MINUTES
BOARD OF PUBLIC SAFETY
OCTOBER 11, 2006
A REGULAR MEETING of the Board of Public Safety was held on Wednesday, October 11, 2006, in the Council Chambers.
Those in attendance included Mayor Ryan J. Bingham, members of the Board of Public Safety Christopher H. Cook, Richard L. Zaharek, Douglas J. Benedetto, James E. Potter, Michael Colangelo, and Robert C. Zordan, Corporation Counsel Ernestine Yuille Weaver, Police Chief Robert Milano, Deputy Police Chief Michael Maniago, Traffic Officer Robert Shopey, Fire Chief John Field, Deputy Fire Chief Jaye Giampaolo, Emergency Management Coordinator Thomas Vannini, Director of Operations at Campion Ambulance Fred Rosa, Administrative Assistant to the Mayor Steve Nocera, and Councilman Rick E. Dalla Valle. Charles Marciano represented the Torringford Volunteer Fire Dept., and Dennis Tanner represented the Drakeville Volunteer Fire Dept.
Mayor Bingham called the meeting to order at 7:07 p.m.
ADD ITEM BY 2/3RDS VOTE #020
Commissioner Benedetto made a motion to add an item to the agenda by 2/3rds vote in regard to an executive session under Police Personnel. Commissioner Colangelo seconded the motion. Unanimous.
MINUTES #040
On a motion by Commissioner Benedetto, seconded by Commissioner Colangelo, a discussion took place in regard to minutes of the regular meeting held September 13, 2006.
Commissioner Colangelo requested a correction on the vote under MOTION #600. Those who voted in favor of the motion included Commissioners Cook, Colangelo, and Benedetto. Those who opposed the motion included Commissioners Potter, Zaharek, and Zordan. The vote remained a 3-3 tie. The correction was made to the official minutes in the City Clerk’s Office.
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC #065
On a motion by Commissioner Cook, seconded by Commissioner Benedetto, the board voted unanimously to open the meeting to the public.
Mayor Bingham addressed those present from the north end in regard to Calhoun Street. He stated that the city was willing to schedule a meeting with the Police Chief to meet with the neighbors to narrow the scope of their traffic concerns. Glen Royals volunteered to act as chairman and meet with Chief Milano and Traffic Officer Robert Shopey.
A number of complaints and resolutions were heard by the following: Glen Royals, Melanie Lay, Arlene Renzullo, Ryan (Wadhams ?), Kathleen Herrick, Perry Morrison, Richard Carlson, Nick Popovich, Mia Pelosi, Grace Mcalsece, and John Falcone.
Councilman Rick E. Dalla Valle stated that he would be happy to meet with the neighbors, Chief Milano, and Officer Shopey to try to reach a solution. He noted that, although the letter that was circulated included his name, he had nothing to do with the letter, other than say the things that were written in the letter, as an elected official of the city.
Mona Parker, 63 Center Street, spoke in regard to parking meters on Center Street and getting parking tickets for parking in front of her apartment.
Officer Shopey indicated that there weren’t any new meters on Center Street. Meters that were missing were sent out for repair and replaced.
Chief Milano stated that his department would do a survey of the street and report back to the board next month. Ms. Parker agreed to meet with Chief Milano at her convenience in regard to her safety issues.
Mayor Bingham applauded each and every one of the residents for coming before this board to speak. He looked forward to hearing recommendations from the group as a whole.
For complete information, please refer to Tape #215.
ANDREA CLAYSTONE: POLICE DEPT. #1605
On a motion by Commissioner Zaharek, seconded by Commissioner Benedetto, the board voted unanimously to accept probationary Officer Andrea Claystone as a regular member of the Police Department after having successfully completed her probationary period on 9/26/06.
EXECUTIVE SESSION: PERSONNEL POLICE #1650
On a motion by Commissioner Benedetto, seconded by Commissioner Potter, the board voted unanimously to go into Executive Session at 7:50 p.m. under Personnel: Police Department.
OPEN SESSION # 1675
On a motion by Commissioner Colangelo, seconded by Commissioner Potter, the Board voted unanimously to reconvene into Open Session at 8:47 p.m.
GREGORY ZORDAN AND BRETT JOHNSON: POLICE OFFICERS #1685
Commissioner Colangelo moved to hire Gregory Zordan and Brett Johnson as probationary members of the Torrington Police Department. Commissioner Zaharek seconded the motion.
Commissioner Cook asked to modify the vote to authorize the Police Chief and the Police Personnel Sub Committee to hire Greg Zordan and Brett Johnson as Probationary Members of the Torrington Police Department upon the successful completion of their background checks.
The Board, with the exception of Commissioner Zordan who abstained, voted in favor of the amended motion.
VEHICLE: ASSET FORFEITURE #1720
On a motion by Commissioner Colangelo, seconded by Commissioner Benedetto, the board voted unanimously to authorize the utilization of a vehicle seized through asset forfeiture as a Dare/Explorer Vehicle. Chief Milano said “I do not plan on having it be under the replacement system and then throw it off at the same time.”
COMMUNICATION LETTER #1785
On a motion by Commissioner Benedetto, seconded by Commissioner Cook, the board voted unanimously to accept the monthly Communication Letter from Officer Shopey for September 2006.
CHIEF MILANO’S REPORT #1798
On a motion by Commissioner Potter, seconded by Commissioner Cook, the board voted unanimously to accept Chief Milano’s Report for September 2006.
CHIEF FIELD’S REPORT #1810
On a motion by Commissioner Benedetto, seconded by Commissioner Zaharek, the board voted unanimously to accept Chief Field’s Report for September 2006.
DEP. CHIEF GIAMPAOLO’S REPORT #1825
On a motion by Commissioner Zaharek, seconded by Commissioner Potter, the board voted unanimously to accept Deputy Chief Giampaolo’s Report for September 2006.
FIRE MARSHAL’S REPORT #1835
On a motion by Commissioner Cook, seconded by Commissioner Colangelo, the board voted unanimously to accept the Fire Marshal’s Report for September 2006.
Commissioner Potter inquired about the Fire Marshal’s work volume, which was down by about one hundred.
Chief Field noted that their was a death in the Fire Marshal’s family. He also noted, while the inspections were down, the investigations increased. He would speak with the Fire Marshal and get back to Commissioner Potter.
TRAINING OFFICER’S REPORT #1890
On a motion by Commissioner Potter, seconded by Commissioner Benedetto, the board voted unanimously to accept the Training Officer’s Report for September 2006.
FIRE DEPT. MASTER PLAN #1900
On a motion by Commissioner Colangelo, seconded by Commissioner Potter, the board voted unanimously to allow Chief Field to make a power point presentation on the Torrington Fire Department’s Master Plan.
The presentation was broken down into three sections. Chief Field will make a power point presentation, Deputy Chief Giampaolo will discuss the operational response and John Zelle, from the Insurance Services Organization, will give a brief overview on how ISO relates to this matter.
Chief Field noted that the plan targeted the facilities, apparatus, staffing, and the volunteers. The plan was designed to start discussion and work on establishing a vision or some sort of direction for the Fire Department and the city. This will give them direction on where they think the Fire Department should go in the next few years. The information in the plan is based on the city’s needs. While the document is not set in stone, the key to the plan is the buy-in, not only from the city, but from the Torrington Fire Department and the volunteers as well. Chief Field encouraged discussion to make the document more concrete.
For the entire presentation, please refer to Tape # 215.
Chief Field pointed out that Fire Headquarters was built at its location primarily because of its close proximity of the old Brass Mill and the northend station was built primarily to be near the Woollen Mill, however the community has changed over the years. The proposal included new headquarters station to be located in the Center Street area, somewhere off the eastern side of the downtown district, which would house their administrative offices. The north end station would remain where it is. The plan has a proposal for an east side station which would become a public safety complex and house the dispatch center. The west side station would be a small neighborhood station and would cover the western and northwestern areas, perhaps in the lower Highland Avenue area.
Chief Field indicated that the approximate cost for three new facilities would be $10 or $11 million. The cost may be somewhat reduced by working with developers.
In looking at the apparatus plan, diversity and performance capabilities were the most important factors. What is being proposed is to have two quints (ladder/pumper) and two engine companies as first line responders, a quint at headquarters, an engine at the north end station, an engine on the west side, and a quint at the east side station. There will be two reserve engines. At some point, a heavy rescue will be needed at the east end, and a command vehicle for headquarters. There is a proposal to add a new staff vehicle for the safety training division.
With regard to staffing, the number one priority is personnel safety. Chief Field referred to NFPA1710, and the expert’s recommendation in terms of where they should be with staffing. If they were to look at one fire cap line, they would need a minimum of fifteen people. He said “The reason I put two fire cap lines up there, most of the jobs, if it turns into being an actual fire, we’ll yank two lines so that number jumps up to 18, based on NFPA standards.”
Through the cooperation of Local 1567, they are able to modify staffing requirements, leaving them some flexibility in doing some of the things they want to do.
Administration would remain the same. Chief Field’s recommendation will be to turn the part time secretarial position into a full time position. In the future they will need to look at a second Deputy Chief or an Assistant Chief.
The overall goal for operations will still be under the direction of the Deputy Chief as the division head. There are 52 line personnel. The goal is to have a minimum of thirteen staff members on duty at all times. Each of the four shifts will contain thirteen personnel at all times, one shift commander, four company officers, which is an additional Lieutenant per shift, and eight firefighters, which is a reduction of one firefighter per shift.
They will be divided among each of the engines in four companies and will be manned with two firefighters and one company officer, so we will have a three person crew with each of the companies assigned throughout the city and the shift commander will become mobile in a fly car.
This will still be short of the NFPA standard, but they are working toward doing the right thing. Presently they commit all their resources to an incident because they only have three companies. Their goal is to get an additional resource, quint or engine available to respond to other calls without committing all their resources to a particular incident. A large scale incident will get all available resources.
Chief Field indicated that the Fire Marshal’s Office will remain the same. However, his recommendation is that company officers be trained to be inspectors in the future.
The Training Safety Division will remain at its present level. Company officers could also be trained as safety officers.
Because the volunteers are a valuable resource to the city, it is key that they buy into the plan. The city needs to understand that the volunteers have a considerable role in supplementing the city’s response and without them, deficiencies will exist, which will result in the city having to increase their staffing. Each one of the volunteer companies will have an identified specialty in supplementing the response of the city department. Chief Field strongly recommends that they assist further with the volunteer’s training and in obtaining equipment and personnel. He identified Torringford as the special services unit, Burrville as the truck company support unit, and Drakeville as the rural water supply unit. All the city fire departments have to mold into one.
Deputy Chief Giampaolo spoke in regard to how they will better utilize the equipment dispatched, depending on the type of incident it is.
John Zelle, from Insurance Services Office, explained how public protection classifications are performed. He noted that the city had recently undergone an ISO review of its public protection, and congratulated the city for maintaining a class 3 classification during the review. (1 being the best review out of 10.) The better the number, the better the fire insurance premiums available to the citizens of that community. The criteria used to obtain the classifications includes dispatch, water supply, response time, etc.
Chief Field noted that the City of Torrington has a split rating. The downtown
district has a Class 3 rating, whereas the outer districts have a Class 9 rating. The goal is to make all districts better than they presently are.
Commissioner Benedetto asked Chief Field if he had a short term plan for east side coverage.
Chief Field said they could address issues as early as tomorrow if they had to, based on certain adjustments.
MOTION TO TABLE #1005
On a motion by Commissioner Potter, seconded by Commissioner Colangelo, the board, with the exception of Commissioner Benedetto who opposed, voted in favor of tabling the matter until their November meeting. On a 5-1 vote, the motion to table carried.
HIRING FIREFIGHTERS #1030
On a motion by Commissioner Benedetto, seconded by Commissioner Cook, a discussion took place on the hiring of two Firefighters.
Mayor Bingham reported having signed the requisition to hire two new
firefighters. The end goal is to make certain that the city is protected from fires. He thanked the board for their lively discussions in regard to this matter.
Chief Field stated that the testing process will take two to three months and recruit school will be another ten weeks.
No vote was necessary.
INCIDENT REPORT #1115
On a motion by Commissioner Potter, seconded by Commissioner Colangelo, the board voted unanimously to accept the Incident Report for September 2006.
EMS PROVIDER ACTIVITY REPORT #1125
On a motion by Commissioner Potter, seconded by Commissioner Benedetto, the board voted unanimously to accept the EMS Provider Activity Report from Campion for September 2006.
EMERG. MGMT COORD’S REPORT #1140
On a motion by Commissioner Potter, seconded by Commissioner Colangelo, the board voted unanimously to accept the Emergency Management Coordinator’s Report for September 2006.
BUS: DEPT HEADS #1160
On a motion by Commissioner Cook, seconded by Commissioner Benedetto, the board voted unanimously to consider business by Department Heads.
Fred Rosa, Director of Operations at Campion Ambulance, informed the board that the state has come across with 27 new Panasonic Tuff Book laptops which Campion will use to enter patient data.
Deputy Police Chief Michael Maniago informed the board that the Police Department obtained the services of the Bristol CERT Team to be their back up, and in turn, Torrington will be one of Bristol’s back ups. Bristol comes to the Torrington force with a great deal of equipment, expertise and training, and Torrington will benefit greatly with their association with Bristol.
Police Chief Robert Milano indicated that they went live with their new software on Monday and it is progressing ahead of schedule.
He also stated that he, the Fire Chief, the Emergency Management Director and the Mayor attended a federally funded training session in New Mexico designed for senior emergency management personnel. The training laid out their individual rolls in preplanning for incidents which the federal government is saying is a real threat in this country.
Lastly, Chief Milano informed the board that they were ready to embark on two new grants for drunk driving enforcement. One is the Holiday Enforcement Grant which runs from November to December and is valued at $26,500.00 and the other is the Long Term Grant which runs from January 15 to August 15, 2007 and is valued at $95,000.00. Both grants are eligible for 75% reimbursement by the State of Connecticut.
Dennis Tanner, representative from Drakeville Volunteer Fire Department,
thanked the city’s Training Officer, Lawrence Hepburn, for offering them a refresher course for the Black Helmet qualifications.
He stated that his department attended the state convention on September 17 and came home with a trophy for their Brush Truck.
He also Informed the board that their annual Pasta Dinner will take place on October 27, 2006 from 5 to 8 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at the door.
BUS: MAYOR & MEMBERS #1370
On a motion by Commissioner Colangelo, seconded by Commissioner Potter, the board voted unanimously to consider business by Mayor Bingham and members of the Board of Public Safety.
Commissioner Benedetto thanked Mayor Bingham for moving forward with the hiring of two new firefighters.
He inquired about the status of the firing range.
Chief Milano said it seemed like every time they come up with a piece of property, someone says they already have plans for it. They are currently using the Winsted range and the MDC (Metropolitan District Commission) range. In return for using the MDC range, the city is training the MDC Police Department to convert from their current firearms to the glock 40 caliber pistols. The long term goal is to find a city-owned piece of property that will enable the Torrington Police Department to train when they want, and under the conditions and frequency that they need to train.
Commissioner Benedetto inquired about the installation of security at the firehouse.
Deputy Fire Chief Giampaolo indicated that a recent incident called for security measures at fire headquarters. He will talk to this board about a security system in the near future. There is a proposal to install a fence in the back of the firehouse as well. Improving the lighting would be of some help.
Commissioner Zaharek commended Chief Field and Deputy Chief Giampaolo for their power point presentation on the Master Plan, and hoped they could move forward.
Commissioner Cook asked Officer Shopey to give him a call when he obtains information on Calhoun Street, prior to bringing it before the board.
Commissioner Potter looked forward to moving on the Fire Department’s Master Plan. He thanked Chief Milano for securing the Bristol CERT team as back up. He asked Officer Shopey to calculate how much money the meters on Center Street generate to see if they are worth having.
Officer Shopey indicated that the hearing officer already asked him whether or not the meters on Center Street were necessary. He will bring whatever information he can obtain before this board next month.
Commissioner Colangelo inquired about the “meter” in question on Main Street at the Calhoun Street intersection.
Officer Shopey indicated that the meter has not been reinstalled because he was waiting to get a final decision on the matter. People have been parking there and the City has not been enforcing the issue. The hearing is tentatively scheduled for November 21.
Commissioner Colangelo asked Chief Milano if he came up with any ideas or policies in regard to practices for notifying neighbors concerning sexual predators.
Chief Milano said no, they have not formulated a policy, primarily because that information is available; however, he will look into it further.
ADJOURNMENT #1920
On a motion by Commissioner Potter, seconded by Commissioner Zaharek, the board voted unanimously to adjourn at 10:25 p.m.
ATTEST: JOSEPH L. QUARTIERO, CMC
CITY CLERK
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