MINUTES
BOARD OF PUBLIC SAFETY
July 10, 2012
A REGULAR MEETING of the Board of Public Safety was held in the City Hall Auditorium on Tuesday, July 10, 2012.
Those in attendance included Mayor Ryan J. Bingham, Members of the Board of Public Safety Angelo LaMonica, Richard Zaharek, Douglas Benedetto, James Potter, Christopher Cook and Darlene Battle,
Police Chief Michael Maniago, Deputy Police Chief Christopher Smedick, Acting Fire Chief Gary Brunoli,
Data Processing Manager Rudy Pullano and Mayoral Aide Timothy Waldron.
Mayor Bingham called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m.
MINUTES
On a motion by Commissioner Potter, seconded by Commissioner Benedetto the Board voted unanimously to accept the minutes of the Regular meeting held June 6, 2012.
EXECUTIVE SESSION: Fire Dept. Personnel
On a motion by Commissioner Cook, seconded by Commissioner Potter, the Board voted unanimously
to enter Executive Session under Fire Department Personnel, inviting Acting Chief Brunoli, at 6:02 p.m.
OPEN SESSION
On a motion by Commissioner Benedetto, seconded by Commissioner Cook, the Board voted unanimously to return to Open Session at 6:57 p.m.
DEPUTY FIRE MARSHAL
On a motion by Commissioner Benedetto, seconded by Commissioner LaMonica, the Board voted unanimously to promote Firefighter Richard Prince to Deputy Fire Marshal, effective Sunday, July 15, 2012.
FIRE LIEUTENANT
On a motion by Commissioner LaMonica, seconded by Commissioner Battle, the Board voted unanimously to promote Firefighter Christopher Pepler to Fire Lieutenant, effective Sunday, July 15, 2012.
Commissioner Potter abstained from the vote.
PRESENTATION
Chief Maniago presented Sgt. Linas Venclauskas with a plaque commemorating his 25 years of service. He said Sgt. Venclauskas is a credit to the Police Department, an outstanding field supervisor, and has worked in the DARE program for 20 years. Chief Maniago thanked him for his many years of service.
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
On a motion by Commissioner Potter, seconded by Commissioner Benedetto, the Board voted unanimously to open the meeting to the public.
Mr. Fred Kunesch spoke about vehicles speeding on Torringford West Street, saying it's dangerous for pedestrians. He suggested a stop sign be installed to curtail speeding.
Chief Maniago said that law precludes the use of a stop sign to control speeding, but reassured Mr. Kunesch that he will check on traffic violations in that area and increase police presence there.
POLICE CHIEF'S REPORT
On a motion by Commissioner Potter, seconded by Commissioner Benedetto, the Board voted unanimously to accept Chief Maniago's Report for May, 2012.
Commissioner Benedetto asked for an update on the malfunctioning radios, saying this is unsafe.
Chief Maniago said the IT Department was working on it, and the T1 transmission lines were having problems.
Mr. Pullano said he has been working very closely with Brian Mazerolle from Northeast Communications on resolving this and they found the infrastructure is solid. They concluded with AT &T that everything installed with them is good, but there are a couple weak links that they are replacing and repairing at this time. He said the issue that remains with this system is the protocol, since we are using a higher protocol than this system calls for. This is currently being addressed, he said, and he is working with two outside consultants. Mr. Pullano said he hopes to complete this by the end of next week.
Chief Maniago added that he is cautiously optimistic about this.
Mr. Pullano said this is not a physical network issue but rather a programming protocol that has to be resolved between Kenwood, AT &T and Cisco.
Commissioner Benedetto questioned Police overtime for bar patrols. Chief Maniago replied that the shift was reinforced for a local establishment's closing time to ensure there was adequate staff to handle the issues that were developing there, while providing for officer safety at the same time.
OFFICER PISARSKI’S REPORT
On a motion by Commissioner Potter, seconded by Commissioner Cook, the Board voted unanimously to accept Officer Pisarski’s Report for May, 2012.
DEPUTY FIRE CHIEF'S REPORT
On a motion by Commissioner Potter, seconded by Commissioner Benedetto, the Board voted unanimously to accept Deputy Chief Brunoli's report for May, 2012.
Commissioner Benedetto asked if the trucks are all in working order. Acting Chief Brunoli said there were some warranty issues on #4 but they are being taken care of.
FIRE MARSHAL'S REPORT
On a motion by Commissioner Potter, seconded by Commissioner Cook, the Board voted unanimously to accept the Fire Marshal's report for May, 2012.
TRAINING OFFICER'S REPORT
On a motion by Commissioner Potter, seconded by Commissioner Zaharek, the Board voted unanimously to accept the Training Officer's Report for May, 2012.
EMS PROVIDER REPORT
On a motion by Commissioner Potter, seconded by Commissioner Benedetto, the Board voted unanimously to accept the EMS Provider Activity Report from Campion for May, 2012.
BUSINESS: DEPT. HEADS
On a motion by Commissioner Potter, seconded by Commissioner Benedetto, the Board voted unanimously to consider business by Department Heads.
Deputy Chief Smedick congratulated Sgt. John Newkirk on his retirement after almost 30 years of service.
Chief Maniago said he has had two Accident Investigations by the AIT and a robbery to solve at the Cumberland Farms on New Litchfield St. He commended the Detective Bureau for catching the suspect within a couple of hours. He announced that two recruits will graduate from the Police Academy tomorrow night. Mayor Bingham asked for clarification that the weapon used in the robbery was a pellet gun and the Police Department received calls from the neighborhood, assisting the Detectives in finding the suspect. Chief Maniago confirmed this and said the public did an outstanding job as our eyes and ears. Mayor Bingham remarked how wonderful the community was in relaying information to help the officers catch the suspect. Chief Maniago further reported that the Downtown Business Watch has been
initiated, with Ms. Waagner leading the effort. In answer to Commissioner LaMonica's question, Chief Maniago said we will again participate in "National Night Out" and Officer Pietrefesa will be in touch with everybody by August 27th.
Acting Chief Brunoli thanked all the services that participated in the City's Fireworks including the Police Department, Campion Ambulance, Torringford Volunteer Fire Department, and all the Fire Police. He thanked the New Hartford Fire Department and the Naugatuck Fire Department for the use of their light towers. He announced Chief Field's retirement party on July 27th from 5:00 to 8:00 pm at the Elks Club.
BUSINESS: MAYOR & MEMBERS
On a motion by Commissioner Potter, seconded by Commissioner Benedetto, the Board voted unanimously to consider business by the Mayor and members of the Board of Public Safety.
All Commissioners congratulated the newly retired and the newly promoted including Chief Field, Sgt. Newkirk, Deputy Fire Marshal Prince and Fire Lt. Pepler.
Commissioner Benedetto expressed a concern about the use of Fire Department generators at Main Street Marketplace. Acting Chief Brunoli said no generators are taken out of service and this has been the practice since Main Street Marketplace began. Mayor Bingham said that when the sidewalks are reconstructed, new power lines will be run so electricity can be accessed through the light poles.
Commissioner Potter asked both the Police and Fire Departments to develop a way to separate administrative functions from emergency functions in their incident analysis reports.
Mayor Bingham said the State is requiring Emergency Management staff to perform a drill, and this will be from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm on Monday, July 30th and Tuesday, July 31st. He invited the Board to attend and see how the Emergency Operations Center operates.
ADJOURNMENT
On a motion by Commissioner Potter, seconded by Commissioner Zaharek, the Board voted unanimously to adjourn at 7:31 p.m.
ATTEST: JOSEPH L. QUARTIERO, CMC
CITY CLERK
Respectfully Submitted,
Carol L. Anderson, CCTC
Assistant City Clerk
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