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Fire Service Steering Committee Minutes 08/28/1990 AGENDA FIRE SERVICES S PEERING COMMITTEE TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 1990 1930 HOURS PORT OF THE ISLANDS HOSTED BY OCHOPEE FIRE DEPARTMENT I. MEETING OPENED a Approval of Minutes b. Attorney General's Opinion: County/Fire Department c. Consolidation d. Charter/By Laws e. Enabling Act Committee f. Union g. Firefighter's Appreciation Dinner - October 13, 1990 h. Next Meeting Location i. Other Topics Initiated by Members II. ADJOURNMENT FIRE SERVICE STEERING COMMITTEE MINUTES August 30, 1990 The Steering Group Meeting was held at Port of the Islands on August 28, 1990 Hosted by Ochopee Fire Control District. In attendance were the following: Vince Doerr, Fire Chief, OFCD Evelyn Shealy, Advisory Board Member, OFCD Allan Poyner, Advisory Board Member, OFCD Curtis Smith, OFCD Volunteer Wayne Martin, Fire Chief, ENFD Greg Speers, Comm., ENFD Herb Luntz, Comm., ENFD Don Peterson, Acting Fire Chief, GGFD Mark Strain, Comm., GGFD Marvin Steffen, Comm., GGFD Charles McDonald, Comm., MIFD Mark Coleman, Comm., MIFD Tom Cannon, Comm., ENFD Bob Siebold, Fire Chief, BCIFD Jim Jones, Fire Chief, NNFD Walter Kissel, Comm., NNFD Linda Swisher, Secretary, OFCD I. The meeting was called to order by Chairman Tom Cannon at 7:40PM. a. Approval of Minutes The meeting minutes of July 24, 1990 were not approved because they had not been completed as of 8-28-90. b. Attorney General's Opinion: County/Fire Department , Fire Chief Martin made reference to the proposal of a central Fire Marshalls Office and that himself and Walter Kissel had met with the County Manager about this concept. They both felt that the County Manager was very receptive to this idea. The general contention of the steering group was that they wanted one Fire Inspector fully qualified (Fire Protection Engineer Degree), for all the Fire Departments and the County. Also possibly to collect impact fees at the same facility as where the Fire Inspector will be located. It was also proposed that the Fire Inspector be hired by the Steering Group Committee and as Chief Martin contended the funds collected from inspections and the 1% they save on collecting their own impact fees would pay the Inspector's salary. Chief Siebold felt the Fire Inspector they hire should be a registered prof signal and Chief McDonald concurred in that the Inspector would educate, inspect and be responsible for decisions made. b. (Continuation of General's Opinion: County/Fire Department) Chief Doerr posed the question that if they were to hire a Fire Inspector what would be the procedure? Herb Luntz proposed that the Chairman could set up a committee to rank the applicants and then bring the selected few before the whole Steering Committee. Chief Martin stated there is no timetable but they need to persue this, and he would like to hire someone by 1-1-91 if possible. Walter Kissel proposed to first put the program together to see how it is going to work, then bring it before Neil Dorrill and if he accepts the plan then they are in business. Chief Martin will make contact and get input from contractors, architects, etc. . . and get the input back to Chairman Tom Cannon at the next meeting. c. Consolidation Chief Jones stated that a meeting was held in Orlando during the International Fire Chief's Conference between Diane Flagg, Jay Reardon, Chuck Mohlke and Ron Coleman of the International Fire. Chief's Association. Chief Jones further commented that this meeting was in reference to consolidation, Jay Reardon brought a copy of the Cosolidation Study for Chief Coleman's Organization to review and make a determination. Later on Chief Jones, Chief Doerr,, Walter Kissel, and Chief Martin met with Chief Coleman this was a previously scheduled meeting however they did bring up the meeting with Jay Reardon. Chief Coleman stated to Chief Jones that all his organiation whould do at this time is review the Consolidation Study make sure all questions were asked if not why, but they would not propose any solution for or against consolidation. Herb Luntz feels that the Consolidation Study Group has met for 15 months without accomplishing anything and they are headed that way now. Chief Jones stated that the Consolidation Study Group was to determine the following: 1. The financial feasibility of Consolidation 2. Should they be consolidated under the County 3. Should they be consolidated under a District 4. Or should they be left alone. Walter Kissel does not feel the International Association of Fire Chiefs will come to Collier County at all and that they will probably just report back to the County their findings. Herb Luntz fells they should not be worried about the Consolidation Study, in that it will either die or be defeated by the County Commissioners. d. Charter/By Laws Mark Strain made reference to some changes that were supposed to be made however the copy-of the Charter and By Laws-they were reviewing did not reflect them. Specifically the last sentencer of Article 6 Amendments Section 1 was to be added to the end of the paragraph of Article 7 Section 1 of the by laws (See Attached). • • `i SECTION 2. Any member allowing dues to remain unpaid beyond the first day of April of any year shall be deemed delinquent and be classed in IN-ACTIVE and shall not be entitled to any benefits or privileges of the Corporation UNTIL SUCH DUES ARE PAID. SECTION 3. Eligible persons desiring membership in this Corporation must make application to the Secretary-Treasurer. Application must contain the endorsement of one (1) member in good standing and be accompanied by the annual dues. ARTICLE VII BY LAWS SECTION 1. Amendments to these By-Laws may be offered by any member of the Corporation proposing the same in writing and serving the President and Secretary-Treasurer with a copy thereof. Said proposed amendment must be read or distributed in writing in open session. Amendments may be made to these By-Laws only upon approval of two-thirds of the members present and voting. All amendments, alteration or revision of any part of the By-Laws shall take effect upon their adoption. ARTICLE VIII RULES OF ORDER SECTION 1. In the event any question comes before the membership for which no provision has been made in the Charter or By-Laws, the presiding officer shall be guided in his decision by rules laid down in "Roberts Rules of Order" revised. • / SECTION 3. Executive Board of Directors - The Executive Board shall consist of the President, Vice-President, Secretary-Treasurer and one representative from each organized Fire Department. The Executive Board shall conduct and supervise all duties prescribed by charter and by-laws and regular activities of the Corporation. A majority will constitute a quorum. ARTICLE V MEETINGS SECTION 1. Regular Meetings will be held at said place, date and item as selected by the Executive Board. A failure to hold any annual meeting at the time designated shall in no way make a dissolution of the Corporation. SECTION 2. Special Meetings - Special meetings may be called by the President. SECTION 3. Meetings Requested .by Executive Board - Special meeting shall be=called by the President when requested in writing by a majority of the Executive Board. ARTICLE VI AMENDMENTS SECTION 1. Charter - The Charter may be amended only upon approval of two thirds of the membership present and voting. an either case, a written notice thereof shall be mailed to all members of the organization in good standing at least thirty (30) days prior to the date of such meeting, and such notice shall contain a statement that an amendment or change to this Charter will be discussed and voted upon and the proposed change or amendment shall be set forth in full in said notice d. (Continuation of Charter/By Laws) Mark Strain also proposed an amendment to the Purposes and Objectives Section of the Charter to allow for the hiring of personnel by the Steering Group, because of the previous discussion of possibly employing an inspector. Herb Luntz made a recommendation to Chief Martin that when the changes have been made to the Charter/By Laws that copies by mailed out to all the Steering Group members and not wait until the next meeting. e. Enabling Act Committee Chief Siebald stated he had spoken to J.C. Nutley who is in charge of the Enabling Act Committee, they have not been able to meet and that he would like a month reprieve and will report next month. thief James stated he was going to attend a meeting of which the subject matter was General Law for Special Districts. He felt they needed to provide some input for this meeting because the laws they want to pass will effect Special Districts and therefore the Fire Departments as well. Chief Martin feels the Districts need to be able to enforce ordinances instead of resolutions if possible. Chief Jones feels that what Chief Martin contends could be done if written into general law. Chief Martin brought up the fact that they need to collect the 1% back to fund the pension plans. (The money now goes into State General Fund. ) It was then discussed that in the future the Fire Departments will have five commissioners instead of three. - Herb Luntz stated he thought they had to have a referendum to change from three commissioners to five. Chief Jones stated that the Department of Community Affairs has been directed to do this by the State Legislature and they can make the change without a referendum due to the Accountability Act (599). Greg Speers wants Chief Jones to keep them informed on what is going on with the State Committee. Chief Jones stated that any input was to be given him in writing tomorrow. f. Union Mark Strain made reference to union contracts in that Golden Gate salaries are low but with benefits comes to about $40,000. He suggested that the Steering Committee form as a group to negotiate union contracts and to consider hiring a professional negotiator from now on to standardize the contracts. f. (Continuation of Union) Herb Luntz stated that they could not do it, the Federal Government would not allow it, the unions must bargain individually. It was decided that the Steering Committee could be used as a clearing house only as far as union contracts go. Chief McDonald suggested to Mark Strain that Golden Gate hire a professional negotiator next time the union contract has to be negotiated. Chief Doerr suggested that Mark Strain get a copy of Ochopee Fire Control District's salaries and benefits to give him an idea on how Golden Gate Fire Dept. might delineate-those items on their budget. g. Firefighter's Appreciation Dinner - October 13, 1990 Chief Martin briefly went over the particulars for the Appreciation dinner and encouraged attendance. An appointed committee will chose from nominees submitted_by_the various ,Fire Departments and then the Firefighter selected will receive the award at the dinner. This Appreciation Dinner is sponsored by the Elks Club and there will be a small fee of $1.00 per person. Chief Doerr advocated as well that everyone attend he went last year, the dinner was great, there was live music and dancing and generally well worth while going to. h. Next Meeting Location The next Steering Group Meeting will be held at East Naples Fire Department (Station 20, Davis Blvd. ) on 10-23-90 at 7:30PM. i. Other Topics Initiated by Members Herb Luntz feels the impact fees will pass, once the public knows it is for new construction. The Fire Departments cannot promote the impact fees but they can educate. Chief Jones feels they need to invite the County Commissioners to their Steering Group Meetings one at a time. Tom Cannon proposed they invite the County Commissioner of the District the meeting is being held in. Walter Kissel suggested Max itie be contacted to attend the next Steering Group Meeting. Herb Luntz brought up the fact that he was asked to join Connie Mack's committee. i. (Other Topics Initiated by Members) Chief Siebold brought up the fact that the Annexation of District I needs to be resolved. He also wanted to know if the first response area boundaries are going to change baaLza of possibly annexing the mutual aid areas into each prospective District. He proposed if the boundaries are going to change a decision needs to be made on this issue as well. Mark Strain brought up the fact that if they start giving up taxable properties it could have a long range and negative affect on the District that gave up the property. Chief Martin tried to clarify the issues that Chief Siebold brought up which are the following: 1. Should they take into their prospective Districts the mutual aid area. 2. Or should things remain as they are, keep running the mutual aid a system which is working. Chief Jones suggested the issues brought up by Chief Siebold be discussed as the Fire Chief's Association Meeting. II. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 9:55PM.