional recruitment was conducted for one OSO III position and one OSO IV position. Goals and Objectives: Goal #1 – Develop standard of response coverage for KFD G1C objective: Develop response/deployment plan to address identified risks. Objective is on track for completion. Next step is to incorporate risk identification to standard deployment methods. Goal #2 – Develop a policy management process for KFD. G2B objective: Identify any KFD policies that should be revised and any gaps in existing policies. Objective is on track. Final steps are to submit policy to HFFA (Hawai‘i Firefighters Association) for consultation. Goal #3- Identify career development pathway for KFD. Objectives were met and goal is completed and will remain open ended because as they move forward lessons will be learned from each of the different processes across the board. KFC Regular Meeting Minutes Of June 21, 2022 Page 6 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Update on KFD’s five (5) year Strategic Plan Fire Chief Goble stated that some of his own personal goals were incorporated in the strategic plan and that he hopes his presentation entitled Strategic Plan 2021-2024 will be useful to the Commission to keep track on the progress towards achieving the Department’s strategic priorities. Copies of the Report was distributed to the Commissioners prior to the meeting. June 2022 quarterly update on Utilization Study Progress Fire Chief Goble made a brief presentation on KFD’s Operational and Utilization Study Progress. He summarized and distributed a cop y of his Report to the Commissioners prior to the meeting. According, to Fire Chief Goble the Report reflects a list of all the short term, mid-term and long-term recommendations, the level of priority, status report and percentage completed including notes to inform the Commission what the Fire Department is doing as well as areas of concerns. The short-term recommendation that needs to stay on the radar is the Fire Department’s ability to provide service on the north shore. He pointed out that between where Fire Station 8 (Kaikea) is located there is a stretch of road that leads up into Princeville to where the Hanalei Fire Station is located, and between that stretch of road there is no fire station. In closing, Fire Chief Goble expressed his appreciation for the Commissioners for giving him the opportunity to be a part of the Kauai Fire Department. He stated that it has been a learning experience, an exhilarating experience and it has been a very positive experience for him. He noted that his time with the Department has been short, and he will be leaving a lot on the plate for his predecessor to accomplish but he’s rest assured that the right pieces are in place to continue to move the Kauai Fire Department forward. Commissioner Garces expressed his appreciation for Fire Chief Goble. His KFC Regular Meeting Minutes Of June 21, 2022 Page 7 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION leadership, guidance and vision coming from the outside proved to be very valuable for the Kauai Fire Department. Vice Chair Chahanovich wished Fire Chief Goble well and to keep in touch. Chair Pacheco stated that it was a process to get him here and when covid hit not to forget the natural disasters he stuck it out, and although when he came to be a part of the Kauai Fire Department there was some uneasiness among the staff members but in the two year’s being the Chief those he spoke to all shared the same sentiments that Fire Chief Goble is a listener and makes sound decisions based on facts all of which was very much appreciated by staff. Commissioner Yama expressed his appreciation for Chief Goble and wished well. Motion Vice Chair Chahanovich moved to received Fire Chief Goble’s Monthly Bureau Reports. Commissioner Garces second the motion. Hearing no objections, the Chief’s Monthly Bureau Reports were received for the record. Business KFC 2022-5 Discussion and decision-making on selecting two (2) commissioners to attend the Fire-Rescue International Conference from August 24-26, 2022, at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, San Antonio Texas. Chair Pacheco called for anyone who would like to attend the conference. Commissioner Garces stated that he had the opportunity to attend a FRI Conference. The wealth of information that he received from the workshops he attended, networking with the conference attendees is something that KFC Regular Meeting Minutes Of June 21, 2022 Page 8 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION that he will never forget. He encouraged the commissioners who haven’t been to a conference to attend because it will be an educational experience. Vice Chair Chahanovich stated that she must attend a Wilcox Board Meeting on the day of the conference and would not be able to attend. Commissioner Garces stated that he will be on vacation in Vegas and would not be able to attend as well. Commissioner Yama said not that this time but would like to attend the conference in the future. Chair Pacheco stated that he would like to attend the conference but would need to check his work schedule first before he commits. He would however, let staff know by tomorrow morning. Chair Pacheco called for a motion to extend the invitation to Commissioner Iwamoto, and if she declines the invitation then extend the invitation Commissioner Levinthol. Motion Commissioner Garces moved to select Chair Pacheco to attend the conference. Extend the invitation to the 2022 FRI Conference in San Antonio, Texas to Commissioner Iwamoto first, if she declines the invitation, then extend the invitation to Commissioner Levinthol. Commissioner Yama second the motion. Hearing no objections, the motion passed. Adjournment There being no further business to conduct, Chair Pacheco called for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Vice Chair Chahanovich moved. Commissioner Yama second the motion. Hearing no objections, the meeting adjourned at 3:01 p.m. KFC Regular Meeting Minutes Of June 21, 2022 Page 9 Submitted by: Mercedes Omo, Support Clerk Reviewed and Approved by: ______________________Chad Pacheco, Chair ( x ) Approved as circulated on July 19, 2022. ( ) Approved as amended. See minutes of July 19, 2022, meeting.