Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutFire Commission 2016-04-13 MinutesCITY OF SAN RAFAEL FIRE DEPARTMENT FIRE COMMISSION MEETING Minutes of the Regular Meeting April 13, 2016 Station 52, 210 Third Street, San Rafael     PRESENT STAFF PRESENT Stephen Mizroch Larry Luckham Fire Chief Chris Gray Carolyn Lenert Deputy Fire Chief Robert Sinnott Leonard Thompson Battalion Chief Jeff Rowan David Fonkalsrud, Commissioner Alternate ABSENT Thomas Weathers, Commissioner Chair Stephen Mizroch called the Fire Commission to order at 4:00pm. The Minutes of the January meeting were approved. Reports Chair Mizroch thanked Commissioner Emeritus Aaron Golbus for his service and introduced the new Commissioner Alternate David Fonkalsrud and welcomed him. The Commissioners then introduced themselves and got to know David. Commissioner Luckham’s reported from his activities with Firefighters Without Borders, a Canadian group of volunteers with 20 years’ of service. See Fire Chief Gray’s report for details. He created a site for this year’s photos at http://www.firefighters2bomberos.com. Commissioner Lenert has no formal report this month. Commissioner Thompson. San Rafael Fire Foundation is in a period self-examination and evaluation. He will report on prospects for the upcoming Wine Stroll. He will attend an upcoming board meeting of the SRFF and report back to the Fire Commission. He recommended Commissioners visit the Foundation’s website at http://srfirefoundation.org/. Report from Chief Gray. Please see the attached written report to the Fire Commission. 1. San Rafael Fire Department has earned ISO Class 1, a great advance over its former Class 3 designation. This achievement includes evaluations of risk management, water supply, dispatch as well as staffing, training and equipment. Deputy Chief Sinnott prepared the necessary statistical data. It is anticipated that insurance rates for commercial and residential properties will have reduced premiums. The certification is held for 10 years. CITY OF SAN RAFAEL FIRE DEPARTMENT FIRE COMMISSION MEETING Minutes of the Regular Meeting April 13, 2016 Station 52, 210 Third Street, San Rafael   2. He reported on the Essential Facilities Project. Station 2 requires no environmental review. The PSC and Station 7 have environmental issues due to wetlands, historic issues, and the size of the buildings, therefore the review process is more lengthy. The goals of the project are: complete the buildings ahead of schedule and on budget. The temporary relocation of facilities has been finalized. 3. Two new Pierce engines have been ordered for delivery in January. 4. The Chief proposed and the Fire Commission discussed the formation of an ad hoc subcommittee to archive, restore, preserve and display SRFD history. A lobby showcase at the Public Safety Center. Phoenix, AZ has an outstanding example. Brian Auger and Hunt Automotive have express interest. Several Commissioners expressed interest in developing this resource. 5. Chief Gray indicated that the City would be open to a SRFD time capsule for the PSC. 6. Chief Gray said that he would provide an update on the Marin Emergency Radio Authority’s work on its new emergency communications system. The meeting adjourned at 5:25pm.   Fire Commission – Fire Chief Update – April 13, 2016   Congratulations to Fire Commissioner’s Thomas Weathers and David Fonkalsrud (Alternate) on being selected by our City Council to a four - year term. We appreciate and value your service to San Rafael.  Our ISO Class 1 designation became official on April 1, 2016. Everyone benefits…congratulations!  Fire Engineer/Paramedic Justin Barrow was promoted to Fire Captain on March 16, 2016. Justin is a very capable and passionate individual whom we have great confidence in. I’m sure Capt. Barrow will continue to do an outstanding job as he serves in his new role as the Company Commander at Engine/Medic 56-B.  Four candidates remain on the Fire Engineer Eligibility List and we have one vacancy. We will be conducting interviews soon.  We are conducting another Firefighter/Paramedic recruitment and planning a Joint Academy in May. We currently have four vacancies. Corte Madera, Larkspur and Marinwood have all expressed interest in adding new hires to the Academy.  Significant progress continues with our Essential Facilities Project. Designs for the facilities are evolving nicely and Open Houses soliciting public input have now been completed for FS 51 (Public Safety Center), FS’s 52 and 57. We have also been to the Design Review Board (DRB) for all three projects. FS 52 and FS 57 have received DRB approval and on April 12, 2016, the Planning Commission approved the design for Fire Station 52. Both the PSC and FS 57 have a longer road due to environmental review.  The temporary relocation of FS 51, 52 and 57 has now been finalized. Engine and Medic 51 plus our BC will move to the upper parking lot of City Hall. Fire Admin to the 51 Annex at 1039 C St.; Engine 52 to 519 Fourth St.; Engine 57 to FS 53 @ 30 Joseph Ct and Medic 53 to FS 56 at 650 De l Ganado.  A tentative agreement has been reached with Marin County regarding CSA 19 and FS 57 that should take us through another 40 years. The new agreement includes an increase in the annual payment to San Rafael for staffing with an escalator; a cost share for the new station; land lease and lot adjustment to exclude the wetland area and the purchase of FS 53 by Marin County for use by the Tam Fire Crew.  Budget preparation continues for FY 2016/17. Paramedic taxes will once again not be increased to residents and businesses. Nearly all of our City Employee Groups are currently in negotiations.  City Council approved the purchase of two new Pierce Fire Engines that will be delivered in January 2017.  We continue to work toward implementing Paramedic service in Marinwood. At this point Marinwood has one qualified Paramedic to initiate service.  The Marin County Sheriff’s Dept. successfully launched a new Computer Aided Dispatch system on March 29th after nearly two years of preparation.  FF/PM Trina Vadon recently had a baby boy, Tanner. Mom and baby are doing well.  Sono Zhang, our ambulance billing specialist who had a baby girl, Kathleen, has decided to resign from her position. We appreciate Sono’s many contributions with Joyce to our Paramedic service and wish her all the best. Sono may return in a part-time capacity in the future.  For the past four years, San Rafael Firefighter/Paramedic Angel Landaverde has been part of a dedicated group of firefighters and civilians from across Canada and the United States of America “Firefighters Without Borders” who work to offer a “hand up” to their brother and sister firefighters in less developed countries. Angel has been involved with FWB since 2008 and has participated in eight missions. During this year’s mission to Guatemala, Firefighter/Paramedic Angel Landaverde was joined by Capt. Robert de Lambert; Fire Commissioner Larry Luckham, Firefighter/Paramedics Scott Preckwinkle, Gabe Williams, Andy Schifando and Pepi Morel. We are very proud of our firefighters for helping in this way and have personally participated in these types of exchanges in foreign countries as well. san-rafael-firefighters-train-ill-equipped-emergency-responders-in-latin-america. Larry completed a blog post of the trip at: http://www.firefighters2bomberos.com Thank you for your continued outstanding public service, it is valued and appreciated. Respectfully, Christopher R. Gray, Fire Chief