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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 11-19-2007-1dPage 1 of 1 ~Q~~~~ ~.:/ Gwen Harvey From: Andy Gates [cfdchief@mindspring.com] Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 200710:03 AM To: Gwen Harvey Cc: Gwen Snowden; Mike Tapp; Brad Allison; bparkernhfd@hotmail.com; Dan Jones; DAVID ODELL; JEFF BORLAND; Jeff Cabe; KEVIN BROOKS; PETER HALLENBECK; R. Nathan Huey; TOMMY HOLMES; Travis Crabtree; Troy Blalock; Andy Gates Subject: New Microsoft Word Document response to request of recomendation for emergency services study Ms Harvey, We appreciate your attendance and participation in our last meeting (Nov.7). As discussed in that meeting the general consensus from those in attendance was that the Sage Report was at best incomplete and the summary from School of Government was an incorrect interpretation of the information that was included in the Sage Group report. The recommendation being made by the council is that there be a retreat held similar to the one held approximately 12 years ago in which all of the parties involved in emergency services were in attendance. At this event we would recommend that there be an outside facilitator to orchestrate and address the matters of present and future strategic plans. At the conclusion of this meeting there would be a summary of the event that would be forwarded to the Managers office and the BOCC. At the present time we do not have an EM director to implement any plan that might be surmised by another "Study." It is our feeling that we are the organizations that are providing the services and the group is more likely to take ownership of a plan that has been thought through by the providers. We are not opposed to an outside opinion but considering the present situation (EM Director) and the amount of time and funds spent on this project to date with little or no results we believe that this would be the best route at this time. We appreciate pour consideration of this alternate plan. We all want what is best for our citizens and are willing to take those steps to achieve this goal. Sincerely, Chief .Andy Gates VP Orange County Chief Council Association 11/14/2007 0 Gwen Harvey From: Mike Tapp Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 5:58 PM To: 'Berner, Maureen ;Gwen Harvey; Christopher Sherman Subject: RE: School of Government follow up to the Sage Report Maureen, None of the other chiefs indicafied any problems with the School of Government document. Mike Mike Tapp Deputy Director/Fire Marshal Orange County Emergency Services P.O. Box 8181 Hillsborough, NC 27278 phone: 919-968-2050 fax: 919-968-4066 pager: 919-216-9580 ;, Page 1 of 1 Q Gwen Harvey From: Mike Tapp Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2007 7:38 PM To: Gwen Harvey Cc: Gwen Snowden • Subject: FVU: School of Government follow up to the Sage Report Gwen, • Chief Andy Gates at Caldwell Fire Dept has the following comments concerning the School of Governinenfi report. On page 11 of the Sage study, information is given on 14 dry hydrants in the Caldwell district, with more planned. In the SOG report, page 3, information is given that there are no hydrants with 14 planned. I just got aff the phone with Chief Gates and he has real concerns, his response is attached. We should closely examine that document and have the necessary corrections made before it goes to the Commissioners. • Mike From: Andy Gates [mailto:cfdchief@mindspring.com] Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 20D7 5:33 PM To: Mike Tapp ~ • Cc: Brad Allison; Troy Blalock Subject: RE: School of Government follow up to the Sage Repart Mike 1 believe that they need to ga back and read the information that the sage group had.They missed some details that change a lot of things. Example (Hydrants we have 14 and more planned, inadequate ems coverage was on the county not us we made no suggestions on how the radio systems were paid far by each department etc) If they would like to meet with me to discuss any of these issues I would be glad to but t strongly disagree with there report as written and would have a real problem with this being sent to the commissioners • Thanks for the preview. Call me Andy • Page 1 of 3~ . ~..:/ Gwen Harvey From: Travis Crabtree [TCrabtreeC~lci.carrboro.nc.us] Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 5:25 PM To: Kent McKenzie Cc: Trey Mayo Subject: Fre Rescue Study I understood this to be a fire and rescue study. It appears that they just interviewed a person or two from each department and inserted their comments into a template. Once the template was complete for the first department, they produced a ditto for the other volunteer departments with slight variations. I could have done this study with a digital camera for about $500 ($200 of which was_ for the camera). The county was robbedl! Under the~scope of a fire rescue study., I wonder why Chapel Hilt, Carrboro, .North Chatham and Mebane were not included. 1 spent about 3 hours in an interview and about 5 hours making copies for this study. I believe that these 4 fire departments protect a large portion of this county and should be included. The Sage group still has all of our records, they were never returned as promised. I didn't see but one sentence relating to the Level and rarige of future service. Response times were not recorded for any fire department. Where were the areas of projected growth? There was no methodology used to determine new fire and rescue stations and I don't recall any mention. of a county wide fire education program except through the Fire Marshal's office. Ideas of improving. efficiency, reducing costs or improving overall services were not mentioned either. 1 wonder why specific information that was not received from several departments. I would think that a consulting company would have notified the county and asked for assistance. Why was this not gathered and why the county did not assist in intervening to obtain this information. It helps us alt. I did not get a single briefing after our 3 hour interview. The RFP asks for NFPA standards, OSHA regulations and ADA requirements were not referenced throughout. 1• would expect at least a reference to NFPA 1720. A study immersing into a county wide training facility could have created a document bigger than this. The RFP also asks for identifying opportunities to assist the volunteer departments with paperwork. We could use that at a career department also. This is a county wide service and we mutually help each .other, consistency is key and should 6e across the board. Page 3 of the study discusses a meeting with the chief of Carrboro and Chapel Hill fire departments, even though this was not a primary focus of the study. i do not see anywhere that the study is just for the volunteer departments. Starting with page 11, the quality of the study lacks sufficient grammatical and spelling consideration when persons with more degrees than a thermometer can not spell the name of one of the 100 counties correctly. The current apparatus fleet far each department is not in the same format. . What type of calculation was used to warrant the need of increasing everyone's taxes? On page 30, (Efland) they mention that the fire department can provide 3,500 gallons of water. I calculate 5,500 gallons according to their numbers and one is from a 500 gallon tanker. is it possible to have a 500 gallon tanker per NFPA 1901? I don'tthink so. ~ ~ • Page 37, they state that fire hydrants are not~an option for Eno. What are those red devices standing atl along Highway 70 in their district? Look like fire hydrants to me. These water producing devices have been installed for a couple of years. 11/13/2007 Page 2 of 3 a Page 45, where is the picture of.the members residences? Page 48, the area that Carrboro annexed is outside of New Hopes 5-mile district which currently would receive a class 10. We have an automatic aid contract with Chapel Hill providing Class 3 protection from them and Carrboro has a Class 4. Page 5i, If there are areas that are 6 - 9 driving miles from a fire station, it would seem reasonable to change the primary fire department. This is about customer service and getting the quickest protection to the citizen of the county. Maybe the maps need to be revisited. Page 52, what needs to be done to get fire hydrants installed along Highway 54? White Cross, Orange Grove and Carrboro can all benefit from this Page 55. fourth paragraph, grammatical error or sentence structure really distracts the reader. Not professional at all. Page 60, Map shows a fire station near St Mary's and Schley roads. Eno has proposed one for that location but it appears to 6e a long ways from coming to fruition. Page 65, Dairyland and Highway 54 do not meet. . Page 67, different symbols used on different maps, no 125 mile circle included. Page 70, Carrboro should be included in the last paragraph to make fire districts easier on the departments and communications Page 74, where is the map? Page 77, Best idea of the whole study, dissolve the Orange County Rescue Squad. It seems to be a constant problem that I hope can be resolved soon. • • . Page 79,1 do not believe that the South Orange rescue squad runs out of 261 South Churton Street Page 89, I need to educated on the IRV program. I don't understand how it can save money sending a paramedic unit and an ambulance back and forth to Duke hospital 5-10 times a day. EMS seems to going through a lot of people by burning them out. Most of them look tired all of the.time and we need about 4 more ambulances per day to keep up with the volume of calls this county is generating. Page 90, why do we not have enough ambulances? Line 25 Page 91, it would seem reasonable to place an ambulance at about every fire station, particularly the outlying districts. Line 24 Page 92, line 26 include UNC campus Page 95, where are the numbers? # of inspections, # of violations, # of plans reviewed, # of acceptance tests, budget, revenue, etc... We should also create a web page showing who plans to purchase what and when Page 96, what about the fire department that are planning on building new stations in the next few years? Efiand, Hillsborough, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Eno ' Page 98, County support staff can help all departments like during the ladder testing. Page 99, tine 15, Hillsborough was left out, Efiand also has a large amount of fire hydrants along Highway 70, The county could assist during the dry hydrant instailatioris with the assistance of a backhoe and buy the pipe in bulk. Highway 54 doesn't go into Chatham County. Line 34 I believe they meant Alamance Page 100, What is a communications specialist? If we get 4 more, can we get some OPS channels monitored Page 3 of 3 during working calls? All fire stations need computers to help track fire calls with a direct connection for viewing 911 center. Page 102, times in seconds are needed on all fire reports to make the 911 center and the responding agency look better took better on their responses. ~. cmdtree, cis ~~ ~ Carrbvro F~ ~(,escue Department 301 `IN. ?Kaix Street Carr6o% J~C 27510 (919J 918-7349 °~ (919) 932-5359 fax (919) 883,8342 telC tcrabtree ~ townofcarrboro.ora `°The purest form of Fire Suppression is through Fire Prevention and this aspect is the hardest to measure" Town of Carrboro Web Site: http://www.tawnofcarrboro.org Pursuant to North Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 132, et.seq., this electronic mail message and any attachments hereto, as well as any electranic mail message(s) that maybe sent in response to it *may* be considered public record and as such are subject to requests for review. 11/13/200'7 0 Kent, Cedar Grove Chief Officers looked over the Fire Study and felt that the Sage Group answered the questions of the Scope of Studv for Cedar Grove well. Everything answered were things we are already thinking about for the future. As far as the Recommendations, they recommended that we increase our tax rate to help pay for a daytime person at the station. In. order to do this we would have to increase our tax rate more than they recommended to sufficiently cover the pay for a daytime person. We are in the process of replacing a tanker this year and hope to replace another one in the near future. We also agreed with Countywide Recommendations of having a County tax so that EM could supply 800MHz radios for all the departments. These answers are the thought of my officers and me. If you need further information, please let me know. Thanks, Jeff Borland -Chief Cedar Grove Fire Dept. Page 1 of 2 Gweri Harvey From: Steven Riley Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 4:03 AM To: Kent McKenzie Subject: RE: Chiefs Council -Fire/Rescue Report Kent, After reading the report, I would agree with many of the suggestions. Orange Co. EM needs to develop better communication with the various departments to overcome the mistrust, this would also include the surrounding counties. The other thing would be clear organization in EM with appropriate personnel staff to accomplish the large task ahead of us. The suggestion of dissolving North Orange Rescue and absorbing into the County would be an option, but at what price tag? I do agree with the additional support personnel for EMS along with the equipment. We also need to think about stations and grid sections better then we have now. Would an option to help the volunteer~fire organizations with upgrades be renting space like we do at the rescue squads? So many questions about this report and ideas come to mind in future planning for all involved. i will be in on Friday after the hot wash and touch base. Thanks for the report. Very informative. Steven Riley EM Planning Coordinator Orange Co Emergency Management 919-968-2050 work 919-672-3090 cell