October 24, 2006 Minutes
Public Safety Sub-Committee
Attendees: Doug Ross, Ralph Munroe, Dave Stevens, Bob Earnest, Joe Ballard, Tom Calder, Nancy Hill, Don Buxbaum, Dick Calder, Vivian Boxer
Doug reported that Jill Malony was no longer available to sit on this committee due to health reasons. We will miss Jill and thank her for the input and assistance her expertise lent to our meetings and we all wish her the best. Bob Earnest has replaced Jill on the committee and is a welcome addition to the group.
Ralph motioned for approval of the October 17th minutes and Dave seconded the motion. Nancy mentioned that the Chebeague Rescue is a Transport Rescue and not a Non-Transport Rescue as indicated, thank you Nancy.
Doug distributed the Transition Committee Workplan to the group and stated that reviews of the Public Safety Sub-committee are currently scheduled for November 29th, January 31st, March 28th and May 9th. Doug said he has received emails from Chris Bolduc of the Cumberland Rescue Dept. and he is willing to assist the group in the effort for Rescue. We talked about the charges Cumberland will impose for Transport Service and Nancy indicated that we could check with other towns to compare their rate with that of Cumberland.
Doug brought up some points relative to the meeting last Saturday with Bill Shane. Bill said that Cumberland is not in a position to contract Police services with the Town of Chebeague. Ralph brought up a concern regarding Police calls in the middle of the winter season.
Doug said that mutual aid for the Fire Department will likely come from the surrounding towns and is more or less a formality at this point. Regarding mandatory training, Bill said Cumberland could perform on-site training for a fee, including face mask training, fit testing and physicals. Bill said he would look into the warranty information for equipment and vehicles and has since contacted Doug indicating he has a packet of information he will send along to him. Ralph inquired about insurance for Fire and Rescue and Doug stated that he has sent the request to the Finance Sub-committee. Bill said there is a certain amount of record keeping and estimated four hours weekly for Fire and Rescue. We discussed incorporating this responsibility with the duties of the Town Clerk of Chebeague Island. Joe brought up the concept of paying the fire fighters for time spent associated with training. Doug indicated that we would review the entire pay structure at future meetings. Tom said Long Island has a pay scale based on the position, i.e. fire fighter, EMT, etc., and he will bring the documentation in for our review and discussion. Joe brought up a discussion relating to a charge for false alarms, and perhaps considering a per diem rate for fire assistants. Doug talked about billing for the Rescue Unit should we go with Cumberland. Bill said Cumberland could do the billing for Chebeague and that the software associated with the billing costs $15,000. Nancy stated that she would check with other small towns and determine how their billing for Rescue is accomplished. Bill said Cumberland has adopted a National Incident Management Systems (NIMS) ordinance, and that a full time person may be named as the head of NIMS. Ralph summarized the NIMS concept as consisting of several categories and that fire personnel must be trained in at least three of the categories to qualify for federal grants and for reimbursement of expenditures related to emergencies and disasters. The government wants all areas to function uniformly relating to chain of command during emergencies/disasters. NIMS self-certification may be obtained on-line.
The group decided to break out into five groups of two individuals each to arrive at what questions need to be answered to get the ball rolling. The groups have been established as follows:
Police – Dave Stevens and Bob Earnest, Fire – Don Buxbaum and Dick Calder, Rescue – Nancy Hill and Doug Ross, Dispatch – Ralph Munroe and Joe Ballard, FEMA – Tommy Calder and Vivian Boxer
Each individual group will meet during the week and bring the questions to our next meeting.
Tom said Dickie Clark, of Long Island, was on Chebeague Sunday night and is willing to come to Chebeague for a question and answer session. Nancy indicated the State of Maine website has information relative to our goals that will assist us along the way. The Town of Chebeague can join the Maine Municipal Association (MMA) one month prior to becoming a Town.
We discussed our upcoming schedules and since Doug will be away from November 6th through the 16th, Bob Earnest agreed to be the Vice Chair of the sub-committee. Thank you Bob. The next meeting is Thursday, November 2nd, at the Public Safety Building at 7:15 PM.
Bob Earnest’s email address is:
Respectfully submitted,
Vivian Boxer (Binkie)