Board of Fire Commissioners Fire Protection District #2

Regular Meeting

June 12, 2012

      Welcome and Introductions

          Additions or Modifications to the Agenda

          Consent Calendar

          Financials

1. April Financials
2. May Financials

          Public Comment

          Correspondence

             Chief’s Report

      Old Business

1. Deer Harbor Update
2. Wellman & Zuck retainage
3. Fire Marshal Interlocal Agreement
4. Wildfire Analysis/CWPP      

       New Business

1. Resolution 2012-3 Surplus of Fire District Equipment
2. Resolution 2012-4 to Release Retention for Deer Harbor
3. Resolution 2012-5 to close Revolving Fund and Advanced Travel Fund from Key Bank
4. Volunteer Requirements
5. District Surplus Items
6. District Garage Sale
7. Vehicle Surplus
8. Emergency Operating Center
9. Dept. of Revenue Fire Levy presentation

        Public Comment

        Board of Firefighters Association

        Closed for Executive session

        No Executive Session needed

        Announcements

        14 June- Flag Day

        17 June- Father’s Day

        26 June- BOFC Working Session needed?

        Adjournment

Fire Commissioner Regular Meeting

San Juan Fire Protection District 2

Orcas Island Fire & Rescue

June 12, 2012

Present:Commissioners Barbara Bedell, Jim Coffin, and Clyde Duke; Chief Kevin O’Brien; District Secretary Lindsay Schirmer, Financial Officer Rick Anda, members of Orcas Island Fire and Rescue and members of the community.

Consent Calendar

Minutes Approved

1. May 8^th Regular Meeting approved

Financials Approved

Month of April Financials approved

Month of May Financials approved  

Resolutions/ Motions Approved

1. Motion approved to pay for up the $3500.00 for cost regarding Cayou Valley Water Association costs if it pertains to construction and installation of waterline for OIFR.
2. Motion approved to grant Chief O’Brien approval to review and make changes to Volunteer Member requirements policy.
3. Resolution 2012-3 Surplus of Fire District Equipment approved.
4. Resolution 2012-5 Revolving Fund and Advanced Travel Fund approved.
5. Resolution 2012-6 Surplus of Fire District Vehicles approved.

Public Comment

Is there new status on the District committees at this time?

Not at this time.

Financials

Ended the month with $954,943 in cash & investments. 5/12ths of the year is 41.67%; we are at 38.52% of the expense budget through May, which is approximately $47,800 under budget. Comparing to last year, OIFR is $82,600 higher in revenue and $11,600 less in expense.

Correspondence

Chief’s Report- Chief Kevin O’Brien discusses to the public and the Commissioners the Chief’s Report, which includes events that have occurred for Orcas Fire and Rescue from May 7^th to June 7^th, 2012. The Chief’s report is available on OIFR website along with BOFC Minutes.

Old Business

Station 24- A concern has been presented in the framing and ventilation area of the attic that will need to be inspected by the county. The retainage of $5786.00 will be postponed for Wellman and Zuck until inspection approved. Resolution 2012-4 Final Release of Retainage for Construction will not be approved at this time.

Walk-through- There were six contractors that met for the Deer Harbor walk-through. OIFR has asked for three bids from the contractors for the completion of Deer Harbor Fire Station. The contractors are not required to present a bid of all three.

1. To complete the entire project
2. To complete the main floor and second floor sheet rock, plumbing and electrical only.
3. To complete main floor only

Schedule of the Deer Harbor Bid Process

June 8^th Walkthrough and pre-bid conference

June 20^th Q&A time deadline

June 29^th Deadline for district to answer all Q&A

July  6^th  All bids will be due

July 10^th open the bids at the meeting will be offered to the Commissioners to view

July 12th  Special Meeting with all bid information formatted in a presentable manner and presented for review. If all contractors send in bids as asked, we could receive as many as 18 possible bids.

Fire Marshal Interlocal Agreement- There is a draft of the Interlocal Agreement that the SJC districts agree with respect to the financial terms of the Fire Marshal position. With the exception of one or two items, the changes to the agreement are  cosmetic and will be available in its entirety soon. One item, which was agreed to be removed was the plan check function from the Fire Marshal duties and will be the official responsibility of the Building Department.

Wildfire Risk Analysis-, Chief O’Brien and the Wildfire Risk Committee met with the County Council on San Juan Island to present a draft of the SJC Wildfire Risk Analysis. The next meeting will be held on August 7^th for the third draft presentation. The CWPP data collected will help us with future grant funding and show us wildfire hazards for our area.

New Business

Cayou Valley- OIFR’s original agreement with the Cayou Valley Homeowners Association was that OIFR would reimburse up to $7000 in costs that may have incurred for testing and preparing their system for our water connection. Some late billings have come in from Hart Engineering totaling approx. $3500. The billings are not quite clear at this time whether or not they are related to OIFR’s waterline hookup. Jim Coffin will meet with Chris Tomerson in the next week to discuss the billing issues. Jim has requested authorization, if it seems justified doing so, to make the decision to pay the charges if the evaluation determines the billings were needed for OIFR’s water system hookup.

Volunteer Minimum Requirements- Chief O’Brien reads aloud a letter given to the Commissioners regarding his concerns of the current Volunteer Minimum Requirements Policy. After speaking to numerous staff, officers and members about the current requirements, concerns are expressed that continuing the current requirement will lead to problems in retention and recruitment.

Currently we require members who join after 2005 to be EMTs. The EMT requirement adds a significant time commitment in preliminary and ongoing training. Kevin would like to further review the current situation and come up with other alternatives as soon as possible.

Emergency Operating Center- Members of the Emergency Management Team met to plan for the development of the OIFR Emergency Operations Center. In incidents such as the 911 outage Orcas experienced recently on April 26, the Emergency Operation Center was activated. This system works closely with other agencies such as Department of Emergency Management, Amateur Emergency Radio Communications team, as well as the state and national level.

Dept. of Revenue Fire Levy- Because SJC has lowest county tax rates in the state, we should not be concerned to exceeding maximums. We could go to the voters with a levy with up to $1.50 per $1000.

Public Comment

A member of the public asks that we consider reviewing our policies and asking which is Chief’s responsibility to manage verses the policies that the Commissioners should manage.

Another member has a different view about policies and believes the Chief should have full authority managing and executing policies. 

A member asks the district to consider creating a Deer Harbor project narrative from day 1 of the project to current day to safely archive record keeping.

Board of Volunteer Firefighters- closed session at 9:34 p.m. for volunteer medical information.

Reopen session at 9:54PM

Announcements

June 14- Flag Day

June 17- Father’s Day

June 26 - BOFC Work Session CANCELLED

Adjournment at 9:55PM

Fire Chief’s Report

# 2012- 07

June 8 through July 8, 2012

Calls for Service

                                          This Report                YTD

Fire Chief’s Goals and Priorities for 2012

• Execute the mission of OIFR through direction of the Board of Commissioners
• Establish and maintain fiscal accountability for all OIFR operations
• Effectively lead the people of OIFR
• Provide management and oversight for all operations, equipment, facilities, projects and programs for OIFR
  • Station 24 Completion
  • Wildland Risk Analysis
• Immersion into the operations, culture, and customs of OIFR
• Foster open and clear communications with the Orcas Island Community and our surrounding partners in emergency response
• Evaluate the current operations and organizational structure
• Monitor and plan for the future

Priority #2: Provide safe, efficient service in the delivery of emergency services to people on Orcas Island.

Priority #3: Train our members to the highest possible degree.

Priority #4: Provide a positive environment for the OIFR membership and our community.

Notable Alarms

Missing Person

On Thursday, June 28, 2012 Orcas Island Fire and Rescue was dispatched to a report of a missing adult male who had been missing since 9:30 a.m. the same day. The man was last seen walking his dog in the Eagle Lake area. The search for the man included the help of the San Juan Deputies, San Juan Fire # 3, Orcas Fire EMT’s & Firefighters, Orcas Fire Auxiliary, D.E.M., San Juan Emergency Radio Amateurs and community members. At 8:48p.m. The man was found along the beach by the Fire Boat Confidence and was reported in stable condition. Orcas Paramedics evaluated the patient who was later released to his family.

House Fire

Just before 4:00 PM on Thursday July 5th, seven apparatus and 24 members of Orcas Island Fire and Rescue responded to the 1400 block of North Beach Road for a structure fire that was reported by an observant OPALCO crew. The first arriving units reported smoke and flames showing on the west side of a single family wood frame house. No occupants were home at the time and the crews quickly extinguished the blaze. The cause of the fire is under investigation by the San Juan County Fire Marshal. There were no injuries to civilians or responders. Special thanks to the OPALCO crew for their quick reporting and response.

Marine Rescue

Later Thursday evening at 10:24 p.m., OIFR members were called to assist the San Juan County Sherriff and U.S. Coast Guard in a marine rescue near Vendovi Island. An adult male resident of Bellingham was reported to have sustained a traumatic injury on his recreational fishing boat in the Point Lawrence area off Orcas Island. After a search including a Coast Guard Helicopter, the patient was found near Vendovi Island with a critical traumatic injury.  The patient was treated, stabilized, and transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Bellingham by a Coast Guard vessel in the care of an Orcas paramedic and two emergency medical technicians.

News and Events

OIFR CPR Instructors Jaylin Peacock, Bob Phalan, Cameron Fralick, Alan Stameisen and Jennifer Corbin attended a Resuscitation Academy in Seattle hosted by King County EMS.  Attendees learned the most contemporary methods of CPR delivery and instruction. Our group was noted by the hosts to have excellent skill levels.

Chief O’Brien and OIFR volunteer consultant Judith Cook, both Orcas Highlands Residents participated in the Orcas Highland’s Firewise Day.

Chief O’Brien, D.C. Shepler, and Judith Cook attended a CWPP meeting in Friday Harbor and Chief O’Brien presented the “Second Touch” of the CWPP to the San Juan County Council.

OIFR assisted in a state-wide emergency management drill where two army chinook helicopters landed at Eastsound Airport to deliver “practice provisions.”

Chief O’Brien, DC Shepler, Capt. Kimple, and San Juan County DEM Assistant Director Dave Halloran conducted a Grant Committee Meeting.  Mr. Halloran has written and submitted an “Assistance to Firefighters Grant” for the purchase of new radios. On January 1, 2013 the FCC will require emergency responders to use “narrow band” radio frequencies.

OIFR staff has met with leadership of Lahari to discuss a possible partnership in a home safety survey program.

Chief O’Brien attended the Orcas Island High School Celebration of success recognizing scholarship winners for 2012.

Chief O’Brien delivered the commencement address at the graduation ceremony for the Orcas Island High School Class of 2012.

Chief O’Brien attended the volunteer appreciation assembly at Orcas Island Elementary School.

Over the course of two days, OIFR staff hosted a visit from the second graders of Orcas Island Elementary School.

Chief O’Brien and DC Harris attended an emergency planning meeting with staff from the Senior Center.

Chief O’Brien, DC Shepler and DC Preysz attended a “mass casualty” drill at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Bellingham.  The drill brought together regional and state-wide leaders in emergency response, public health, and hospital care for a simulation of an outbreak of a highly contagious and lethal virus.  The drill was a great success.

Chief O’Brien assisted the Orcas Island Parks and Recreation Board of Commissioners with interviewing candidates for their executive director position.

Chief O’Brien met with East Sound Water User’s General Manager Paul Kamin for an orientation tour and meeting to assure an effective working relationship between the OIFR and EWUA.

Chief O’Brien, DC Shepler, and Capt. Kimple rendezvoused with the Bellingham Commander and crew members of the US Coast Guard at the Olga Dock where we were welcomed aboard their 40 foot rescue boat and toured areas of Orcas Island where the two organizations could work together in situations requiring EMS transport, rescue, and other events.  Upon returning to the Olga Dock, the USCG members were served a delicious lunch prepared by DC Preysz.  Over lunch, the group discussed opportunities to work together. After lunch, the group toured Mt. Constitution spending time at the observation tower. The group returned to the Olga Dock and the Coast Guard departed for Bellingham.

OIFR members staffed the Deer Harbor and Eastsound Fireworks displays.

On Saturday, July 7, OIFR Firefighter’s Association with Capt. Rita Harvey at the lead, hosted a very successful pancake breakfast.  DC Val Harris developed an excellent display highlighting the benefits of the Firewise program that was showcased in the meeting room.  OIFR entered three apparatus in the Independence Day Parade. Later that day, the Lion’s Club hosted their annual salmon barbeque.