HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-04-13 Government Operations Committee Minutes �
Government 0 erations Committee �
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April 13, 2010
Minutes �
Councilor Attendance: Gratwick, Wheeler, Blanchette, Bronson, Hawes �,
StafF Attendance: Cammack, Arno, Nicklas, Jason Johnson
Others:
Committee Chair Gratwick opened the meeting at 5:00 p.m.
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1. Highway Safety Grant Application �
Arno asked the Committee for permission to apply for up to $10,000 in Bureau of �
Highway Safety grant funding. This is a long standing grant program through the State
and administered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Institute. The Maine Bureau of
Highway Safety is the pass through for the grant funding. The money, which has been �
taken advantage of over the past several years, is used to pay overtime for enhanced
high visibility traffic enforcement over the summer months to include seatbelt
enforcement, speed enforcement, and OUI enforcement efforts. The full amount is �
being requested for the $10,000 to pay that overtime with the Committee's approval.
Responding to Blanchette, Arno said that road blocks have not been something that has �
been utilized in past summers, but is being considered in the future. The Police
Department has used what is called Saturation Patrols, where extra officers are put on �
the streets during documented times, days and locations where incidences of OUI �
arrests have been higher than other parts of the City. Arno explained that road blocks
are typically labor intensive and require a staff of 5 or 6 officers. This is not a luxury �
that is available to the department with the extra staff that is needed.
Wheeler asked if the enforcement of seatbelt usage will become a primary cause for �
stopping or will it remain a secondary traffic violation. Specifically, he asked if a cruiser
notices a driver without a seatbelt will that produce a stop. Arno responded saying that
most seatbelt violations occur during other routine trafFic stops such as speeding �
violation or other traffic infractions, but it could be a primary reason for a stop.
Responding to Gratwick, Arno said that all fines and fees for traffic violations go to the �
State. The City has three speed boards and is in the process of ordering another one.
These requested funds cannot be used for the purchase of equipment. He believes that �
placing these boards in areas where speeding is a problem can have the desired effect
during the time they are in place, but when they are removed, the speed tends to be an
issue again. �
A motion was moved and seconded and has passage.
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2. Student Observers at St Joseph Hospital
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This is a request to enter into a clinical agreement to enhance and supplement the Fire
� Department's training through clinical or administrative experience at St. Joseph's
Hospital. In the event the City's paramedics are in need for a refresher on certain skills
during the QAQI process, this would enable them to be sent to St. Joseph for that
+��, purpose. This agreement was reviewed by the Legal Department, and the Fire
Department is asking that this agreement is approved.
� A motion was moved and seconded and has passage.
3. MDEA Lease for Station 6
� Cammack reminded the Committee that back in October of 2009 there was a discussion
with Council regarding Station 6 on Griffin Road. A conversation took place with MDEA
,� regarding a possibility of them leasing a portion of that building. The MDEA would like
to lease part of the space in the former Station 6 and pay a monthly fee. This will allow
� for the continued use of the rest of the station by the City. Currently the space is being
shared by Public Works, Police and Fire. He referred to the information that was
provided to the Committee that outlines the costs associated with running it. The
amount that MDEA is proposing to pay monthly will more than cover the expenses and
'� allow the City to continue to store equipment there.
Blanchette feels this is a good deal for the City and for MDEA. This was moved and
seconded for passage. �
� Cammack responded to Gratwick saying that the Fire Department and Public Works will
continue to maintain that property. He feels that the building will hold up a little longer
now that the doors are not opening and closing all the time. The lease with MDEA is for
� three years, and they have expressed interest in this site for future usage.
4. Downtown Sprinkler and Alarm System Overview
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Cammack talked about an interest by Council to look at the downtown area regarding
sprinkler systems and the type of alarm systems which the City has. There were a few
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Councilors that thought staff was not moving forward with that request; Cammack
explained that it ended up being a larger process and procedure than originally thought.
� Cammack introduced the Committee to Jason Johnson, who is the Public Education
Officer/Fire Inspector. Johnson was the person that Cammack tasked to complete this
project.
� Johnson took on this project thinking it would take only a couple weeks. He stated he
was not prepared for the number of properties that were involved. The process that
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was used was very dependent on the owners of the properties sending the required �
information back to the Department. Some owners were very timely and some required
follow up letters and further action. The Chief provided ]ohnson with a map that shows �
the downtown area. Johnson referred to the map and spoke to the Committee about
the survey and process. The survey asked the owner to identify the name of the
business, location and whether or not they knew what type of sprinkler system, �,
whether wet or dry, and, finally, if they had a fire alarm system. He stated that part of
the potential problem with a survey of this sort, depends on the person that is filling out
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this information and their base knowledge. Some knew what the fire safety devices �,
were and other did not.
He s oke about issues that he came across such as how man times the street �
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addresses did not match the City's assessment data that was used for this project,
along with rnany other issues. He discovered that there are 160 buildings in the target
zone, which represented about 149 businesses. He also found out that 73 of the 160 ,
buildings were equipped with sprinklers and 79 were not. He noted that the further
away from the downtown area the fewer buildings were equipped with sprinklers. He
spoke about the fire alarms and found that he needed to educate businesses on the
differences between local alarm, which means it would just ring in the building, and
monitored alarm, which means a private agency may monitoring the building. The �
results of the survey showed that 45 businesses had no alarm in them at all, 44 had �
local alarms, and 47 were monitored and 17 had City boxes.
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Responding to Blanchette, Johnson explained that a wet system means there is already
water in the pipes and the dry system means the pipes are dry and there is water ready �
to go but is being held back. Dry systems are usually used where there might be issues
of freezing pipes, such as in parking garages.
Cammack said that a sprinkler system is a piece of system that is all encompassing. It is �
one piece that includes fire rated doors, fire walls, penetrations to walls to ensure they
are sealed up, etc. When a sprinkler building burns, it is usually because one of these �
things has been violated. It can be that the system has not been properly maintained, -
the wrong system is installed, or the business has changed from an office to a building
that is storing flammable liquids. �
Cammack pointed out that there is no way that the fire inspector and public educations
officers can make a visit to each and every business to make sure they are not violating �'
the integrity of that system. There are folks that pay the standby charge for sprinkler
systems and have systems installed, but for some reason they don't choose to get the �
yearly maintenance to ensure that, in the event it is needed, it will work.
Cammack said that a sprinkler system, in the fire service point of view, is made to hold
the fire in check. It is not made to put out the fire without any response. It is a tool. �
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� Bronson thanked Cammack and Johnson for the work that the have done indicating
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- that the results do not surprise him, but it is good to bring forth the information. In his
� opinion, a sprinkler system is exactly what the Chief said; it is to contain the fire until
such time personnel can get in there. He also pointed out that in his opinion, with most
� ordinary occupancies, a sprinkler system that works when first call upon, even though a
little water might mix with something that does not react well with water, will produce
enough water early enough to help win the fight. He hopes that over a period of time
� the City would be able to format some sort of a Sprinkler Ordinance that would have a
reasonably long time horizon to come into place in order to give the building owners
and businesses plenty of time and could somehow formulate an Ordinance that puts
� alarm systems in these buildings. He would leave it to Chief Cammack to determine
whether he thought a monitored sprinkler system was a sufFicient alarm in some
occupancy as opposed to having a separate alarm system. His biggest question is how
� this can be accomplished for the community at large. It would be important not to
have gaping holes in downtown Bangor. He questioned whether or not there are
programs with grants and loans to be taken advantage of.
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Cammack spoke of a press release that states there is legislation that has been
introduced at the Federal level to offer business who install sprinkler system a five-year
�j write off rather than the current 30 or 33 years. Senator Collins is a sponsor of the
legislation, and currently 111 members of the House have signed on. It is anticipated
� that this will have passage before the end of the summer. This could be some incentive
if folks had the capital up front in order to do this. He said he would be happy to work
with the Community and Economic Development Department about the possibility of
incentives.
Responding to Hawes, Cammack said it can be very costly to go into an existing
� building and install a sprinkler or alarm system. He was not prepared to give an
estimate on how much it would cost to install a system into a building this size of City
Hall and pointed out that the size of the building and whether or not there is a
� significant water supply to the building will determine the cost, along with other factors.
Although she feels that it is important to preserve the buildings, Hawes reminded the
Committee that whatever is put out there for downtown will be required for the City as
� well. She thinks that planning how much to do now and what the timeline should be is
important.
� Cammack reminded the Committee that the intent for this evening was to get some
direction from the Committee. He said that staff is more than happy to explore funding
� sources, obtain cost estimates on some buildings in the downtown area and then come
back to update the Committee. His Department will would work closely with the Legal
Department and the Community & Economic Development Department.
� Blanchette asked if it would be helpful to the Senator if the City put together some
rough figures of buildings that are downtown that would benefit from installing a
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sprinkler system and what the cost would be. Blanchette believes that Senator Collins is �
in a position to fight for the City of Bangor. Cammack responded by saying that he
thinks it would be a great idea for the Council to send a letter to the Congressional �
Delegation asking them to support this legislation, both in the Senate and the House.
He said that including some prices would be beneficial. Blanchette also asked if the �
Maine Fire Commission has been an advocate for passing Ordinances statewide that
require new construction, both residential and business. to be sprinkled at the time of
construction. Cammack responded by saying that a vote will take place on Thursday �
regarding whether or not residential sprinklers for 1 and 2 family dwellings will be
required. He believes that the vote will be positive. Blanchette asked that Cammack _
keep the Committee posted. �
Bronson said that he hopes the Legislature does bring forward a State law and maybe if
one of the existing buildings downtown has substantial rehabilitation or change of ,�
purpose, that would then fall under the new law, but asked if most of these historic
buildings would still, without a local Ordinance, be untouched. Cammack confirmed this
saying that what they would be looking for in an Ordinance is a specific dollar amount �
that would trigger a need for a sprinkler system, if they were to do rehabilitation.
Gratwick pointed out that having sprinkler systems saves a fair amount, such as 5 or �
10%, on the fire insurance premiums. Cammack reminded the Committee that,
although this is true, there is a standby charge for bringing in a bigger water line for �
the sprinkler system to service that. It is not possible to get by with a 2 inch main pipe
coming into a building, and a 4 or 6 inch water main pipe would be required. Similar to
the Hydro rental that the Fire Department pays on a yearly basis for the standby fee,
every individual business and building that has that line standing by, in the event that it �
is needed, pays the Water Department a fee. He will check on what that fee is and
report back to the Committee. �
Gratwick asked if the Masonic Hall fire could have been prevented had there been
better sprinkler systems installed. Cammack responded by saying that older �
construction is very difficult because of renovations. There is rarely any consultation -
with the sprinkler folks to make sure that the changes do not require updates in the -_
sprinkler system. There are also times that an electrician will come in and make �
penetrations to a wall from either one floor or the other or straight through and may
not get properly sealed up, which was the case with the Masonic Hall building. There �
are a lot of human factors that play into the spread of fires as well.
Blanchette pointed out that the water pressure in some areas is only a trickle at times. �,
She asked if there is an �mergency backup plan in case a large structure in the
downtown area went up in flames. Cammack said that a truck would be placed at the
fire hydrant and would draft from the hydrant to boost up the pressure so that when it
goes to the next truck it has the appropriate pressure. -�
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� Bronson stated that the Masonic Hall sprinkler system was installed back when the
- codes were different then they are today.
� Gratwick recommended that staff revisit this Committee with more information and an
� update in July.
A motion was made to ad�ourn at 5:45 p.m.
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