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Ochopee FCD Advisory Board Minutes 11/10/2014 Ochopee Fire Control Advisory Committee Minutes November 10 , 2014 OCHOPEE FIRE CONTROL a ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES L, .1 ' FOR NOVEMBER 10, 2014 By CALL TO ORDER: Roll Call of Attendees: Alan McLaughlin, Fire Chief, Ochopee Fire Control District Caleb Morris, Assistant Fire Chief, Ochopee Fire Control District Anthony Davis, Chairman of the Advisory Committee, Port of the Islands Ron Gilbert,Advisory Committee Member, Port of the Islands James Morris,Advisory Committee Member, Port of the Islands Dan summers, Bureau of Emergency Services Len Price, Administrative Services Jeremy Morgan, Union Representative Dorothy Joiner, Everglades City Clerk The First order of business was to elect a chairman to the Ochopee Advisory Committee Anthony Davis was nominated and accepted the position. ADDITIONS AND DELETIONS TO AGENDA None Approval of Agenda Approved Approval of Minutes of Regular Meeting of May 12,2014 REPORTS: Budget Chief McLaughlin—This is the first month of The Fiscal Budget it is on track and we will have a better report by the first quarter. Page 1 Line of Duty Deaths Alan McLaughlin—To this date there were 73 line of duty deaths in the United States and 7 occurred in the month of October. Awards, Recognitions Certifications Chief McLaughlin—There are no awards, recognitions or certifications at this time. We did promote three Firefighters to Lieutenant due to the opening of the 1-75 Fire Station. Lee Kidder,Joshua Grimm and Jeremy Morgan who successfully passed the Lieutenant testing and were promoted. As of October 3, 2014 we hired nine Firefighters as part of the 1-75 Fire Station project. The new hires have been through two weeks of training then two weeks on shift. The 1-75 Fire Station officially opened on 11-4-14. Operations Report Alan McLaughlin—For the month of October we had 44 incidents. Four mutual aid calls to Marco Island from station 61. A mutual aid boat rescue call to Mud Bay in District one. We are no longer doing fire inspections due to the Interlocal agreement with the East Naples Fire District they are handling all fire inspections in the Ochopee Fire District area. Ochopee Fire Control District however will continue to conduct Fire Inspections in Everglades City and we are starting the re-inspection process. There have been no fire investigations. OLD BUSINESS 1-75 Station Chief McLaughlin—The 1-75 Station officially opened on 11-4-14. Ron Gilbert—Asked if it were possible to set up a trip out to the 1-75 Fire Station. Chief McLaughlin—The visitation of the 1-75 Station can be arranged, however,due to the sunshine law they will have to be on an individual bases unless the Committee Members would like to have a meeting out there. Ron Gilbert—He suggested that they contact Chief Morris and arrange individual visits. Page 2 Vacant Position on the Advisory Committee There is still one vacancy on the committee. Auctioned Carport received$1,535.50 Chief McLaughlin—The carport was auctioned and the Department received $1535.50 which was deposited in our operating budget. Auctioned Old SCBA Gear received $2,200.33 Chief McLaughlin—The old SCBA Gear was auctioned and the Department received $2,200.33 which was deposited in our operating budget. Fire Inspections by East Naples Fire District Chief McLaughlin—In March of 2014 the Collier County Commissioners passed a resolution for an Interlocal agreement to allow East Naples Fire District to conduct all the Fire Inspections in the Ochopee Fire Control District, District I and Isles of Capri Fire District. This agreement came out of the dissolution of the Fire Code Officials Office which was handled by East Naples Fire District. That office was moved into the County Plan Review Department. We entered into a separate agreement outside of the Interlocal agreement with East Naples Fire District because there are two AHJs under the state fire marshal rule. The City of Everglades is outside of the Interlocal agreement Ochopee Fire Control District still conducts their Fire Inspections. Locution System Chief McLaughlin—The equipment has been purchased and installed at all three stations but are not hooked up to the system yet until the problems have been worked out. NEW BUSINESS Elect Chairman for Ochopee Advisory Committee As first order of business Anthony Davis was elected Chairman to the Ochopee Advisory Committee at the beginning of the meeting. Page 3 FEMA Grants for Smoke Removal at Station 60&Stortz Hydrant Adapters Chief McLaughlin—Chief Martin has started the grant application process for Ochopee Fire Control District and Isle of Capri Fire District. The District is looking to install a smoke removal system for station 60 due to the age of the building there is a need for proper ventilation. The other grant purchase is for Stortz Hydrant Adapters they are quick connecting adapters. Pagers and Antennas Installed at Station 63 Chief McLaughlin—The pagers and antennas have been installed at Station 63. The new pagers at the 1-75 Fire Station performed so well that pagers have been purchased for Stations 60&61 because they are far superior to the older models. Call Back Staffing Chief McLaughlin—Call Back Staffing is an internet program that has been purchased for time keeping purposes regarding timesheets and electronic signature. Chief Morris—Right now we are working with paper documents that have to be signed this Call Back Staffing is a more cost effective version of the system used by Collier County EMS. If someone calls in sick the system can call personnel to schedule coverage. The time sheets can be filled out and signed electronically the document will also have the location of the individual which is imperative for reporting to FDOT regarding personnel working at the 1-75 Fire Station. Chief McLaughlin—Once the individual creates their time sheet it automatically routes to their supervisor and all the way up the line then it goes to Linda's inbox. New Pagers at Stations 60&61 Chief McLaughlin—He covered the new pagers at Stations 60 &61 under old business regarding the locution system. Presentation by Len Price and Dan Summers Len Price—The Board of County Commissioners requested options regarding Isle of Capri Fire District since the annexation failed. Page 4 Len Price presented three options: 1. The do nothing option just leaves everything the way it is and adjusts any millage rates if necessary. 2. Consolidate all or parts of the fire districts 3. The outsource option (management by another agency or Fire District) Len Price wanted input from the committee as to what options they would be interested in or if they had any alternative options. Jean Kungle—She feels the communities of Everglades City and Port of the Islands would be very concerned about the Firefighters they would not want them to lose their jobs. Len Price—She is only going to put forward options that will allow all of the Firefighters to retain their jobs. However, she can't guarantee they will select any of her options. Tony Davis—He can't see making any changes unless there would be some extreme benefit to the District. Ron Gilbert—He feels the Chief and Assistant Chief have done a great job in running the two Districts and feels they should be compensated for it. Ochopee has the highest millage rate in the County but he would rather keep that millage rate to keep the level of service than to lower the millage rate and reduce service. Ron Gilbert—For the record there wouldn't be any pilt money if it wasn't for the Ochopee Fire District. Ochopee is a unique District it doesn't fit in a cosmopolitan area. If we were to merge with a Fire Department that is more cosmopolitan we might be slighted out here there are different problems with a rural Department. Tony Davis—Agreed with Ron Gilbert he feels Ochopee Fire Control District is unique. This is totally different than the other fire departments because of the area is covers. He feels what would work well for us is if it stayed the same or improved but not by joining another department. James Morris—He feels since the Department is working well why fix it why not leave it as it is. People are not complaining about the millage rate they feel they are getting their money's worth of service. Ron Gilbert—If you where to look at the performance of the different Districts and how they have been managing their money then compared it to Ochopee's budget we might be in pretty good shape compared to the other Districts. Page 5 Tony Davis—Asked Chief McLaughlin to comment on this issue. Chief McLaughlin— He came from Departments that had big budgets and being Chief of Ochopee Fire Control District was a challenge because of the tight budget. For five years we have been using pilt funding to stabilize our budget. We have to get creative in order to keep the expenses down and we give the optimum performance to the citizens for the dollars we have. Alan McLaughlin - Consolidation or merging should have three things to it;there should be a noticeable benefit to the taxpayers, no reduction in service an improvement of service or at least status quo and no one should lose their jobs if anything it should create more jobs without additional taxes. He researched the issue of consolidation nationally and the conclusion was that those three components have to be present for a successful merger. He mentioned that he could not function without the support of Len Price and Dan Summers and he feels the union relationship within the department is also good. Ron Gilbert—Thanked the union president for all the personnel bearing with the conditions of living in the hotel until the Port of the Islands Station was built. He is not opposed to doing a study as to whether consolidation would benefit the Department but it would have to stand on its merits not for politically driven issues. James Morris—He said sometimes studies can be biased unless you can get people from both sides of the equation. Alan McLaughlin—Collier County has four Fire MSTUs Goodland, District I, Ochopee and Isle of Capri. Two of those areas are established fire departments Ochopee and Isles of Capri. District I is broken into four categories and the Departments are paid to service those areas, East Naples, Golden Gate, Ochopee and Isle of Capri are paid to service their area of District I. Goodland is on a contract to Marco Island plus the County has all of EMS as well and we take care of the City of Everglades which is within our District. Ron Gilbert—Part of this study needs to include Ochopee Fire Control District taking over District I entirely. He understands there are benefits to having District I under Ochopee Fire Control District's control. Dan Summers- He made it clear that all four funds are managed separately they are not comingled in any way they are four separate cost centers and are treated as such. Tony Davis— He feels the worse that should happen to Ochopee Fire Control District is that we remain the same and do not lose any personnel. Page 6 Lt.Jeremy Morgan—The union personnel are not opposed to any internal merger within the BES, EMS supplies us with Firefighters. Alan McLaughlin -An internal merger wouldn't change things operationally. Administratively it would be easier because we would be handling one cost center instead of three. Jeremy Morgan—No one would move unless they wanted to. Alan McLaughlin—He introduced Wayne Martin and asked for his opinion regarding consolidation. Wayne Martin—We are already operating as a unit under the BES now. He feels it would improve EMS even more because it would give more of their personnel fire experience. Bring the agencies closer together would make them better with the training being done together. Consolidation doesn't save any money in the end but it probably won't cost any more but it can improve services over time. It.Jeremy Morgan—He feels the best consolidation would be Collier County taking in everybody else not vice versa. The County runs big departments already it just makes more sense. Most of the Fire Departments in the State of Florida merge under the Counties not under Independent Districts. Chief McLaughlin—What Jeremy is saying is true most of your populations that exceed 200,000 are municipally run or County run. Southwest Florida is very unique with its special fire district services. Chief Morris—He likes consolidation under the County. Tony Davis—The only two options we should be considering is an internal consolidation including all of District I and the other alternative would be for the County to take in all of the Fire Districts. Dan Summers—The costs shared County wide allows for a lower overhead. Tony Davis—Why not make it official give us all of District I. Chief McLaughlin—The County takes care of District I but we service 71%of it and only receive 29%for the coverage. Tony Davis—You are doing a lot of the work anyway. Page 7 PUBLIC COMMENT None ADJOURNMENT Ron Gilbert made a motion to adjourn the meeting it was seconded and passed the meeting ended. /'.� r Anthony avis, Chairma ee Fire Control District Advisory Committee Page 8