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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-11-25 Government Operations Committee Minutes � GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS COMMITTEE MINUTES November 25, 2003 Councilors Present: Richard Greene, Anne Allen, Peter D'Errico Staff Present: Bob Farrar, Chief Winslow, Chief Cammack, Asst. Chief Cheverie Others Present: None The meeting convened at 5:00 p.m. 1. Council Ordinance 04-20, Amending Article II, Section 9-19 of the Code of the City of Bangor, Regular Meetings, to Change the time of Regular Council Meetings from 7:00 pm to 7:30 pm. Farrar noted that this item was discussed at the recently held Council Retreat. . The general consensus was to move the Council meeting to 7:30 p.m. to allow additional time for workshops and executive sessions prior to the Council meeting. The Committee approved referring this ordinance to the full Council for passage. 2. Memorandum of Agreement between the City of Bangor Police Department and Maine Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) for Explosive Mitigation Equipment Chief Winslow indicated that the City had been awarded and has accepted $470,000 to purchase explosive mitigation equipment including a bomb robot, self-contained bomb trailer and protective suits. In order to accept the equipment, the City must enter into an agreement with MEMA covering a variety of areas including training, maintenance, liability and indicating that we will respond to other jurisdictions if requested by MEMA. He noted that the distributed agreement sets forth these conditions. Greene wanted to know who has the liability for repairs of equipment if MEMA retains ownership of the property. Winslow said that they were responsible if they damage the equipment. Cammack said that they have discussed • establishing a contingency fund for equipment updates. _ _ _ __ _ __ _-- -- ,, _- - — The Committee voted to authorize the Police Department to execute the � agreement. 3. Strategic National Stockpile of Pharmaceuticals— Process for distribution in the event of a major health emergency (Police Department) � Winslow said that the Center for Disease Control along with other federal agencies has been working on a plan that in the event of a large-scale public health emergency in Maine, pharmaceuticals would be shipped to the state and distributed to the affected areas. According to the preliminary plan, Bangor could play a significant role in this process. Bangor has been identified as the potential drop site for the pharmaceuticals, because of the serviceability of the airport. The impact for the City will be security and we will be working with the Maine State Police at the storage site. As this was for informational purposes, no action was required. 4. Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO) Rating for Fire Suppression - City of Bangor Fire Chief Cammack briefed the Committee on the status of the City's ISO rating for fire suppression. He said that the rating system goes from one to ten, one • being the best and ten being the worst. The City has received an ISO rating of two since 1990. This relates to the fire insurance classification for the City. A recent review has been undertaken by ISO and the City is close to receiving a rating of two. One item of contention is dispatch and the fact that the County says that the City should have three and ISO says that we should have five. Another area of concern is that we are down to one aerial with fewer staff. Cammack said that we have sent a proposal to ISO regarding these areas and are waiting to hear if this would be enough to get us 80 points to receive a class two rating. Cammack discussed the proposed accreditation process through the International Fire Chief's Association by which insurance companies may determine insurance rates. The Department continues to explore this option. 5. Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Plan Chief Cammack noted that the Bangor Fire Department has prepared a Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Plan for the City of Bangor. This plan supplements the City's Basic Emergency Response Plan. The HazMat plan contains information and instructions necessary when responding to a hazardous materials incident. He noted that the plan needs to be updated yearly. . • D'Errico wanted to know where were the most hazardous areas of the City. Cheverie noted the map in the packet, which depicts the hazard levels. He noted that Bangor High School has volunteered to place this information into maps that will be much more presentable. Cheverie discussed the various aspects of the plan and hazards located throughout the City. The Committee approved referring this item to full Council for passage. 6. City Council Committee Structure Allen said that she had requested this item to discuss the relationship and responsiveness of the Committees to the community, council and city departments. Farrar provided a copy of the current City code that outlines the Council Committees and their areas of responsibility. Allen indicated that the Council had previously discussed the possibility of reorganizing the Committee responsibilities with transportation being one area and public safety another. She wanted to know which direction the City might � like to go. Farrar noted that he had feedback from the Council Retreat and outlined it for the Committee. One item was to move the Council meeting from 7:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. to accommodate additional preliminary workshops and executive sessions on Monday night. This might eliminate the need for the Strategic Issues Committee on the first and third Monday nights, to allow for Council to meet with other area groups or area legislators. He noted that there was also considerable discussion about incorporating the transportation concept with Infrastructure and Development Support or as a stand-alone committee, with transportation including BIA, BAT-Community Connector and Harbor. Farrar said that there was also talk of starting another Committee to discuss appointments and to hear personnel grievances involving non-union employees. Greene said that there seemed to be interest in forming a separate Committee for transportation, which could potentially include rail and the parking garage. Chief Winslow and Chief Cammack stated that the Government Operations Committee has served them well, and they do not have enough safety issues to warrant a separate committee. Farrar noted that Health and Welfare and Parks and Recreation are also • departments of that functionally report to Government Operations. He indicated i that the Airport reports to Business and Economic Development and that Harbor • reports to Infrastructure and Development Support. Farrar said that at the retreat, the consensus was that it would be beneficial to bring all transportation- related functions under one governing committee. Allen said that some items that come into this committee are referred to other committees. Farrar said that there are times when more than one committee hears the same item, however, the intent is to keep items to one committee. Farrar said that the City Manager is compiling the list of recommendations from the retreat and will be discussing with the Council Chair how to proceed. Greene said that it would be beneficial to review this report first and discuss this item at a later date. No specific action was taken on the item. 7. Acquisition of New Council Chairs Councilor Allen said that she requested that the chairs currently in use at the Council desks and dais be replaced. Farrar said that we have 12 chairs, and the price range is $200-500 for a good quality chair. D'Errico asked if there was a fund available to replace the chairs with ergonomic/safety funds. Farrar said that he would review this with the Finance Director. He noted that the total would be $3,600-4,200 to replace the chairs. He said that this was not a budgeted item, however if the Council were interested in pursuing this, we would find the funds for it. Allen wanted to know why we couldn't use the undesignated fund balance for this item, unless we could come up with a grant. � Farrar said that there are times when funds are remaining from capital projects that we may have access to. Allen said that she would not want the funds to come from the operating budget. Greene said that certainly no one would dispute the lack of ergonomic quality of the chairs. The Committee suggested staff find funds for new chairs and that the color and design complement the current Council Chamber. Greene wanted to know if the renovation of the Council chambers was moving forward. Farrar said that this was an item in the budget for last year, however it was not funded. Allen wanted to know if there was a design to review. Farrar said that he would follow up with the City Manager. He said that there have • been complaints about councilors not being able to see other councilors or the mayor. Allen wanted to know if we could review the plans for Hampden's recently renovated chambers. Farrar said he would check with their Town Manager. The meeting adjourned at 6:05 p.m. �