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Ochopee FCD Advisory Board Minutes 12/09/2013 OCHOPEE FIRE CONTROL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING DECEMBER 09, 2013 CALL TO ORDER: The Meeting was called to order at Roll Call of Attendees: The following were in attendance: Alan McLaughlin, Fire Chief, Ochopee Fire Control Frank Hawkins, Chairman of the Advisory Committee, Port of the Islands Ron Gilbert, Advisory Committee Member, Port of the Islands Anthony Davis, Advisory Committee Member, Port of the Islands Additions and Deletions to Agenda None Approval of the Agenda The agenda was approved. Approval of the minutes of the Regular Meeting of 11-12-13 The minutes of the November 12, 2013 meeting were approved as presented and signed by Chairman Frank Hawkins. Awards and Recognitions Chief McLaughlin—He is going to formally recognize Chief Morris for his quick action on a fire at outdoor resorts. Frank Hawkins — At the last meeting there was a discussion about adding certifications to this category. Chief McLaughlin — He stated that in the future Certifications would be added to the awards and recognition category. Also this category is to be moved under the Chief's report. Page 1 REPORTS: Chief's Report Budget Chief McLaughlin — The budget is on target. He has ordered some items such as replacement hose, equipment to outfit the water tender with ladders and a turbo draft for the engine. He is still in the process of procuring the new SCBA gear and the boat motors were sold for$3300. Chief McLaughlin — The US Firefighter line of duty death so far is 92 and 5 for the month of November. Operations Report Chief McLaughlin - There were 67 incidents for the month of November, 2013 and one mutual aid call out of the District to Marco Island. There were no boat calls, five inspections at Isles of Capri and no fire investigations. He believes are call volume for this year will be at an all time high breaking our 2008 record of 643 calls and will probably have over 700 calls this year. Chief McLaughlin - There were no boat calls, Ochopee Fire Personnel conducted five fire inspections in the Isles of Capri Fire District which have been charged to their cost center and there were no Fire Investigations. OLD BUSINESS: 1-75 Station Chief McLaughlin —The 1-75 Station is moving along and it should be completed by April or May but we will not be moving in until after the grand opening which is July 2014 that gives us time to get moved in and settled. We have not received any money yet for operations but that is going to be worked out. Up Date Port of the Islands Station Chief McLaughlin—The Station at Port of the Islands is moving right along and he is predicting a February 1, 2014 move in which is ahead of schedule. Once the building is completed it will take approximately two weeks to move in. Page 2 Vacant Position on the Advisory Board Chief McLaughlin -We still have a vacant position on the Advisory Committee. Everglades City Agreement for Service Chief McLaughlin — He has not heard back from Everglades City in regards to the Agreement for Service. Frank Hawkins—He asked when the agreement for service was going to expire. Chief McLaughlin — It is going to expire next year he just wanted to get the new agreement completed so that it can be approved by all parties involved prior to its expiration. He was told by the City Clerk that they do not have any one to create the new document. County personnel will probably have to create the document for the City. District I Chief McLaughlin — He has not heard anything regarding District I and he asked if the Advisory Committee had heard anything regarding their correspondence to Commissioner Fiala. Frank Hawkins—The Advisory Committee has not received a response regarding District I. Chief McLaughlin — He spoke to the County Attorney regarding the issue of District I and he was told to send a Request for Legal Services through to change the ordinance to expand the MSTU. The ISO rating criteria has changed and the information extracted is now submitted electronically. When ISO came out to inspect the District there were some short falls. One of the items that had to change is our training records. ISO cannot extract the training information needed from our current records. He went on to describe the new training web site that the District has enlisted called Target Solutions and that the training information can be extracted by ISO. Once the system is set up and everyone is in it all of the training and testing except for the practical will be done electronically through e-mails. Individuals who have certifications to renew will receive notification of classes they need to take and when. Once the re-certifications are completed they are automatically sent to the State and renewed. Many of the other Fire Departments are using this training web site as well and find it very beneficial. To minimize the expense the cost for Target Solutions has been split between Ochopee Fire Control District and Isles of Capri Fire District. He feels this type of training program is the wave of the future. Policy changes and memos will be sent through this program as well because personnel will have to sign off on these items once they are received. It will be a mechanism to monitor and verify communications between personnel. Page 3 Chief McLaughlin — Because of the addition of the 1-75 personnel a portion of the $57,000 Job Banker Firefighter budget will be available those funds will be used to hire a Job Banker Fire Inspector. He has created a Job Banker Fire Inspector position and once the County approves it the position will be filled. The person filling the position will not have to be a certified Firefighter but he will have to be a certified Fire Inspector and will work approximately three times a week. Because the District is growing he feels eventually the Fire Inspector position will become a full time job. During the ISO inspection one of our largest deficiencies was Fire Inspections. By hiring a Fire Inspector the District will receive more credit at the next ISO inspection. The new ISO criteria states that if there are not four people responding with in the first five miles of the first alarm company the Department is not ratable. The ISO rule regarding automated mutual aid fire companies states that the fire department must be within five miles of the District line. So if Ochopee Fire Control annexed the District I area south of US 41 we could get full credit for the Port of the Islands station because Marco Island station 50 would be 2.5 miles from the new District line. So taking in the District I area south of US 41 is solely for the purpose of obtaining a better ISO rating for the citizens at Port of the Islands. He is also looking to possibly purchase property via a grant for a three story training center which would also boost the District's ISO rating. There are going to be a lot of changes this year for the Ochopee Fire District it is going to double in size due to the opening of the two new stations. Up Date Regarding SCBA Chief McLaughlin — There are some new changes in the purchasing policy so the process of obtaining the SCBA Gear has become more difficult. He has three quotes and is gathering additional information so that it can be submitted to the Board of County Commissioners for their approval. NEW BUSINESS ISO Alan McLaughlin — The ISO subject was addressed earlier under District I because of the new ISO criteria it is even more important to annex District I south of US 41. The southern portion of District I has a direct affect on the ISO rating so it is important that it is incorporated into the Ochopee Fire District. If the Ochopee Fire District could annex all of District I it would add $600,000 to the Ochopee Budget and if Goodland was annexed the additional funds would bring it close to 700,000. Then the Ochopee Fire District wouldn't need the $431,000 of pilt monies from general fund it would make the District solvent. Page 4 PUBLIC COMMENT None ADJOURNMENT A motion was made to adjourn the meeting; it was seconded and passed the meeting ended. y. )44-7(.„./ Frank Hawkins, Chairman Ochopee Fire Control District Advisory Committee Page 5