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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022 08-16 FC APPROVED Open Session Minutes.pdf OPEN SESSION MEETING MINUTES Board/Commission County of Kauai Fire Commission Meeting Date August 16, 2022 Location Boards and Commissions Conference Room 4444 Rice Street, Suite 300 Līhu‘e, Hawai‘i 96766 Start of Meeting: 2:00 p.m. 2:36 p.m. Present Chair Chad Pacheco ; Vice Chair Jen Chahanovich ; Commissioners: Alfredo Garces Jr., Michael Martinez, 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. Others present: Fire Chief Michael Gibson; Assistant Fire Chief Solomon Kanoho, Fire Chief’s Secretary Soncy Tamashiro, and Councilmember Felicia Cowden. Excused Commissioners Linda Kaauwai-Iwamoto and Alfred Levinthol Absent SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Call To Order/Roll Call to ascertain quorum With a quorum present, Chair Chad Pacheco called the Fire Commission August 16, 2022, meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. Approval of Agenda Chair Pacheco called for a motion to approve the agenda. There was a motion by Vice Chair Chahanovich to approve the July 29, 2022, agenda. Commissioner Martinez seconded the motion. Hearing no objections from the five Commissioners present, the agenda was approved. Chair’s Announcements Next Regularly Monthly Meeting: 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, September 20, 2022, at the Boards and Commission Conference Room Suite 300. Public testimony on any of the agenda items Boards and Commissions Administrator Ellen Ching stated that being there was no one from the public who wish to testify she would like to state for the record that Chair Pacheco does not need to ask for public testimony on any of the agenda items. KFC Open Session Meeting Minutes Of August 16, 2022 Page 2 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Approval of Minutes of July 19, 2022, Meeting Chair Pacheco called for a motion to approve or amend the minutes of the July 19, 2022, Fire Commission meeting. There was a motion by Commissioner Garces to approve the minutes of the July 19, 2022, meeting. Commissioner Martinez seconded the motion. Hearing no objections from the five Commissioners present, the minutes were approved. a) Update on Kaua‘i Fire and Ocean Safety, including updates on Partnerships, Covid 19 and Resources Highlights. b) Administrative Bureau Update, including updates on the budget, staffing, overtime report, facilities, and fleet. c) Fire Operations Bureau Update, including statistics on calls for service and brief description of some of the incidents responded to. d) Fire Prevention Bureau Update, including monthly statistics e) Fire Training Bureau Update f) Ocean Safety Bureau Update, including monthly statistics and bureau highlights. g) Update on Fire Chief Gibson progress on the Goals and Objectives for FY 2021-2022. Chair Pacheco called on Fire Chief Michael Gibson to address his Monthly Reports for July 2022. Fire Chief Gibson gave an overview of his Monthly Reports highlighting: • The relocation of the Department’s current fire training site located at the Honsador facility in Lihue to the north side of the facility referred to as Area 22. KFC Open Session Meeting Minutes Of August 16, 2022 Page 3 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION • Interviews for deputy fire chief is set to take place on September 1, 2022. The new deputy chief will be selected and in the position by September 15, 2022, • Recruitment for assistant fire chief and fire captain is also slated for September. Fire Chief Gibson noted that KFD has modified the fire captain promotional written test by removing the firefighter component of the test because it does not have anything relative to a supervisory role. • All county employees are undergoing a mandatory Workday payroll system training. To maintain 24-hour coverage modifications were made to the firefighters work schedule so they could attend the Workday training whereas the firefighters who had already worked their normal shifts would be compensated overtime to attend the training. • The details regarding the afterhours jet-ski coverage are being worked out with the Lifeguard union and until everything is settled firefighters who were former ocean safety personnel would have to cover the afterhours and undergo a jet-ski equipment training. • On August 17, 2022, at 9:15 a.m., Mayor Kawakami will be doing a Proclamation at the county’s rotunda in recognition of Lifeguard Appreciation week which starts from August 21 through 27, 2022. • The Fire Department was awarded a AFG Grant in the amount of $124,000 all of the grant money will go towards the Firefighter’s Health and Wellness Program. • The Fire Department is continuing to work with public works and other county agencies to remove debris and clear roads for access to Ninini Point. The ultimate plan is to reduce the amount of KFC Open Session Meeting Minutes Of August 16, 2022 Page 4 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION vegetation growing in area by using bulldozers and other heavy equipment. • Fire Chief Gibson met one-on-one with all seven councilmembers concerning businesses on Kauai that are not incompliance with the current fire building codes. Some of the suggestions that were made by councilmembers includes briefing the council at one of their meetings to get it on record, use the media to get the word and or have something addressing the issue on the Fire Department’s website under fire prevention. • The numbers of positive covid cases are trending lower. • Invitation for bid (IFB) for a new fire engine was sent out. • All of KFD’s front line apparatus are mission capable. Administrative Bureau • Current vacancies include 1 deputy fire chief, 1 assistant fire chief, 4 firefighter trainees, 1 full-time ocean safety position and 1 part- time ocean safety position. • Solomon Kanoho is the current assistant fire chief. He is on a 89- day contract hire until a new assistant fire chief is hired. • Remodeling of the Waimea Fire Station is almost completed. • Up to $200,000 was set aside for capital improvements for the Kōloa Fire Station roof. • IFB (invitation for bid) for a new $90,000 SCBA bottle station to replace the older model was sent out. The new SCBA will be housed at the Hanapēpē Fire Station on the westside. • Budgetary – KFD will be returning monies to the general fund. Final total to be determine next year. • KFD’s retirement contribution is $500,000 which is less than what it was originally budgeted for. KFC Open Session Meeting Minutes Of August 16, 2022 Page 5 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION • Overtime expenditures was up due to the postponement of last year’s recruit class the plan was to get the Safer Grant, but the grant was denied. Fire Operations Bureau • Total number of calls for service in the month of July was 633 compared to July 2021 at 569. Most significant was the calls for brush fires. • A firefighter was seriously injured while attending to a call at the Spalding Monument in Keālia. He is currently resting at home and is on his way to making a full recovery. Fire Prevention Bureau • Participated in the Kōloa Plantation Days Parade and the Kauai Police Department’s Touch a Truck event featuring Mascot Sparky the Fire Prevention Dog at both events. • Ocean Safety will participate at next year’s Touch a Truck event to help boost ocean safety recruitment. • 400 Keiki between the ages of 8-17 participated in this year’s 2022 Junior Lifeguard event. Fire Training Bureau • For the last couple of months all trainees focused on firefighter survival and rapid intervention training. • A weeklong drill was held at PMRF on the westside in June; 20 all of the firefighters who participated underwent a very high- intensity training. KFC Open Session Meeting Minutes Of August 16, 2022 Page 6 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Ocean Safety Bureau • Due to the retirement of Ocean Safety Captain Ingraham in June 2022, recruitment for an ocean safety captain and a lieutenant is open. HR has worked with the Fire Department to mirror KPD’s promotional testing process which gives the applicant an opportunity to study materials before they take the actual written test. In the past, the recruitment process for ocean safety captain and lieutenant was done by interview only. Update on Goals • Goal #1 Develop standard of response coverage for the Kauai Fire Department Majority of the objectives have been completed. Outstanding is to incorporate risk identification to standard deployment methods at the quarterly Keystone training. • Goal #2 Develop a policy on management process for the Kauai Fire Department. All of the objectives have been completed. A draft of the policy has been submitted to the Hawai‘i Fire Fighters Association for consultation. The At-Large Committee consisting of frontline personnel will conduct an annual review of the Department’s SOG’s (Standard of Operation Guidelines). Any new, revised processes or procedures will have to be reviewed by the committee after which they will write the new SOG. • Goal #3 Identify career development pathway for the Kauai Fire Department. Goal has been achieved and both objectives have been completed. At this juncture, Chair Pacheco asked the Commissioners if they had any questions for Fire Chief Gibson. KFC Open Session Meeting Minutes Of August 16, 2022 Page 7 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Fire Chief Gibson, in response to Commissioner Martinez’s questioning, responded that although there are four vacancies it has not affected fire operations. KFD is making every effort to ensure that all fire apparatuses are manned at all times and if needed due people calling sick or for personal reasons the firefighters would have to work overtime to cover the afterhours shifts. As for a checklist, the Fire Department have already created a checklist but because of the county’s new Workday payroll system they (KFD) will have to wait until IT is available to upgrade their website. Once IT does upgrade their website it will feature a link where local businesses can just click on the link to see a list of requirements. To address his question about putting information on the Kauai Fire Department’s website so that potential applicants could have access to the information on what is required of them, Fire Chief Gibson stated they will have to wait until IT is available. With no further questions, Chair Pacheco called for a motion to receive Fire Chief Michael Gibson’s Monthly Report for the record. Councilmember Cowden stated that she doesn’t have any testimony to give she’s just here to listen and learn she does, however, want to thank the Fire Department for all of the work they have done to serve the community. There was a motion by Vice Chair Chahanovich to received Fire Chief Gibson’s Monthly Report for the record. Commissioner Garces seconded the motion. Hearing no objections from the five Commissioners present, the Chief’s Monthly Report was received for the record. Adjournment There being no further business, Chair Pacheco called for a motion to adjourn the meeting. There was a motion by Commissioner Yama to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Garces seconded the motion. Hearing no objections from the five Commissioners present, the meeting adjourned at 2:36 p.m. KFC Open Session Meeting Minutes Of August 16, 2022 Page 8 Submitted by: __________________________________ Reviewed and Approved by: _________________________________________ Mercedes Omo, Staff Support Clerk Chad Pacheco, Chair (x ) Approved as circulated on: September 20, 2022 ( ) Approved as amended. See minutes of ___________ meeting.