Public Protection Committee
Minutes of 10:00 A.M., November 25, 2009 Meeting
Town Office Meeting Room
A list of abbreviations can be found at the end of these minutes.
I. Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at approximately 10:04 A.M. by Vice-Chairman Jim Willis.
II. Roll Call of Members
Attendance Present Attendance Present
“Voting Members (10 total)” Citizen Rep. Kathy Branch (Kathy) Excused
Citizen Rep. Mary-Lee Bayne (MLB) Excused Pub. Works Dir. Tony Smith (TS) Yes
Citizen Rep. Katie Bell (KB) Excused Police Chief Jim Willis (JW) Yes
Fire Chief Mike Bender (MB) Yes “Non-voting attendees/at large”
Harbormaster Shawn Murphy (SM) No Town Mgr. Mike MacDonald (MM) No
NEHA Joanne Robbins (JR) Yes BOS Liaison Rick Mooers (RM) No
Citizen Rep. Dennis Shubert (DS) Yes MDWD Mgr. Paul Slack (PS) No
Citizen Rep. Sharon Gilley (SG) Excused Basil Mahaney (BM) for JR-NEHA No
Citizen Rep. Sumner Roulon-Miller Yes
Selectmen MD arrived at 10:07; she and Jean Fosillo were in attendance as members of the public.
III. Discussion/Approval of Minutes
• Minutes of October 14, 2009 were approved as presented 6-0 (DS-TS).
• Minutes of October 28, 2009 were approved as presented 6-0 (DS-TS). It was asked if the PPC can recommend the expenditure of funds. It was generally agreed that the PPC can after review of the mission statement. It was also pointed out that the PPC must educate the BOS and the other members of the community of our work and identified needs.
• Notes from the September 30, 2009 work group meeting were accepted as a report from the subgroup to the PPC 5-0-1 with JR abstaining (DS-TS). JR presented a letter from the NEHA presenting their resignation as a voting member of the PPC. Prior to acting on the letter, the motion was passed.
IV. Election of Chair and New Slate of Officers
• A motion was made and seconded (TS-MB) that DS be elected chairman of the PPC. During discussion of the motion, SRM offered to serve as well. He handed out a brief biography to the group and discussed the same. DS was elected chairman 5-0-1 with JR abstaining.
• A motion was made and seconded (TS-DS) that SRM be elected vice-chairman of the PPC. SRM was elected vice-chairman 5-0-1 with JR abstaining.
• Both gentlemen were thanked by the group for their willingness to serve the community.
DS asked SRM for his philosophy on the PPC. SRM said he agrees with Options 1 and 2 described in the meeting minutes of the October 28, 2009 PPC approved minutes but said that if he was a member of the BOS he would ask us for more documentation e.g. required square footage for the PD or FD. He suggested we document our choices of the options based on e.g. current square footage versus immediate and future needs. DS summed up SRM’s PPC philosophy as being, in DS opinion, fact based, wants documentation and is open-minded. SRM agreed.
DS then asked for a motion to put the NEHA letter on the agenda. Motion not made. JR complimented JW and MB as being great to work with for the NEHA. At this time, JW resigned as interim chair and vice-chairman. A discussion then ensued of adverse politics relative to the DH’s that are serving as PPC members.
MB asked JR to reconsider the NEHA resignation. JR responded that they want to get the space needs issue behind the PPC then become voting members again. She said that they are essentially contractors renting space from the Town and do not feel comfortable acting on space needs. DS suggested that DH’s and the NEHA not vote on issues serving their own interests.
JR pointed out to the PPC that Durlin Lunt, at a recent BOS meeting, said that maybe the BOS that set up the PPC might have inadvertently set the DH’s up to fail e.g. their expertise in identifying needs might have eroded their integrity around Town. She said that the NEHA wanted to be very independent to avoid any impressions of being self-serving.
DS stated that he would entertain a motion (MB-JW) that DH’s not vote on their own department’s business. MB asked who decides what is pertinent to a particular department. JR reiterated that she feels the former BOS unknowingly set up the DH’s to fail and felt sorry for them. SRM stated that he agrees with the DS motion on the table. It was passed 5-0.
MB asked about who would determine if there was conflict of interest and a DH should not vote. DS suggested that it should be committee policy that such issues be debated and decided by the committee at such time as a conflict issue was raised. Committee members supported adopting this conflict of interest determination policy unanimously.
JR left the meeting at 10:50 AM.
It was moved and approved to reject the request of the NEHA described in the aforementioned letter provided by JR 5-0 (TS-MB). SRM agreed to ask the NEHA to reconsider their request in light of the motion just passed stating that DH’s not vote on their own department’s business.
V. Unfinished Business
A. DS handed out copies of the attached “PPC Second Interim Report” identified herein as “A” hand dated 11-25-09 and a second document entitled “Recommendations and Rationale Concerning the Mt. Desert Fire department” dated October 2009 and identified herein as “B”; all members took time to review the documents. DS recommended striking the last paragraph from “A” and blending “B” into “A”. JW and TS agreed that the R&R needs to be in both options described in “A”.
SRM suggested we need to consider REG. JW asked MB to explain how REG might work. MB said he spoke with the SWH FD and that they agreed to consider it after a thorough study of the concept. MB said the roadblock was BH – the FD is funded by their EMS service and why would they want to share the revenue generated by EMS with the other towns.
DS, by way of summary, stated that we must be able to explain why REG does not substantively affect Options 1 and 2 on attachment “A”. SRM suggested that this must be pointed out up front and early in the presentation of the options to the BOS. It was agreed that DS would meld “A” and “B” into one document and distribute them to the PPC members for review and comment.
DS stated that he felt we were moving to slow in addressing 1) REG, 2) developing the matrix for assessing staffing for the FD and, 3) addressing PD staffing concerns. JW indicated that the PD should be in good shape relative to staffing after the anticipated appointment of his next hire.
Regionalization: DS went on to say that issues to be addressed during an assessment of REG include equipment, staffing, FT, PT, chief or commissioner, is REG going to have major cost savings for the communities involved. SRM stated that if the other Island communities do not want to participate, review of REG is a moot put. TS and MB agreed that a discussion of REG should start at the BOS-Council level. DS went on to say that REG might require hiring a consultant to perform a FD-by-FD review of interested FD’s and provide a report with their findings and recommendations. JW pointed out to the PPC that we have been considering a review of REG since the beginning of the PPC’s work, specifically that REG was included in the original priority score sheets. SRM stressed the need to have
consideration of REG start at the BOS-Council level e.g. the political arena.
JW told the group he would be away for our next meeting on 12-8-09.
VI. New Business
A. The FD presentation will be at a future meeting.
VII. Public Comments
DS asked for comments. None were given.
VIII. Adjournment
Motion made and passed at 11:27 to adjourn: 5-0 (DS-TS).
IX. Next Meeting
Per today’s agenda, the next meeting is scheduled for 10:00 A.M., December 8, 2009 in the NEH MRm.
Abbreviations Description Abbreviations Description
Admin Administration Department PS Pump Station
BH Bar Harbor PT Part-time
BOS Board of Selectmen PW Public Work’s
DH Department Head R&R Recruitment & Retention
COC Chamber of Commerce REG Regionalization
EMS Emergency Medical Services SLAM Original Architects for TO
FD Fire Department SH Seal Harbor
FF Fire Fighter SV Somesville
FT Full-time SWH Southwest Harbor
MDWD Mount Desert Water District SRM Sumner Roulon-Miller
MMA Maine Municipal Association TO Town Office
MRm Meeting Room WC Warrant Committee
NEH Northeast Harbor WWTP Wastewater Treatment Plant
NEHA NEH Ambulance Service
PM Pretty Marsh
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