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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005/07/14 - Minutes - Fire Spec Min . . . July 14, 2005 CITY OF RANCHO CUCAMONGA FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT MINUTES Special Meetina II II A. CALL TO ORDER A special meeting of the Rancho Cucamonga Fire Protection District was held on Thursday, July 14, 2005, in the Council Chambers of the Civic Center located at 10500 Civic Center Drive, Rancho Cucamonga, California. President William J. Alexander called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. Present were Boardmembers: Rex Gutierrez, Dennis Michael, Sam Spagnolo, Diane Williams and President William J. Alexander. Also present were: Jack Lam, City Manager; Pamela Easter, Deputy City Manager; James Markman, City Attorney; Chief Peter Bryan, Rancho Cucamonga Fire Protection District; Kimberly Thomas, Management Analyst III; Fabian Villenas, Management Analyst II; Kathy Scott, Deputy City Clerk; and Debra J. Adams, Secretary. .. .......... ... B. PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS B1. John Lyons from Etiwanda.talked about weed abatement. He stated notices had gone out and weed abatement took place, and now the growth is reoccurring again. He stated Code Enforcement is not really trained in this area, and felt it was costing the City money. B2. Jim Moffit, lived in City for 33 years, felt it was imperative to build more fire stations because it is so important in order to protect the residents. He stated if the need is there we should get working on it and did not feel we should wait. B3. Melanie Ingram stated she saw fireworks going off on.Almond Street and Skyline Drive during the 4th of July holiday. She stated she supports the effort to eliminate these. B4. Bill McCliman referred to an article he had read in the newspaper from back in September 2004 which paid tribute to the Fire Department. He stated he did not know why recently there are always 3-2 votes on fire issues. He commented on someone that was putting down Jim Townsend and did not feel that was the right. He hoped the City would quit hiding behind information and do the right thing. He stated he looks forward to the presentation tonight. .. ... .. * .. ... ~I 11 C. ITEM(S) OF BUSINESS C1. PRESENTATION AND REVIEW OF FIRE DISTRICT'S STRATEGIC PLAN Jack Lam, City Manager, stated the City has been working on this strategic plan for the better part of this year, and that Fire Chief Peter Bryan would be giving the presentation. t Fire Protection District Minutes July 14, 2005 Page 2 o A staff report and power point (on file in the City Clerk's office) were presented by Chief Bryan. He thanked Administrative Services for their assistance with this report. He also thanked members of the fire department staff for their help. He stated his presentation is a brief synopsis of the full strategic plan. . Boardmember Williams asked various questions about the slide called District Financial Analysis and the revenues involved. She stated she hoped we would get the most bang for our buck, and hoped information could be provided to help her determine that. President Alexander stated he hoped they could have at least one more of these meetings. He hoped Chief Bryan would meet with each Boardmember and come up with questions for him so the answers can be brought back for the whole Board to hear and answers. Chief Bryan stated he would be happy to do this. He stated a copy of the strategic plan is in the Library and in the City Clerk's office. He stated they would be working on getting it on the Internet as well. Boardmember Williams asked if the information presented relating to personnel included benefits. Chief Bryan stated the benefits were inclusive. Boardmember Gutierrez inquired about the Travel Time chart and response time. He asked about the acceptable time and if it is four or five minutes. Boardmember Gutierrez asked questions about prioritizing the calls that the fire department receives. Chief Bryan stated it is based on a first come, first served basis, that they do not prioritize their calls. Boardmember Spagnolo thanked him for bringing this to the Fire Board. He inquired about the short list . of six priorities that were pulled out from the full list of fifty-two. Chief Bryan stated these are the best recommendations staff can give them. He stated these are goals that the Fire Board might want to consider as part of their first considerations. Boardmember Spagnolo felt it was time the City adopt a standard and felt this was excellent. He felt the accreditation program is also very important and should be implemented. He felt we needed to make that statement about service to the community, and set a standard for our fire department. He felt this strategic plan was the first step. Boardmember Williams felt this was very easy to understand and complimented Chief Bryan and his staff for the way they prepared this. She commented on Station 1 and the amount of senior centers they service. She felt Station 1 gets a lot of these calls and that possibly each senior center facility could be taking care of some of these incidents. She asked how we handle this. Chief Bryan stated most of the calls are EMS and are paramedic based. He stated they do respond to all of those emergencies at these facilities. Boardmember Williams asked if there is any way we can charge for some of these calls. Chief Bryan stated this is not really in the plan. He felt that in the future they could develop a fee for service program. Boardmember Williams stated she is not saying we shouldn't treat these facilities, but felt there could possibly be a fee because there is such a high concentration for Station 1 to respond to. President Alexander opened the meeting for input. Addressing the Fire Board were: . . . . Fire Protection District Minutes July 14, 2005 Page 3 John Lyons asked about the four-minute response time and stated he was not clear on this. Chief Bryan responded to this question explaining how the four minutes are calculated. Mr. Lyons felt he was saying it takes 5 Yz minutes to respond and felt this was too long. He stated another issue of his is four-man engine companies and felt this would be a good thing. Chief Bryan stated this is addressed in the plan. He stated you cannot add more personnel without adding the equipment first. Mr. Lyons brought up that sometimes the fire department takes someone to the hospital and there is no bed for the patient. President Alexander stated this is out of the scope of the plan. Mr. Lyons stated the next question is how we pay for all of this. Bill McCliman felt Chief Bryan did a good job with this. He stated he wondered how we are going to pay for this and asked the City Manager to explain how it would be done. He stated he would like to hear the questions the Board would be asking of the Fire Chief. He stated he agreed with Mr. Lyon's comments about four-man crews. He asked if the information could be broken down for the cost of personnel, with salary and benefits separated out. President Alexander stated there is already money set aside to pay for part of this. Bill McCliman felt the City should make up our own standard for response time so the people know what it is so they feel comfortable. He stated he didn't agree we should do any cutting of services to the senior facilities. Boardmember Spagnolo did not feel the response time problems should be blamed on the seniors. He stated it is the inability to keep up with the numbers of calls for the community. Nicole Myerchin thanked the Chief and felt he did an excellent job with his report and the presentation. She felt this was long overdue. She commented on the City being one of the largest growing cities in the Country. She felt we have not kept up in this area and is glad it is being discussed now. She felt response time should be from the time the call comes in until they get there to provide assistance. She wondered how we would pay for increased services. She asked where some of the Mello Roos money for fire services is going. She hoped the City would look at ways to fund this because it is so important. Dave Stucky of Rancho Cucamonga asked if they have a policy for response time. Chief Bryan stated they do not have a policy at the present time, and added there has never been a standard to compare to. Mr. Stucky thought possibly slower response times might be because of the way the stations are designed making it harder for them to get to the engine to travel to the call. Chief Bryan stated they take this very seriousiy and continue look for ways to improve response times. Boardmember Gutierrez felt it was a good idea to time the call from the time it comes in until they arrive at the location. President Alexander stated he hoped they could meet with the Chief in the next two weeks to get any questions answered so a report can come back to the Board with everyone's questions. Fire Protection District Minutes July 14, 2005 Page 4 ... .. ... * ... .. II D. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Moved by Michael, seconded by Gutierrez to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously 5-0. The meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m. Approved: August 17, 2005 J . 11 . .